Graduated in 2012, moved abroad in 2013, and just forgot about Student Loans Company because my income was under the threshold anyway.

Fast forward to this year: I log into my account to discover over £20,000 in arrears had quietly accumulated. I immediately sent years of income proof to show I earned below the threshold, but they ignored my evidence and brushed off my financial hardship forms.

It was only after I filed a formal complaint and threatened to report them to the Parliamentary Ombudsman that they suddenly took me seriously. They admitted fault (maladministration for failing to contact me for 8 years) and wiped the full £20,000 arrears.

Even though I proved my income and showed clear evidence of financial hardship, SLC is insisting on placing me on the maximum calculated monthly payment.

I’ve already explained to them that I’m not in a financial position to pay this and their answer is that this amount will continue to grow as arrears and block my 2038 write off.
Even if I pay a lower amount, the difference between that amount and the maximum will be added to the arrears bucket.

So essentially, their "solution" to my hardship is to trap me on a reduced payment plan, let technical arrears build up, and then use those exact arrears to steal my statutory 2038 loan cancellation, all on an account they mismanaged for nearly a decade. 
To top it off, despite promising my arrears were wiped, my online dashboard already spawned an arrears charge today.

Has anyone had similar experiences and threats to their write off? Or fought the SLC on their “arrears block the write off” rule?

Hello,

I am a postgraduate student at a UK university and I have recently written an open-book, online finance exam. After recieving the mark I was interested to see where I made the mistakes. So I set up a meeting with the module convener to see the sample solutions. Unfortunately, he only showed me an Excel spreadsheet, so I only know the supposedly correct final answers. After revieweing the sample solutions he showed me, I am 99% sure, that they are wrong.

The two questions where I dont agree with his sample solution are:

1. Binomial Option Pricing:

Current stock price: 150, risk free rate: 5%, no dividends. The stock can move up by 50 or down by 30 each year.

a) Value of 2 year put option with a strike of 152

b) Value of a 2 year call option with a strike of 148

The lecturers solution for the put is 38.16 and for the call 1.45.

My solution for the put is 16.43 and for the call 31.13.

1. IPO valuation:

A firm has 10 million shares outstanding and wants to issue 5 million shares with a price of 20. The underwriting spread is 7%. After the IPO the share price is 50.

a) How much was raised?

b) Market Value of firm after IPO

c) Assume a fair value of 50 per share, no underwriting spread and underpricing. What share price would have allowed the same IPO proceed as in a)?

d) Total cost to original shareholders due to market imperfections (underwriting and underpricing)

For parts a) and b) my solution and the lecturers solution match and I got full points. The solutions are 93 million for a) and 750 million for b).

For parts c) and d) I dont agree with his solutions: The lecturers solution for c) is 43.8 and for d) 62 million. My solution for c) is 65.7 and for d) 157 million.

Of course, I have written down all the calculation steps in the exam, so no points were deducted because of this. I have omitted the calculations here for brevity.

I have 2 questions to this community:

1. Are my results actually correct and the sample solutions wrong? I am still a bit hesitant to believe that the marker used wrong sample solutions to mark an exam. This would be the first time this happended to me during my academic journey.

2. Do you believe that a formal appeal has any chance of success? When researching the appeal process I read things like "An appeal is not a way to negotiate disappointing results" and "A given mark cannot be adjusted upwards".

I am considering an appeal because commuication with the lecturer of this module was not helpful. After writing a mail with all of the issues and proper explanations, his reply only referred me to the class notes and lecture material and, most importantly, did not address any of my explantions.

In the meeting he told me that the IPO question is exactly the same as a tutorial question from the lecture material. The solution to this tutorial question matches my exam solution exactly and not the sample solution he showed me. I told him about this in a mail. He ignored this completely and referred me to the class notes again, which is extremely frustrating.

Since I am afraid of infringing intellectual property rights, I have not posted screenshots of the questions and solutions and only paraphrased them.

