Collective letter to LSST and BNU

Without prejudice

To whom it may concern,

We, the undersigned weekend students enrolled at LSST Wembley — a satellite college operating under a franchise agreement with Buckinghamshire New University (BNU) as the awarding body — write to you collectively and urgently regarding the imminent freeze of our Maintenance Loan second payment, currently scheduled for 27 April 2026, and regarding the wider financial harm we now face as a direct consequence of institutional failure on the part of LSST and BNU.

We note that on 27 March 2026, Wonkhe published a major analysis confirming that this situation is a national, systemic crisis affecting approximately 22,000 students across 15 providers, with £190 million in payments at stake. Secretary of State Bridget Phillipson has stated publicly: "This is not students' fault. Too many organisations have let their students down, through either incompetence or abuse of the system." We agree, and we hold LSST and BNU directly responsible for the harm we are now facing.

We wish to draw your attention to the following sequence of events and the institutional failure that has placed us in this situation:

1. Following the DfE's decision (August/December 2025) that weekend students are not entitled to the Maintenance Loan, LSST asked us, on 8 February 2026, to complete a form indicating our preference for a hybrid attendance model: one weekend day and one weekday. We completed this form in good faith, on the basis of LSST's own communication.
2. On the basis of that communication, we enrolled and began the new academic year on 28 February 2026 in good faith, expecting that the hybrid timetable would be implemented by LSST as promised. No weekday classes have materialised to date.
3. We have now received a letter from the Student Loans Company (SLC) confirming that our second Maintenance Loan instalment — due on 27 April 2026 — will be frozen on the grounds that we are classified as weekend students, not full-time students.
4. We understand that the first instalment, already received, is now classified as an overpayment subject to recovery by the SLC. This liability falls on us solely because LSST and BNU failed to implement the hybrid timetable they communicated to us — and failed to classify this course correctly for student finance purposes in the first place.
5. As of 30 March 2026, LSST has failed to organise or communicate any weekday classes for us, either under the BNU hybrid model (one weekend day + one weekday) or under the DfE-required model (both days during the week). This failure is entirely institutional.
6. On 26 March 2026, BNU's Weekend Student Support Team wrote to us directly, acknowledging the SLC's communication and stating: “We are currently considering a number of options to support affected students, including moving to a revised delivery schedule to satisfy the DfE's requirements for in-person delivery.” BNU further committed to share “further information with you as early as possible next week.” That commitment has not been honoured. No revised delivery schedule, timetable, or implementation plan has been communicated to us.
7. On the same date, LSST Registry circulated a further message explicitly described as issued by BNU — referred to therein as “your awarding body, Buckinghamshire New University” — committing to share further information “before your next maintenance payment is due to be made by the SLC.” That commitment has also not been honoured.
8. On 28 March 2026, BNU's Weekend Student Support Team wrote again, directing students to a set of FAQs. No timetable, no implementation plan, and no concrete next step was offered. This was the entirety of BNU's response to two written commitments made two days earlier — and constitutes a further breach of those commitments.
9. We are in receipt of written correspondence from Student Finance England, dated March 2026, which states in explicit terms: "Your university has made an error when providing your course details to us. Unfortunately, they didn't tell us you only attended on the weekend." This is not our characterisation — it is the Student Loans Company's own formal finding. The same letter confirms that LSST is already in the process of submitting corrected course details to the SLC, having done so without communicating anything to the affected students. We find it unacceptable that LSST has engaged with the SLC on this matter while leaving students uninformed and without support.

We draw your attention to two matters of particular legal significance.

First, BNU bears primary legal responsibility as the awarding body. LSST Wembley operates as a satellite college under a franchise agreement with BNU. It is BNU — not LSST — that holds degree-awarding powers, bears registration with the Office for Students, and is the contracting party with the Student Loans Company. It is BNU's regulatory duty, as awarding body and franchise holder, to ensure that courses delivered by its satellite colleges are compliant with student finance eligibility requirements. That duty was not discharged. We note that the Student Loans Company's own correspondence with affected students refers to "your university" — in SLC terms, that university is BNU. BNU cannot discharge its regulatory obligations by pointing to LSST as the delivery partner: accountability flows upward to the awarding body. We hold BNU primarily responsible for this situation and address this letter to BNU senior management simultaneously.

Second, we rely on our rights under consumer protection law, including the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. We were enrolled on a course marketed and classified as eligible for full Maintenance Loan support. That classification was wrong. We were not informed of the DfE's eligibility change before the start of the academic year on 28 February 2026, which denied us the opportunity to seek alternative arrangements. A representation — explicit or implied — that we were entitled to a Maintenance Loan when we were not constitutes a misrepresentation that may ground both a formal complaint and a claim for damages.

We also note that under Regulation 119 of the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011, the Secretary of State has statutory discretion not to require repayment of maintenance overpayments, particularly where students received funds in good faith and on the basis of provider information. We enrolled in good faith. The good faith argument is, on the DfE's own guidance, a factor the Secretary of State is legally required to weigh.

We are also acutely aware that the DfE has instructed affected providers to submit Change of Circumstance notifications to the SLC between 6 and 17 April 2026. This is the mechanism that would formally reclassify us as distance-learning students and block all future maintenance payments. We require action from LSST and BNU before this window opens.

We therefore formally request that LSST and BNU provide, by 12:00 on Thursday 2 April 2026:

1. A confirmed weekday timetable for all affected weekend students, satisfying the DfE's eligibility criteria for the Maintenance Loan, to be implemented with immediate effect; and
2. Written confirmation that LSST and BNU will notify the Student Loans Company of this timetable, and take all steps necessary to prevent the Change of Circumstance notification from being submitted against our student records during the 6–17 April 2026 window; and
3. A written statement from BNU on what hardship support and redress it will make available to students who have been financially harmed by this situation, in line with the Secretary of State's public expectation and the DfE letter to providers.

We wish to resolve this matter swiftly and constructively, and we remain available to meet with you at the earliest opportunity.

Yours sincerely,