Suspending or withdrawing from study: financial considerations

You may be thinking about suspending or withdrawing from your studies for financial reasons. If so, you should contact the Money Advice and Funding Team. They can discuss possible financial support with you.

We offer emergency and hardship funds for students who are experiencing financial difficulty. 

Financial impact of suspending or withdrawing 

Eligibility for student funding 

If you are a home-fee-paying undergraduate student, studying your first degree. You are eligible for student funding for the duration of your course plus one year if you are:

• a home-fee-paying undergraduate student
and
• studying your first degree.

For example, if you are studying a three-year BSc, you are entitled to four years of funding. 

Suspending or withdrawing can impact on your funding if you return to study. 

You will receive full funding when you return to study if:

• You have not already used up your "plus one" year of funding
and
• you do not have any previous years of study before starting the course. 

If you have used up your "plus one" year of funding, you would be eligible for a maintenance loan only when you return. You would not be eligible for a tuition fee loan. 

You are normally only entitled to student funding for your first higher education course.

Exceptional circumstances

If you are suspending/withdrawing due to ill health or exceptional circumstances, you can apply with compelling personal reasons to get the tuition fee loan reinstated. Essentially, you can ask the student finance provider to disregard this year as a supplementary year of study.

You would not need to do this at the point of suspension/withdrawal. It would be wise to keep hold of any medical evidence you have from this year in case you need it in the future. Contact the Money Advice and Funding team for help and advice.

Bursary or scholarship payments

When you suspend or withdraw, you do not need to pay back any University of Bristol Bursary payment you have received. You will not receive any future instalments that have not yet been paid.

If you have been awarded any other bursary, scholarship or fee waiver, speak to the Money Advice and Funding team. They can help you understand what may happen.

Notifying the Student Loans Company (SLC)

Suspending or withdrawing from study may affect your eligibility for funding and student loans. It can take the University up to eight weeks to notify the SLC of a change in your circumstances. It can then take more time for the Student Loans Company to process the changes. Your funding may be affected during this process.

Repaying tuition fees and maintenance loan

You are only entitled to a maintenance loan or grant for living costs for the time you are registered as an attending student. If you suspend or withdraw from your studies, you will probably have to pay some money back.

Your student finance provider will adjust your entitlement based on your last date of attendance. They will calculate any overpayment you may have received and will contact you to discuss repayment. If you do not repay, your overpayment will be deducted from the funding you are due to receive in future years. Should this arise, the Money Advice and Funding Team can help you complete an SFE Hardship Fund form for every year of your studies. This overpayment will then be moved from year to year.

 When you suspend or withdraw, your tuition fee liability will be recalculated using your last date of attendance. The following table applies to most undergraduate courses at the university. Please note that some students will be subject to a different refund policy. Students studying for a PGCE should refer to their school policy.

Your last date of attendance	% of tuition fee liability	% of tuition fee refunded
First two weeks of 1st term	0%	100%
Third week of 1st term to before start of 2nd term	25%	75%
On or after start of 2nd term to before start of 3rd term	50%	50%
On or after start of 3rd term	100%	0%

How to suspend or withdraw from your studies 

You should read our full guidance on withdrawing from or suspending your studies. 

Once we have confirmed your suspension or withdrawal, we will inform your student finance provider of your last day of attendance. The student finance provider usually takes around six weeks to process this change of circumstances. After this point, they will get in touch with you about any overpayments you have received. This includes any maintenance loan payment you have received that covers beyond your last date of attendance. You may also receive your next maintenance loan instalment during these six weeks. In this case you will need to repay in full. 

You can keep 60 days’ worth of overpayment of maintenance loan if your suspension is due to:

• ill health
• pregnancy.

These 60 days are counted from your last day of attendance. 

Returning to study 

You should apply for student finance as early as possible before you return to study to avoid delays. 

When you return after a suspension, the tuition fee loan will usually be calculated on a pro-rata basis. You should get the full maintenance loan. This is because you will remain on a full-time course code, even if you are studying as a part-time variable student. Do not apply for part-time student finance funding. If you are registered part-time on your supplementary year, apply for full-time funding as normal. 

Think ahead about where you will live on your return. If you are struggling financially on your return to study, you may wish to apply to the Financial Assistance Fund.