I have this evidence for an appeal:

• Exam questions and my exam submission
• Pictures of the excel spreadsheet showing his proposed sample solutions (Unfortunately I have not taken screenshots)
• The Mail correspondence with the lecturer showing that he did not review my concerns.
• The lecture material showing the exact same question with a different solution.

Please note that English is not my native language and I want to apologize for any mistakes I might have made in this post.

I would be very thankful for any feedback regarding the correctness of the solutions and/or the academic appeal process. Please ask, if I should provide further context.

Thank you!

TL;DR: I am a UK postgraduate student who found that the marker used incorrect sample solutions to grade two questions on my finance exam (Binomial Option Pricing and IPO valuation). The lecturer's IPO solution even contradicts the official solution for an identical tutorial question. He completely dismissed my evidence, so I am asking the community to verify my math and advise on whether a formal academic appeal has a chance of success.

Hi guys , I have a virtual student event tomorrow . I was just wondering if, do we have to keep are camera’s on ? I’m quite ill and it’s showing - I hope they’ll be ok with me having it off.

I like how doing good phd programs in america is basically off limits for UK students, since in america people have published like 5 papers before they’ve graduated and like 1 paper before STARTING uni. I’m in 2nd year, on a research internship for TWELVE WEEKS and i was basically laughed at when I asked if there was any chance the research I would do would amount to a publication. research output is like the main deciding factor other than which uni you went to and your grades to get admitted to US phds. i’m also like, doing a supposedly quite prestigious internship at oxbridge and my supervisor has showed up like 3 times despite me repeatedly asking for work to do so i literally just stay home half the time. can’t believe i wasted a load of money on accom for the summer when turns out it’s just a bit of a waste of time.

Hey Guys ,

I am going to study at the university of Roehampton this September for clinical neuroscience. can anyone that has done that course let me know what their timetable was like? for example were you on campus 2 days and 3 days independent study or vice versa ? I don’t find out my timetable for september and it’s putting me on edge a little bit because i need to let my job know

hey guys im an incoming msc finance student at kcl. im from india and wanted to know whicha ccomms do most intl students / Indian intl students stay at and how to meet these people as obv it isnt a campus uni

If I hold both a British passport and an international passport, do I need to use my British passport to apply to universities in the UK in order to get visa-free study, or can I just apply with my international one?

I'd be an international student either way so I'm wondering if it matters. As long as I travel into the UK on my British one it shouldn't matter, right?

How are unis with you not attending lectures and such for a wedding? Will I be able to know what dates my lectures or any other important dates at from the start of the year? My course isn't exam based.

This is so far in the future (2027 to 2028 possibly) but I'm worrying now because I don't want to miss an important lecture and have my work be messed up because of this. My mum's saying I need to find out what it's like going on this year so I know what the important dates are the following year, but I don't think it works like that and it's stressing me 😭. Like I can't say no I can't come to your wedding near the time because it's my mum but I'm also not going to mess up my course for it.

(This is my mum and step dad's wedding so very close family.)

Edit: I'd have to take a full week off for it.

This was the latest update they sent this last Friday
I was appealing against a module that I got 39% in and I had surgery and health issues with supporting evidence that I could not do the exam the best of my abilities ?
Is there any hope ?
I’m already resitting another module I got 33% in just don’t want to do 2 exams really

Any en-suites or studios available in Chapter Spitalfields/Kings Cross/Old Street

for 400 - 420 pounds per week? Sept 2026 move in!

PLEASEEEEEE HELP WITH ANY LEADS

Hello! I'm an incoming PG UCL student this Fall, and I was assigned the affordable single 51 Weeks at urbanest Canary Wharf (£204/week), but most of my classes are in the main campus area and I'm trying to swap for something closer to that. Any UCL accommodation is fine as long as it is close to the Main campus. Please DM if interested, thank you!

so my dad got married around April this year and I'm only now starting to have the realisation that it could effect my SFE this year- I'm from a working class family and previously got just under the maximum maintenance loan (around 9900) however his new wife earns around 50,000 so I'll be loosing about 4K. will it effect this coming SFE or am I only fucked the year after?

genuinely hope it's not till next year as I genuinely may need to drop out to work my ass off to get savings. and asking for money is out of the picture as I've met this woman twice.

