Courses

Q1: Please clarify if the part-time postgraduate (PG) loan students will have their payments blocked? The guidance referred to just talks about full-time undergraduate (UG).

A: Part time master’s and doctoral courses funded by postgraduate loans are not in scope of this exercise, they do not attract Maintenance Loan.

Q2: Do we set up the new distance learning course from the start of the course i.e. first year was 2023/24?

A: Yes, the course needs to be created for 2023/24 and rolled over each year until 2025/26 if the course is still active. Please check that each course is set up for the appropriate campus or franchise location and for each relevant cohort.

Q3: PG students, on standard master’s courses (as opposed to PG courses that attract UG funding), are not eligible for maintenance support, but they are eligible for master’s loans (for both in attendance and distance learning courses). If postgraduate students are moved to a distance‑learning course, will their Master’s funding be blocked, or will it remain available as master’s loans are still payable for distance‑learning provision, subject to personal eligibility? 

A: Should postgraduate students move to a distance-learning course their masters funding will not be blocked. Master’s and doctoral courses funded by postgraduate loans are not in scope of this exercise.

Q4: Can SLC confirm the definition of 'this academic year' (AY) for reassessment purposes? Is the department using the 2025/26 Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), academic year (1 August 2025 - 31 July 2026)

A: Yes, the academic year will be from 1 August 2025  to 31 July 2026.

Q5. Should students who started in 2024/25 but are active in 2025/26 (e.g. those who started in June 2025) be included in the reassessment population?

A: Yes, these students will be included in any reassessments.

Q6: The comms state that SLC will notify us once the initial transfer to the weekend only course has been actioned. Can you please confirm how we will be notified?

A: You no longer need to submit a further CoC to transfer students to an in-attendance course. Please submit student details on a pro forma. We’ll use the pro forma information to correct the accounts.

Q7: If a weekend only student moved from Saturday/Sunday to Saturday (longer day) and Friday evening, still exclude them from the maintenance loan?

A: No, but to be eligible the student must be in attendance in-person on the Friday evening. DfE normally considers regular weekday attendance to mean at least once per week of required, scheduled attendance for learning or professional practice during Monday to Friday.

Q8: If we identified a franchised PG programme which is delivered online and was not set up with the distance learning flag on the Courses Management Service (CMS), what would be best way correct these records?

A: Master’s and doctoral courses funded by postgraduate loans are not in scope of this exercise. To correct these courses to reflect the distance learning flag, you will need to set up a new course indicating the distance learning attribute and transfer your students to this course.

Q9: With regard to switchers (i.e. those that switch eligible courses), will there be any additional requirements with regard to attendance monitoring or is it as per normal attendance monitoring processes?

A: We expect providers to have robust attendance monitoring processes in place for all students on all courses. The DfE confirmed in their letter that they or the SLC may want to see further assurance around oversight, governance and quality assurance arrangements in this regard.

Q10: For students who withdrew from their studies prior to the Secretary of State letter in December 2025, would providers be expected to contact former students who are not currently studying with us to inform them of the clawbacks?

A: Students who have been studying on affected weekend-only courses that are active in AY 2025/26 are in scope of the current instruction SLC has received from the DfE. We will be requesting Change of Circumstances (CoCs) for these students. SLC will inform these students of any overpayments due.

Q11: The letter instructs us to identify all students who have not regularly attended on weekdays this academic year (i.e. 2025/26). Does this include students who have already completed or withdrawn during the academic year?

A: Yes, providers should provide the SSNs for students attached to courses that were active in AY 2025/26.

Q12: How should we correct the records of students who decide to move to a weekend plus a weekday in-attendance course after they’ve been moved to the distance learning course?

A: We'll ask you to submit a pro forma to correct students transferring from a distance learning course to in-attendance. We'll then perform the reinstatement work to move all these students back to the original course.'

Q13: Final year students impacted who only have supervisory sessions left that are not timetabled (either in-person or online), is the expectation now that sessions need to be timetabled in-person on a weekday for these students to become eligible for maintenance loan and targeted grants for the remaining 6 weeks of their studies?

A: Providers should assure themselves that the course meets the regulatory requirements of an in-attendance course, including requiring regular, weekday in-person attendance. We expect providers to ensure these attendance requirements are followed by students, with robust monitoring arrangements in place that evidence regular weekday in-person delivery.

While we recognise that there may occasionally be valid reasons for non-attendance, we expect providers to hold records demonstrating that students are attending the vast majority of required weekday sessions and to inform the SLC promptly where this is not occurring.

We recognise that for some courses it's clear in the course design that there a different delivery patterns towards the end of academic years. If that is the case, then students transferring should meet the course requirements that are relevant at that point of the academic cycle. No additional requirements are needed for these students.