Hi I have a question that I'm hoping someone may be able to answer. Some years ago I undertook a degree course with the University of Exeter. Unfortunately I was unable to complete the course but did do enough to claim a Cert of HE. However I had a disagreement with the uni about some fees 'owed' for a field trip and they refused to issue the certificate .... so now we arrive at today - more than 6 years later, when thinking of applying to the Open Uni, I contacted them to get official proof of credits and they still refuse citing the 6/7 year old debt as the reason. I mentioned that the debt would be statute barred by now but they still refused. So I have two questions: 1) Are they within their rights to do this considering the debt is technically/legally not owed anymore? 2) Its possible that i may be having to apply for a DRO in the near future. If i was to do this, and add this debt on to it (even though its now not owed, would they then have to issue the relevant certs/info? If anyone has any info/knowledge/advice they can share I would be most grateful Cheers

Hi everyone, After graduating uni I have applied to a Master scholarship and I have been given one. The university agreed to pay for my full master course and I was to cover 350 hrs of internship during the whole year course. A few months into my degree I had to defer due to health issues. At the time they were encouraging and advised me to freeze the course for a few months and then decide if I want to come back depending on how I feel. When the time came I decided to not continue it and as they heard this they told me I have to pay for the first semester as I did not do enough internship hours to cover that (£1130). Initially I said I am willing to pay but I would like to see the terms and conditions of the scholarship in the case of a referral and our contract signed. There was no contract and no terms and conditions. the only thing they have provided me with was a time sheet where it shows how many hours I've worked as an intern and threats that if I do not pay they will send my details to their debt collectors agency. Please note I never said I will not pay, I just said I will but I need to see the contract and conditions first and make sure that is the case. Next email came from Controlaccount PLC asking me to pay them £1330 on behalf of University College Birmingham. I have ignored their emails and calls until now, yesterday I received a letter for the first time. threatening me that if I do not pay in 14 days they will apply for a CCJ and I will have to pay for court charges plus other fees too. My question is, can they really apply for a CCJ, and if they do will this immediately affect my credit score or only in the case that I do not pay in 30 days after the court decision. I am planning to apply for a mortgage in the future and this worries me. Thank you very much in advance. Alex

Hello, I am new and need advice. I studied at Uni and thought I had paid all my fees in advance (mature student). On xmas eve I received a letter from STA saying I owed £700+. I did not reply as I wanted to speak to my uni when they reopened after xmas on 4th Jan this year. Uni had never contacted me in anyway to chase any outstanding date and this was a bolf out of the blue. I have read online that its best to ignore them, but I have received three letters now and the odd phone call and becoming worried. I left uni and suffer a mental illness, that means I tend to worry and stress. My friends and family support me and tell me to ignore them too, but I feel maybe I should just try to get the money together to get them off my back. Today I received a letter from STA's solicitors stating that 'court proceedings will be issued in the appropriate jurisidiction without further notice' (I Live in England) and I am panicking. Other threads online tell them to ignore everything, but the original people who post about being in my same position, never come back online and say how it all turned out. All advice welcome.

Hi in Sept 2010 I started a p/t degree course. I started the course and then found full time temp job. Jan 2011 found f/t permanent job that meant a lot of study and time away and I could not continue with the Uni course. The course fee was £1920 The Uni gave a grant of £985. I am now being chased by ACT credit for £1920. I haven't contacted them as yet so any suggestions would be helpful. I have the original documents setting out amounts given above.

