Weekend course FAQs

We will update this FAQ page regularly, so encourage you to check for updates.

Please also ensure that you are subscribed to the regular updates posted via SOL.

You can submit additional questions via qahe.enquiries@solent.ac.uk

Update - 31 March 2026

Slides and information from a student Q&A hosted on Monday 30 March are available here.

FAQs are correct at the time of writing based on the information the University has received from DfE and SLC to date.

Last updated 07.05.26 17:00

FAQs

Maintenance Loan eligibility

On 23 March 2026, the Department for Education (DfE) wrote to the University and explained that for the purposes of the Student Support Regulations, a course is considered “in-attendance” only where students are required to attend on a regular, timetabled, in-person basis during weekdays. The DfE normally considers regular weekday attendance to mean at least once per week of required, scheduled attendance for learning or professional practice during Monday-Friday.

A requirement to attend solely at weekends, during vacation periods, solely online, or on an occasional basis (including once-termly or fortnightly attendance) does not normally meet the regulatory threshold for in-attendance study.

Under the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011, attendance on weekends only is classified as distance learning, and students on such courses do not qualify for maintenance support or targeted grants (with the exception of Disabled Students’ Allowances).

Therefore, your course cannot be classified as “in-attendance” and under the Regulations you were not and are not eligible for maintenance support or targeted grants.

The University is currently taking legal action in relation to the decision by the DfE to require the reclassification of courses as distance learning.

The University was not aware of this issue for current and past students prior to the communication from the DfE on 23 March 2026 and we are investigating the position as a matter of urgency.

Since being informed by the Department for Education on Monday, 23 March, we have written to all students to make them aware of the situation, and further communications will be shared on a regular basis. It is our intention to continue to keep you informed as regularly as we can in the circumstances.

Yes. If you are studying on a course which is delivered in person on the weekend and online in the evenings on weekdays, you are still affected by this change. For the purposes of the Student Support Regulations, a course is considered “in-attendance” only where students are required to attend on a regular, timetabled, in-person basis during weekdays. The DfE normally considers regular weekday attendance to mean at least once per week of required, scheduled attendance for learning or professional practice during Monday-Friday.

If you are a current student on an impacted course, your maintenance loan and targeted grant payments will have been blocked by the SLC with immediate effect. The SLC will contact you to discuss recovery of any previous payments via a repayment plan.

On 20.04.26 the Government confirmed that it had asked the Student Loans Company to "collect any over-payments through normal student finance repayments, and to pause recoveries of overpaid grants until at least September" while they consider next steps.

Option 1: Stay on your current course which is not eligible for maintenance support or targeted grants.

Option 2: Transfer to a course that has the same content but is classified as in-attendance because it requires regular, timetabled, in person attendance during weekdays. Please note that the University has to evidence regular weekday in-person attendance and so will be required to monitor this carefully.

Option 3: Suspend your studies. This will enable you to take a break from your studies and then, depending on the circumstances when you wish to return, you could have the opportunity to re-join your current course (option 1) or transfer to another course (option 2).

Option 4: Withdraw from your studies. This means that you have decided not to continue with your studies and wish to withdraw from your current course and not transfer to another course.

Please note that none of the above options negate the requirement to pay back any maintenance support or targeted grants to the SLC that have been paid to you to date. Option 2 would give you the option to claim maintenance support and/or targeted grants in the future.

Universities are required by the DfE to submit the Change of Circumstances notification to the SLC between 6^th and 17^th April to move you from your current in-attendance mode to distance learning.

Should you choose to progress with Option 2 (course transfer), we want to ensure that we can submit the second Change of Circumstances notification to transfer you to an in-attendance course to the SLC as soon as possible so you become eligible for maintenance loan payments again. You will not need to submit a new application to SFE.

We also recognise that teaching commences again on 20^th April and we want to ensure that you have the correct timetable before starting.

However, if you need to make a decision at a later date due to personal circumstances you can still do so by contacting timetablequeries@qahighereducation.com.

Following the Government’s announcement in Parliament on 20.04.26, the DfE also wrote to all impacted providers on 20.04.26 confirming that:

"Maintenance loans

Ministers have agreed that recovery of maintenance loan overpayments will take place through the usual Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) system. This means that affected students will repay maintenance loans in the same way, and on the same terms, as they anticipated, and agreed with the Student Loans Company, when the loan was taken out. The collection of overpayments will commence the April following conclusion of studies and be subject to the relevant repayment threshold.

Targeted grants

Ministers have asked that all recovery action in relation to targeted grants received in error by this cohort of students is paused until at least the start of the next academic year, whilst the options are reviewed. The position on grant recovery is more complex, and the department is keen to ensure that any decisions take account of individual circumstances, treat students fairly and deliver appropriate protection for both students and the public purse."

