Results Day - next steps for those considering repeating, interrupting or course transfers

It’s completely normal for things to feel very uncertain right now, especially if you find yourself in a situation you were not expecting. But there is lots of support available across UCL to help you work through your options. So, take a breath, and remember you don’t have to go through this by yourself.

You might be considering making a structural change to your studies, such as a repetition of the past year, or taking a break altogether. You should discuss these options thoroughly with your department. And if you’re funding your studies through Student Finance, i.e. the student loans available through the UK government, you need to understand what these changes mean for your funding before you make a decision.

Common Changes of Circumstance (CoCs) include repetitions, interruptions & course transfers. UCL is responsible for letting the Student Loans Company (SLC) know about any changes for students who are receiving Student Finance. Your Faculty or Department will do this for you.

Most undergraduates receiving funding through Student Finance get two loans: one for Tuition Fees and one for Maintenance. We’ll look at implications for Tuition Fee Loans first.

Students can typically access a Tuition Fee Loan for every year of their programme, plus one ‘additional year’. However, if you’ve studied at degree level previously, this may impact the entitlement to Tuition Fee Loans going forward. We’ve got more information about this on our Tuition Fee Loan entitlement page.

If you need to repeat, and you’ve not yet used the additional year, then the repetition will automatically use up that additional year. Your Faculty or Department will simply submit a Repetition CoC to the SLC saying you are repeating. You’ll need to apply for your Student Finance for the next academic year as normal, and the Repetition CoC will let SLC know it’s for a repeat year.

So what if you don’t have your ‘additional year’ available, for example if you’ve already repeated a year of study earlier on? Don’t worry – you can still apply to get a further year of Tuition Fee Loan entitlement. Students can claim additional years of Tuition Fee Loan entitlement if they are doing so for Compelling Personal Reasons (CPR). Usually this is an extra step where you have to provide extra evidence about the circumstances which meant that you’ve not made the academic progress you had expected to. 

What about the maintenance loan? This is not affected by previous study in the way that the Tuition Fee Loan is. So, if you are repeating a year, you’ll be able to apply for a Maintenance Loan in the normal way. However, if you are choosing to take a break from your studies, you need to understand that you will stop receiving the Maintenance loan.

At UCL, interruptions cannot be backdated. So it’s really important that you discuss your plans with your academic department early on if you think you want to interrupt. This change will be submitted to SLC via a Suspension CoC. Your Faculty or Department will provide SLC the date you stopped being in study. If you are interrupting for health reasons, you’ll automatically be given up to an extra 60 days of your maintenance loan. If you're interrupting for any other reason, your funding will stop at that point. More information about this is on our Change in Circumstances page.

We understand that this can be complicated. If you want to discuss your funding situation in more detail, or if you think something has gone wrong with your Student Finance record, you can contact the Student Funding Advisory team. We can assist students with a wide range of concerns, and help you find the support you need. Contact us via askUCL.