Hello Hope someone can please give me some advice on my situation. As a mature student I enrolled on an online degree course. At the time of enrollment when I asked about hours of commitment I was advised verbally that 15 hours per week was enough commitment to follow through with the degree course. Eager to start I enrolled and had 14 days from the date of the course date to change my mind. After a while it became clear to me and other students, that the hours we had been advised at the date of enrolment, did not coincide with the course reading lists and activities, as the hours recommended on each exceeded the 15 hours of commitment we had been advised during the enrolment process. A couple of other students and myself voiced our concerns on their online student forum a few weeks into the first semester, to which a student support officer replied, however I did not keep a record of this. The forum is no longer in existence. After the 1st semester it was clear I was not going to be able to maintain the schedule of works as I run my own business and needs must, and therefore dropped out, and was unable to login to to the course content and forum from this point on. I had paid approx half of the years course fee at this stage. The Uni then started to write to me about outstanding debt, to which I pointed out my dis-satisfaction with their enrolment process, and argued I felt 14 days was not enough of a cooling off period for a mature student to re accustom themselves with higher education and a degree course. They advised me of their complaints procedure. I stated before I can undertake their complaints procedure I would like copies of my forum posts and their student officers reply to that so I could include this to their Vice Chancellor in my complaint, I also asked for a copy of the syllabus and schedule of recommended reading and activities, again so I make my case. They refused to give me any information and still hold me accountable for the full years fee despite me not receiving either the full years course content and modules, or a full year of teaching. Each time they wrote to me I wrote back and contested the debt and asked for the information. I made the point again how can they advise someone 15 hours is enough per week to achieve the highest grade on a degree course without any prior knowledge of that individuals academic capability in the course he/she has enrolled for. I argued if I visited a physical university would I be told 15 hours a week was enough to achieve a first place on a degree course. On Feb 25 they wrote to me again advising of their complaints procedure. I wrote to them on the 27th again requesting the information and heard nothing back. In December I received a letter from STA international and have done some research on this forum and believe as the debt is with the Uni I have not taken an agreement out with them and therefore they have no right to chase me for the debt. I emailed the Uni accounts department and they confirmed receipt of my letter but advised me they had told me how to go about their complaints procedure. I told them I had requested information from them and they had no right to pass my debt to an agency. I have an email now form STA international stating: We are a debt collecting agency working on behalf of our client the ****** We have been instructed to collect the above outstanding amount and we have sent you a letter to this effect. To avoid any further costs or legal action you must contact us immediately on 0044 (0) 844 324 0607 quoting your pre-legal reference 1331195. Alternatively you can respond to this email. We await your urgent correspondence. So I wanted to ask: 1.) Should I have done a SARS on the Uni would that have provided me with the forum posts I wish to argue my case with their Vice Principle? 2.) As STA are working on behalf of the Uni does it mean they have a right to enforce the debt? 3.) How should I reply to STA? Or should I ignore? 4.) Is their any claim for mis-advice/information because of the enrolment process? 5.) As I was not able and have not received the full years course content/module and they have provided no service to me can they really enforce the debt? I understand they run a business but the way the lady reeled off the answer of 15 hours when I asked the question, in hindsight I know it was a common question and she knew she was not being entirely honest about the process. I also have a suspicion seeing the number of students who graduate each year on this course compared with the number who start is small, and I suspect their aim for first years is to get everyone on board signed up and then those that falter like me they can sell their debt on. Anyway any answers to my questions would be greatly received. Thanks for your time and assistance.

Hello, Just wondering if someone can give me a clear cut answer regarding my SAAS eligibility, I have had mixed answers :L I was born in England but moved to Scotland when I was young and have lived there for 10 years +. However I have lived in England for the past 4-5years due to my work sending me there. If I move back to Scotland am I eligible for SAAS straight away or will I have to wait? Thank you in advance. Oli

Greetings to everyone! I have read some very helpful threads on this forum on constructive unfair dismissal (CUD) in preparation for my own case. I am keen to share my ongoing case so that, hopefully I can get help and support from you guys, and at the same time, other people might find my experiences with ET useful. Some basic info first: I had been employed FT in a uni in Scotland as a lecturer for over 7 years. I had to resign from my job in Feb 2013, essentially due to bullying by my Head of School aggravating my stress/depression, and the failure of the snr management to deal with my allegations of his bullying and refusal to adjust my contract despite medical evidence. I filed a CUD case on 22/5/13, and currently a case management discussion (CMD) is scheduled for 22/8 - only one day away now! Fashioning after one of the previous cases found on this forum, I have prepared an "Issues for the court" doc as follows: -- 1) Did the Respondent breach the implied term of “trust and confidence” in: a) Failing to consider my health conditions when dealing with my request for 50% contract change, both in May/June 2011 and August/September 2012? b) Failing to make reasonable adjustments to my contract given my medical conditions? c) Failing to follow internal procedures when dealing with my allegations of bullying by my manager? d) Failing to follow internal procedures when conducting a disciplinary investigation against me? And if it did: 2) Was the claimant constructively unfairly dismissed as defined by the Employment Rights Act 1996 section 95 (1) c? -- Of course, the above only provides a glimpse. I will try to provide more details later when I get time. But in the meantime, I would appreciate any opinion whether the "Issues" above appear more or less at the right level of details. b) might appear to be repeating a) but it does highlight a different aspect ("make reasonable adjustments"), or am I reading too much into it? Any comment is appreciated - thanks in advance! AG

Hello, I would really like to do another full time uni or college course because I think now I am in a good place mentally and would be able to do well in it, however I owe student finance from a previous course where I had big problems and had to leave.. would I be able to get more finance? Basically I did a foundation uni course and got finance for it I think it was about £3000 for tuition and about £3500 is maintenance loan which went ok, then moved onto do a full degree Did a few months of the degree and fell into trouble (stuff with my crazy ex and rental contracts etc money wise) I was really behind with the work and thought I wouldn't be able to catch up so agreed with the tutor about doing the course another time (hadn't thought about the student finance situation at the time) having had my tuition fees paid and 2 payments of maintenance loan. well a few weeks after this I get a letter from student finance saying something about me not attending the course and that they wanted the maintenance loan back immediately (£2500 ish) which I just ignored really (like I said I was in a bad place, very depressed and drinking alot I didnt give a damn at the time) Which brings me here, this was 3 years ago and I havnt had any contact with student finance at all since then, obviously I was hoping to get a full time job save up and pay back what I owe but being unskilled with only **** GCSE's I have been unemployed mostly apart from a few temp jobs and saving up is next to impossible. So now I would really like to get back into studying but don't know whether I will be able to get further finance if I apply or what I steps I should take to resolve the debt so I can apply or what, sigh, I worry about phoning the student finance to ask or apply and being told no and then having bailiffs or something turn up to collect the debt. any help very much appreciated. thanks.