The SLC previously confirmed that an overpayment of a loan or grant does not affect an individual’s credit score.

Student Loan Company / change of circumstances

The SLC will contact you to set up your repayment plan. Repayment plans are based on a student’s individual circumstances. An affordability exercise is undertaken with you when you contact the SLC and a repayment plan is developed as a result of that discussion. The following link provides more information: https://www.gov.uk/repay-student-loan-overpayment

Following the Government announcement on 20.04.26 repayment will commence in April following completion of your studies dependent on your income in line with the normal repayment terms.

Please note that the University does not have access to your maintenance loan or targeted grant information.

Please complete this form to let us know that your account is not currently blocked and we will liaise with the SLC.

Please note that the SLC has confirmed with us that due to a processing error on their part some accounts remain unblocked and received a maintenance loan payment on 20 April. This does not change their assessment that weekend-only courses or evening (online)/weekend courses are ineligible for maintenance support.

This is something that the SLC controls and is responsible for and is not something that we can implement or direct. We will however continue to seek clarity on behalf of our students.

As set out in the DfE letter from 23.03.26, we were required to submit a first Change of Circumstance (CoC) notification to the SLC to transfer all impacted students from in-attendance to distance learning. This is an instruction by the DfE and relates to the classification of the course for funding purposes and does not therefore require your consent.

The first CoC notifications included all previous years of study too. This means that if you transferred between weekday and weekend mode in this academic year or previous years, the SLC now have this information to correct your entitlement letters accordingly.

The University completed this process on 22.04.26 and has subsequently confirmed attendance for all students. This process will trigger new entitlement letters where your entitlement will be shown as £0 as you are recorded as distance learning. If you have transferred or are in the process of transferring to an in-attendance weekday course, you can disregard this entitlement letter.

The University then needed to wait for the SLC to confirm that this change has been processed and that we can submit a second CoC for those students who have chosen to transfer to an in-attendance delivery mode with in-person weekday evening sessions. This CoC requires your consent which you have provided by completing the timetabling form.

This CoC will reflect the effective date on which you moved from a weekend‑only course to one that includes both weekend and in-person weekday attendance.

The SLC contacted providers on 29 April asking for the second CoC information to be shared with them by 5 May. The University has submitted this information as requested. Once the SLC have processed this second CoC, your account will be updated to reflect your new mode of study and trigger your new entitlement letter and confirm future payment dates.

The SLC confirmed that there will also be a later opportunity to share details of students with them who may make a transfer decision after this date.

The SLC further confirmed that for those students who are transferring to a weekday course, the maintenance loan entitlement will be based on your assessment from the start of the academic year. This means there will be no pro rata deduction from your next maintenance loan payment based on your transfer date, you will instead receive your normal entitlement with the next payment.

The SLC have not confirmed when this process will be completed, however in their communication to students on 24.04.26, they note that: "We expect to make these payments by the end of May. We’ll be back in touch to give you more details on your rescheduled payments dates within the next two weeks."

However, the University notes that the SLC are currently behind the original schedule set out by the DfE and have been unable to meet agreed deadlines to date, so these dates are subject to change. Again, this is a matter entirely within the control of the SLC, but we will continue to ask them to deal with it promptly to minimise the uncertainty for our students.

Students who do not choose to transfer to the in-attendance delivery mode will remain on the weekend-only course which will continue to be delivered as previously advertised.

The SLC have advised that they have blocked this payment for impacted students. If you have chosen to transfer to a course that is classified as in-attendance, you will receive a new entitlement letter after the second Change of Circumstance from the SLC which will set out your next payment date.

We are aware that some students received their payment on 20 April despite the SLC having assessed courses as ineligible for maintenance support. The SLC have confirmed that this was due to a processing error on their part and that these payments will fall into the same repayment terms as announced by the Government on 20 April.

Below are the exact answers from the SLC on 10.04.26 (Our questions followed by SLC answers in bold):

Does regular (weekly), structured, mandatory online evening attendance on a weekday satisfies the requirement for the course to be classified as in-attendance?

No — this does not satisfy the “in‑attendance” requirement.

For the purposes of the Student Support Regulations, a course is considered in‑attendance only where students are required to attend regular, timetabled, in‑person sessions on weekdays. For clarity, the Department normally defines regular weekday attendance as at least one instance per week of required, scheduled, in‑person attendance for learning or professional practice, taking place Monday to Friday.

Is there a requirement for min. hours of face to face in person attendance on a weekday incl. evening to classify as “in-attendance”?

Currently, no — there is no explicit minimum requirement; however, there is an expectation that weekday attendance is regular.

Requirements to attend solely at weekends, during vacation periods, entirely online, or on an occasional basis (including once‑termly or fortnightly attendance) do not normally meet the regulatory threshold for in‑attendance study.

