Students who owe debt to the institution
Can I recoup debt from a student by reducing their bursary?
If a student is indebted to your institution, e.g. through unpaid accommodation costs or library fees, we would consider it reasonable for you to offset their bursary against this debt, if you wish to do so.
It is for individual institutions to devise their own rules regarding the administration of financial support. However:
- You should make your offsetting policy clear in the rules of your financial support scheme.
- For students who started their courses before September 2012, only financial support above the minimum bursary should be considered for offsetting.
- Where you offer a bursary for a specific purpose, such as covering the cost of tuition fees, it is not good practice to offset this against a debt incurred in a different area, e.g. accommodation costs.