I got a £10,000 loan for my nursing degree. Now they say it's an error and I have to pay it back

Until recently, David Robinson was happy in the knowledge that the nursing degree he finished last year had been a worthwhile investment to move him along in his career with the NHS.

He had used an NHS bursary and drew on his own savings to fund his time at university, as well as successfully applying for a tuition fee loan. He was also approved for a £10,538 maintenance loan to help pay for his living costs.

But on Wednesday, he received an email from his university which left him shaken. It said his one-year postgraduate diploma in adult nursing had actually been ineligible for maintenance loans and grants, and that all the money he received would need to be repaid at "a revised and accelerated" rate.

This week, BBC News reported that 22,000 students on weekend courses had received letters from the Student Loans Company (SLC) or their universities informing them that their courses had actually been ineligible for the loans and grants they had successfully applied for.

Although Robinson's course was not just weekend-taught, he has also been caught out. The course was full-time, including several months of clinical placements.

But the BBC understands his course has fallen on the wrong side of regulations which spell out that one-year postgraduate courses are not routinely funded.

In a joint statement, some of the affected universities said they were "extremely concerned" by the move and were considering a legal challenge. Supporting impacted students would be their primary focus while the situation was reviewed, they said.

In a statement sent to the BBC earlier this week, the SLC said a small number of institutions had "incorrectly categorised courses that are distance learning", adding that it would work with students to put in place "affordable repayment plans" where appropriate.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the situation was "not students' fault", and that many institutions had let them down "through either incompetence or abuse of the system".

"Universities must take immediate action to support students who will face financial difficulties as a result," she said.

'It doesn't make any sense'

Robinson had completed his degree in summer 2025 at Edge Hill University in Liverpool to top up his existing nursing qualifications.

This week, Robinson received an email from the university, which the BBC has seen, saying the SLC had recently decided the course didn't qualify for maintenance loans.

The email said: "We expect that the SLC's 'overpayment notification letter' will request immediate payment of your outstanding maintenance loan balances."

It added the university had been assured this would be through an affordable payment plan.

"I was concerned, I can only repay what I can afford," said Robinson, who is now back working as an NHS nurse.

"It just doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever, and it may not instil any confidence in people wanting to undertake the course that I have done, and be a nurse."

He said he believes the loans should be repaid on the terms on which they were originally issued.

In its email, the university said it wanted to reassure students their qualification was unaffected and "remains fully recognised".

It added that it would be continuing to argue the case with the SLC.

"Further support is being provided for current students whose studies could otherwise have been disrupted by financial hardship," a spokesperson added.

'We all went into a bit of a panic'

Teaching assistant Lou Osborne resat her GCSE maths and science exams so she could take her education degree at the University of Sunderland.

"I've always wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember," she said.

She said the accelerated two-year course, which involves written assessments and Saturday lectures, had been "amazing".

She had been due to graduate in 2027, leaving her one final 12-week assessment away from becoming a qualified teacher.

But this week, all the students on the course received a similar email to Robinson.

"We all went into a bit of a panic," Osborne said.

"We're all working full-time and can't afford not to work full-time.

"We're paying into the economy by working and are now told, 'You don't deserve help because you're part-time.'"

She had been approved by the SLC for a maintenance loan of £3,500, which she has used for books and transport costs.

When she called the SLC to find out more, she said she was told the money had to be repaid "immediately" with interest, and that a longer-term repayment was off the table.

"It's not a handout, we know we have to pay it back," Osborne said.

Like many of the students the BBC has spoken to, she said she could understand if the rules had changed for the next academic year, but argued that it was unfair to retrospectively ask for money back which had previously been approved.

A spokesperson for the University of Sunderland confirmed that its part-time education studies course had been classified as distance learning and was therefore ineligible for maintenance loans.

"We have contacted the affected students to inform them and are offering support," they said.

A mum-of-three in her fifties, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity, said she had studied for her degree at a franchised college in London.

Her health and social care course, which lasts four years including a foundation course, is due to be awarded by Oxford Brookes University. It's one of the weekend courses caught up in this latest row.

The teaching is delivered under contract by a private company at weekends in a small campus in east London.

In its accounts, the company says it aims to deliver education that is "worth every penny".

But the student said she had received an email on 26 March saying she wouldn't receive the last installment of her maintenance loan for this year, and may need to repay the rest.

She said the first bit of news was "shocking" - and the second "devastating".

In the two years spent on the course, she has received the maximum maintenance, so now faces the prospect of agreeing a repayment plan of more than £20,000.

"The first thing was the mental pressure, the stress, and then the physical impact," she said.

"I couldn't sleep, I was feeling dizzy."

She said her son was now at a top university paying the same fees as the small franchised operator where she had been learning.

She said the government had the right to decide which courses were value for money, and therefore eligible for student loans, but said she was upset by the retrospective change in which students who had signed up for courses and got part-way through were now being asked to repay.

She told the BBC she was now looking for a job.

When approached by BBC News, a spokesperson for Oxford Brookes referred to the joint statement from some of the affected universities, which said they had "urgently" raised their concerns with the government, adding that it was "important that this matter is resolved by the relevant agencies with both sensitivity and clarity".

"While this situation is being reviewed, communication with, and support of, all students who may be affected is our primary focus," they added.

A spokesperson for Universities UK, which represents institutions across the country, said they recognised how "distressing" the situation was for affected students, and that universities were considering how best to support them.

"We will continue to work collaboratively with the Department for Education and Student Loans Company to understand how we can support the students impacted going forwards, and we encourage those affected to get in touch with their university to explore their options," they said.

Additional reporting by Hope Rhodes