Help for nursing students affected by loan overpayments
Government outlines financial support to student nurses to ensure they are not disadvantaged
New measures have been put in place by the government to ensure nursing students are not unfairly penalised by the recovery of overpayments to their student loans.
Additional payments of up to £1,000 and a deferred re-payment scheme have been set up after overpayments were made to nursing students by the Student Loans Company (SLC).
The SLC will be contacting the affected students and the Department for Education has acted swiftly to put additional short-term measures in place to ensure no student nurse is disadvantaged as a result.
Affected students can apply for this additional, non-repayable, maintenance support for the rest of this academic year if they are facing hardship. The SLC has also agreed to defer the recovery of the overpaid funds until affected students have finished their courses and can afford to repay.
Universities Minister Sam Gyimah said:
My priority has been to ensure none of the affected student nurses should suffer hardship as a result of an administrative error.
These short-term, practical steps will provide immediate help for those who need it so they can concentrate on their studies and their future careers without concern.
Students who have been affected can make a claim with the Student Loans Company when they are contacted so that they can access this financial support. Affected students will be eligible for normal support as per usual in the next academic year.
Alternatively, we would encourage anyone affected to email discretionary_payments@slc.co.uk