We typically consider a course to be full‑time where students are engaged in study on most days and for the majority of weeks in the academic year. This will normally involve at least 24 weeks of structured activity and an average workload of around 21 hours per week during term time, inclusive of taught sessions, independent study, and other learning activities.

Further to this, is there a min. % threshold of face to face in person attendance required for a course to be classified as in-person either on a weekly basis or across an academic year?

There is no defined minimum attendance expressed as a percentage for in‑attendance study. Instead, there is an expectation of regular weekday attendance.

Delivery models based on weekend‑only study, attendance during vacation periods, fully online provision, or intermittent attendance (for example, once‑termly or fortnightly) will not normally meet the in‑attendance threshold.

Assessments, extensions, changes of circumstances and other academic enquiries

You do not need to submit an Extenuating Circumstances claim for assessments as we have agreed an automatic 7-day extension to all assessments.

Your deadline date will not change on SOL, but all students on all assessments up to 31 July will have an additional 7 days without a cap being applied.

Please use your normal submission link to submit your assessments.

Students with TCAs/exams can apply for a deferral via an Extenuating Circumstances claim which will be approved without the need to provide additional evidence.

Please note that if you defer at second sitting it will go to a repeat (or trailing module) automatically as we do not carry deferrals into the next year.

For students who are moving to an evening face to face class on campus, in addition to the existing Saturday on campus, you will not largely be changing the students you study with and should have adequate opportunity to interact with your assessment group members on the Saturday.

If you have elected to keep your current timetable and delivery mode, you will still have good opportunity to interact with group members on a Saturday on campus.

If you have chosen to switch to a different mode of delivery e.g. daytime you have the chance either to stay with existing assessment groups and make arrangements to co-ordinate with them separately outside of lessons or to join a different assessment group which the academic team can help facilitate.

If you still have any questions or concerns, please let QAHE know through the FA inbox.

Further support

You have the right under data protection legislation to request access to your personal data processed by the University. This is known as a data subject access request or a DSAR. If you submit a DSAR, the University will provide copies of your personal data that is held within our own systems and records in accordance with the data protection legislation.

Please note that the right of access is limited to your personal data contained within the University’s records. Your right to access does not extend to the totality of the documents containing your personal data or to the original documents themselves. This might mean you get new documents that only contain your information, or original documents with certain information removed or edited out (i.e. redacted). Personal data in some circumstances may also be withheld subject to certain exemptions set out in data protection legislation, where applicable.

DSARs only cover information processed by the University. This means:

Information processed by external organisations such as the Student Loans Company (SLC) (for example, your records on their course management system) cannot be provided by the University as we do not hold this information.
To access information held by external organisations such as the SLC, you would need to make a separate DSAR directly to them.

The University aims to respond to DSARs within one month in line with data protection legislation. In some cases—such as complex requests or where multiple requests are made—the statutory timescale may be extended to up to three months. If an extension is needed, we will let you know within the first month.

Further information about how to make a DSAR is available here:
https://www.solent.ac.uk/about/our-policies-and-legal-information/our-policies/data-protection-freedom-of-information

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), you can request general (non‑personal) information held by the University. We aim to provide as much information as possible, but some information may be withheld where the exemptions set out in the FOIA apply.

For example, your request may be partially or fully refused in situations such as:

Ongoing or potential legal proceedings, where disclosure could prejudice the case.
Where providing the information would create an unreasonable burden on the University (for example, if locating or compiling it would exceed the appropriate cost limit).
Where the information is commercially sensitive, and disclosure could harm the University’s or a third party’s commercial interests.

If an exemption or limitation is applied, the University will issue a refusal notice in line with the FOIA, explaining why the information has been withheld with reference to the appropriate section of the FOIA.

FOI requests are normally responded to within 20 working days, unless an extension under FOIA applies. You will be notified in the event an extension applies.

Further information about how to make a request is available here:
https://www.solent.ac.uk/about/our-policies-and-legal-information/our-policies/data-protection-freedom-of-information

The University objects to the view of the DfE that courses with in-person attendance on weekends cannot be classified as in-attendance courses.

We are extremely concerned that maintenance loan payments to a number of our students have been abruptly blocked, putting them at risk of financial hardship, and that the position regarding repayments of targeted grants and future maintenance entitlements remain unclear.

We are currently taking legal action on this matter to challenge the decision by the DfE and SLC. We are also engaging with the SLC on a regular basis (at least weekly) to press them to provide clarity and a fair and reasonable process to resolve the position for each affected student as quickly as possible so that the outcome is affordable and enables each student to complete their studies.

We continue to work closely with our delivery partner and Students’ Union to provide appropriate support and advice to impacted students.

Your wellbeing, and clear and open communication with you remain our priority.