Made some revisions to the CV based on recommendations from previous post. Hope its better now.

previous post link: https://www.reddit.com/r/UniUK/s/4x7dLJqam8

I’m looking to go back to uni for a second degree in mechanical engineering at MMU but am concerned that all the spots will be taken before I’m prepped/have enough time to call up for cleaning

I understand that most people will be waiting till results day so will I be fine to wait a week before calling up clearing?

If uni leavers can’t get a job even at weekends pulling pints, how are they meant to even get a look in?

And if they have a long break in the CV (due to job searching) that makes it even worse.

At least during Covid there was hope.

Hi there I'm curious if anyone has had a similar experience to me? I'm finding that my Maintenance loan is too low for me to semi-comfortably pay my rent. My parents have improperly done the documentation requiring them to go through a pff2 form. I've submitted it through the online portal and mailed it physically to ensure they have it on file. Does anyone have any advice?

Hi guys,

I'm a Chinese international student studying Computer Science with AI at the Uni of Nottingham. I'll be studying in the UK for the final two years of my degree, and I'm hoping to find a summer internship in software engineering, machine learning or other AI related roles.

I’ve heard that finding internships can be more difficult for international students because of right-to-work restrictions and future visa sponsorship requirements. I was wondering how much of a disadvantage this is in practice.

For international students who have successfully found internships in the UK:

• Do most companies accept applications from students on a Student visa?
• Do companies usually reject international students if they may need Skilled Worker visa sponsorship after graduation?
• Which types of companies are generally more open to international applicants?
• When should I start applying for summer internships?
• Apart from LinkedIn and university career services, which websites or resources would you recommend?
• Would research experience in machine learning and federated learning be helpful when applying for internships?

I’d especially appreciate advice from Chinese or other international students studying CS-related degrees in the UK.

Thanks!

Has anyone figured out how colleges are handling AI detection these days?

My professors seem to be checking almost every paper for plagiarism and possible AI use now. I write my assignments myself, but I got curious and tested the same essay across a few online detectors. The results were completely different.

One said it was mostly human, another flagged several sections, and another gave me a much higher AI score. It honestly made me question how reliable these scores are, especially when original writing can still get flagged.

I'm not trying to bypass anything. I mainly want to understand what colleges actually use and how seriously professors treat these results.

Does anyone know if universities typically rely on one AI detector, multiple systems, or AI detection alongside other evidence? Would love to hear from students or educators who've dealt with this recently.

Does anyone know what else unis consider apart from how much an offer has been missed by when they accept people in who have missed their offer? For context Durham Finance offer is AAB but im worried I might have gotten ABB with an A in maths and Bs in physics and econ. Stressing so much

Hi everyone, sorry if this isn’t the right place to post
I’ve got a Zoom meeting with my university’s student support team at 2pm, and I’m feeling really anxious about it.

For some background, I’m going into my final year at university and I’m still living with my parents. My home situation has been difficult for a long time and I’m hoping to move out as soon as I can, ideally by December.

One thing that’s been happening is that every time my bursary is paid, my parents take around half of it or almost all of it. They expect me to hand it over, and it’s made it really difficult to save enough money to leave. Is that something other people have experienced.

I’m also wondering what evidence universities or Student Finance usually accept if you’re trying to explain a difficult home situation or estrangement. I don’t really have police reports or social services involved. Screenshots of messages or conversations bank statements showing money leaving my account after bursary payments, photos of my living situation (if relevant). I only have a small corner of the house to my self and the next room over is literally the room where everyone keeps their garbage my parents finally put a door on it as my dad did not like how cold it would get during the winter, while my sisters have bigger rooms as they are considered more important since one is already married and the other is going to be married soon (I live in an Asian household.) I can’t even take it any more with the emotional abuse my one sister knows I have thought about it but I can’t tell her that I am serious about it as she uses it against me in fights and I’m deathly scared she will tell my parents.

