Committee publication · Correspondence · 2 June 2026
Letter from Southampton Solent University on weekend maintenance loans, dated 20.05.26
From: Education Committee
Summary
Southampton Solent University's Vice-Chancellor writes to the Education Committee Chair regarding the Department for Education's withdrawal of maintenance loans and grants for students on weekend-delivered courses. Over 22,000 students across 15 universities are affected. The letter raises concerns about unexplained eligibility rule distinctions, inadequate implementation processes, Student Loans Company operational failures, and requests urgent clarification on repayment obligations and service improvements.
Key findings
- Over 22,000 students across 15 universities have lost maintenance support for weekend-delivered in-person courses, despite identical or greater contact hours than weekday equivalents.
- The DfE and SLC have provided no coherent justification for treating weekday and weekend courses differently under the 2011 Regulations, contradicting long-established practice.
- Students experienced immediate financial hardship when maintenance support was withdrawn without warning, affecting rent, travel, and essential bills; Government's 20 April reprieve was undermined by subsequent payment delays.
- The Student Loans Company's implementation has been operationally deficient: processes changed repeatedly, deadlines missed, guidance incomplete or issued at short notice, and automated messages contradicted current policy.
- The letter argues this policy undermines widening participation, non-traditional access routes, lifelong learning ambitions, and the Government's Industrial Strategy growth targets.
Tone
CriticalTopics
Key actors
Professor James Knowles, Southampton Solent University, Helen Hayes MP, Department for Education, Student Loans Company, Universities UK, Darren Paffey MP, Saqib Bhatti MP
Notable line
“The withdrawal, without any warning or notice, of maintenance support was a decision that should reasonably have been known to the DfE to risk putting many students into acute financial difficulty and affecting their ability …”
Key Quotes
“… over 22,000 students across 15 universities affected. Many of these students are balancing higher education with employment, caring responsibilities and other commitments, and rely on maintenance loans and targeted grants to meet basic living costs.”
“… there continues to be no coherent explanation for why courses delivered during the week are deemed eligible for student finance, while courses offering the same—or, in some cases, a greater— number of contact hours at weekends are not.”
“The withdrawal, without any warning or notice, of maintenance support was a decision that should reasonably have been known to the DfE to risk putting many students into acute financial difficulty and affecting their ability to meet basic living costs such as rent, travel and essential bills.”
“Processes have been subject to repeated change, key deadlines have not been met, and guidance has often been incomplete or issued at short notice.”
“… this kind of action – notably the apparent lack of understanding of students' lives, and the arguably extraordinarily bizarre interpretation of regular, scheduled, weekend face-to-face teaching as distance learning – leaves questions over how we encourage the very attitudes and support that are needed to meet our economic growth targets.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