Interrupting your studies means you are taking a break from your course with the intention of returning later. 

For students on a taught programme (bachelors or masters degree), returns from an interruption usually occur at the corresponding term in the next academic year. 

Withdrawing from your studies means that you do not wish to continue your course and you do not intend to come back at a later date to study your current course. 

Interrupting or withdrawing from your course will have an impact on your current or future funding and therefore before submitting a request to do either you need to consider 

• If you are receiving a student loan, will funding for your current or future studies be impacted? 
• The date on which you submit your request to interrupt or withdraw from your studies will have an impact on your tuition fee liability and any potential refund you are due
• You may still need to pay accommodation costs either to the University or to private providers
• How will you meet your costs of living going forward? 

The below details the impact that interrupting or withdrawing from your course will have on your student loan that is provided by Student Finance England (SFE). This guidance is specific to students studying an Undergraduate course.

Understanding your basic entitlement to a tuition fee loan

The length of time that you are entitled to access a tuition fee loan for an undergraduate course from SFE is calculated as follows. 

Length of the course you are enrolled on + 1 year - any previous years of study at degree level. 

For example, if you are studying a 3 year undergraduate course and you've not previously studied at degree level then you are entitled to 4 years of tuition fee loans via SFE (3+1-0 = 4). 

Enrolling for an academic year counts as 1 year of your entitlement

As soon as you enrol at the start of any academic year, SFE deem that you have used 1 year of your entitlement to tuition fee loans. Therefore, even if you choose to interrupt or withdraw from your course shortly after having completed enrolment or at any point throughout that academic year, you will have used a full year of eligible funding towards a tuition fee loan. 

Interrupting or withdrawing before the start of the academic year

If you choose to interrupt or withdraw from your course before the start of an academic year then this won't count towards the calculation stated above.

For example, if you complete year 1 of a 3 year degree but choose to interrupt before the start of your 2nd year of study, then you will have used 1 year of your entitlement to tuition fee funding. 

Returning to study and your eligibility for a tuition fee loan

When returning to study, SFE will use the calculation above to check whether you are still eligible for a tuition fee loan. 

You are likely to be eligible for a tuition fee loan when you return to study if 

• This was your first interruption from study; and
• You have not previously repeated a year (or part of a year) of study; and 
• This is the first degree programme that you've studied

However, you are unlikely to be eligible for a further tuition fee loan for at least 1 year of any future study if 

• This is not your first period of interruption; or
• You have previously repeated a year (or part of a year) of study; or 
• This isn't your first degree programme

If you are concerned that you may not be eligible for a tuition fee loan for at least part of any future study then we recommend you contact us before you interrupt your studies and/or at least 3 months before you plan to return. 

Additional entitlement to tuition fee loans can be requested as a result of compelling personal reasons i.e. poor health that meant you needed to interrupt or withdraw from your course, but the process of making this request to SFE can be lengthy and at times confusing. We advise all students in this situation to contact Financial Wellbeing for further support.

Overpayments of Maintenance Loans

SFE will reassess your entitlement to a maintenance loan following an interruption or withdrawal from your course. Any loans paid to you during a period when you are no longer attending your course will be reassessed and may result in an overpayment calculation. SFE will ask for any overpayment to be repaid to them either from future payments or immediately (see below). 

Recovering overpayments after you return to study 

If you have interrupted your course, any overpayment of the maintenance loan that resulted from you taking a break from your studies will usually be recovered from future maintenance loan payments due to be made to you in the year that you return to study. 

For example, if you received a £3000 overpayment during the year that you interrupted your study and you were assessed as being eligible to receive a £9000 maintenance loan in the year that you return, then you will receive £6000 in maintenance loan for that year (£9000 - £3000 = £6000). 

Recovering overpayments where you withdraw permanently 

If you withdraw from your course, you will receive a payment schedule letter detailing the amounts to be recovered. You can repay in instalments (at the agreement of SFE) or as a lump sum. Recovery of an overpayment is a separate process from the normal income-contingent loan repayments that you make when you complete a course.

Interruptions 

If you are receiving a Postgraduate Master’s Loan or Postgraduate Doctoral Loan from Student Finance and take an interruption of study then your loan will be paused from the date of interruption.

Your loan payments will recommence at the point that you return to study. 

Please note that you cannot receive Postgraduate Master’s Loan or Postgraduate Doctoral Loan funding for any repeat periods of study.

Withdrawals

If you choose to withdraw from your course then your loan payments will stop immediately. 

Postgraduate Master's or Doctoral Loans are usually only awarded once. However, if you withdraw from your course for 'compelling personal reasons' and you are able to provide evidence of this to Student Finance, then you may be eligible to receive further funding for a new course of study.

Fee refunds occurring following withdrawal or interruption of study will only be actioned once the appropriate form has been completed by the student and department and processed into the student records system by Student Administration in line with the relevant student fees policies

Before submitting an application for an interruption of study or withdrawal during an academic year, we strongly recommend that you contact the Student Fees team to understand

• your current liability for fees
• how that liability will change over time
• any refund that you may be eligible for 
• how that refund will be paid or otherwise reflected on your account 

Living in Royal Holloway Halls of Residence

Students who withdraw from or interrupt their studies are no longer eligible to reside in College accommodation, and are required to leave their room in Halls, as are students who are suspended, interrupted or terminated as a misconduct sanction.

Those students who withdraw or interrupt their studies and are living in Halls of Residence, as well as submitting the request to change their student status, must also submit a Notice to Leave Accommodation form. 

Once you have submitted this form you will have 28 days in which to vacate your room and check out at your Hall’s Reception.

In all cases, you will remain liable for any accommodation costs either

• up to the date on which you vacate your room and check out at your Halls Reception; or
• the date on which your student status changes as a result of the interruption or withdrawal,

whichever date is later.

We recommend students read the relevant accommodation policy and contact the Student Services Centre should they have any questions.

Living in private rented accommodation

If you are living in private rented accommodation then you must check the conditions of the tenancy agreement/contract you signed to see what (if any) option you having for ending that contract part way through its duration. 

In some instances, you may find that your tenancy agreement provides a 'break clause' or that if you are able to find a suitable person to replace you on the contract that the landlord will be happy for them to take over your liability for the rent. 

The Royal Holloway Students' Union can provide you with advice about private housing and check the details of your tenancy agreement. 

In most cases, any financial support that you were receiving via an SFE loan will end after you interrupt or withdraw from your course (see exceptions below). 

Any bursary and scholarship payments that you were due to be paid by the University will also stop at the point you interrupt/withdraw.

If you are receiving funding from other external sources you will need to contact them directly to check what impact your change in status will have. 

The below details some of the options you may have to help meet your costs of living after submitting a request to interrupt or withdraw from your course. This list is not exhaustive and we strongly recommend that you contact Financial Wellbeing for advice specific to your circumstances. 

Extension to Student Loan payments due to poor health or other personal reasons

If you interrupt due to poor health or other personal reasons, you can continue to receive your student funding for a further 60 days where you can provide evidence to SFE in support of your request. Please follow the guidance on the page here to request the additional funding. 

Apply for Benefits

While on a period of interruption or having permanently withdrawn from your course, you are no longer considered to be a full-time student. As such, your entitlement to state benefits may change. 

Exactly which benefits you are entitled to claim will depend on your personal and financial circumstances. Using tools such as the Turn2Us benefits calculator may help you to identify which support you are entitled to. 

Council Tax Exemptions 

During a period of interruption from studies, you are still entitled to claim an exemption or disregard from paying council tax as a student.

If you choose to permanently withdraw from your course, you will no longer be disregarded from paying council tax as a student.