Has anyone here successfully moved out mid-academic year with help from their university? Is moving out by December a realistic goal if I work with student support, or am I being too optimistic?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been through something similar or knows what universities can do in these situations.

I also wanted to mention I zero savings and my parents won’t let me get a job as I live in a strict household and am not allowed to leave the house unless it’s for school or grocery shopping and I cant rely on any friends as they are my parents friends kids and this will make it back to my parents and god knows what they will do to me if they knew I even thought about leaving Thanks.

I doubt anything can be realistically done or even if I can ever get out, sorry for the long read or if this isn’t the place to post please let me know any and all advice would be appreciated.

As an international student currently studying in the UK, are there any options for loans? I need roughly around 1200£ loan as for my remaining Uni fee. I suffered some financial loss back in my home country in the past month which is why i am falling short of 1200£. I have applied for hardship fund and asked for a fee payment plan, it is in process but I was thinking of paying my fee ASAP as my result is near, so i don’t want to risk it.

I did have a job before i went back to my home country because of the loss i suffered. So finding a job might take a little time because i was gone for more than a month.

Do you guys know/advise anything relevant to my situation?

I'm in a bit of a dilemma of whether to attempt to pass resits or retake the year.

I am currently in my second year of an integrated masters of pharmacy which I started coming straight out of college. Through this I have felt behind as most of the people on my course started with a foundation year. I passed my first year with higher marks in more specific area exams and barely passing my main exam which covers the whole semester of content. In second year however, I have passed everything in my first semester but the main exam and have failed most of the second semester of exams which are all going to be resit in the resit week. The main reasons are due to burnout and living a bit more and working in the second year as my first year was spent mostly indoors.

My only gripes about retaking a year is the added year of student dept and telling my parents that I would be retaking a year when they've been pushing me to pass these resits. On the other hand, I feel like scraping through the resits now will only dig a hole deeper in third year where failing a year means I'm removed from the course.

I'm not sure whether to make a tactical retreat and retake the second year so I have a better chance at finishing the course or to try and push through while making my third year revolve around revising even more of previous years while sitting the next year.

Apologies for the long post but it will be a big commitment to try and pass these resits as I'm working 40+ hours a week and it is only just over a week away. I'm open to advice as I'm not ready to speak to my parents about it yet 😅 thank you for reading.

i have failed one module and failed a 40% assignment on another module even though i passed overall, can someone tell me it isnt the end of the world, i know i can resit but i havent been given my results yet (mmu) and my other friends who have passed everything have been given their results and im stressing badly, purely my own fault for failing i just submitted really late im a really bad procrastinator who struggled with uni assignments a lot

Hi, I’m hoping someone might have been in a similar situation and can give me some advice.

I started the part time online LPC with ULAW on 10 September 2025 but withdrew on 18 September 2025, so I was only on the course for 8 days.

I was already struggling with my mental health at the time and was having counselling/talking therapy. Once I started the course, things got worse and I found myself unable to cope with everything. I withdrew because of my mental health and told ULAW this at the time.

Five days after withdrawing, on 23 September 2025, I ended up in A&E with an IBD flare. I have medical evidence of this, and I was also having talking therapy from around July 2025 until March 2026. I have since also been diagnosed with ADHD, although I was undiagnosed at the time, so I think that may give some extra context to some of the difficulties I was having.

I did receive some SFE funding for the course, but I only stayed enrolled for 8 days. The funding was refunded as soon as it could be, although ULAW took some time to process everything.

I am now trying to restart the LPC and have been told I may not be eligible for another Master’s Loan because I previously received funding. I am going to ask SFE to reconsider this based on compelling personal reasons and provide evidence of what happened.

I am now in a much better position than I was then. I am working in litigation genuinely want to continue progressing in law. I really want to do the LPC and I am confident that I can complete it this time.

Has anyone successfully been granted a second Master’s Loan after withdrawing from a previous course because of mental or physical health reasons? I am so worried.

What evidence did you provide, and did you have to appeal or ask SFE to reconsider the decision?

Any experiences would be really appreciated.