Deferred students: If you have changed your financial support to students since they applied, which bursary should you give them?
Any change to your support package will mean that there is a different support package in place when deferred students start their studies than was available when they applied. So which package should you give them – the one available in their year of entry or in their year of application?
OFFA guidance
Our position is that it is for individual institutions to decide which support package to give to deferred students. You should make your decision on the basis of reasonableness, timing and the clarity of information you have given to deferred students, particularly if your financial support has decreased.
It may be reasonable to change your financial support for deferred students
We think it is reasonable to change the financial support you offer to deferred students provided that:
- you alerted deferred students to any negative changes within a timetable that would have reasonably allowed them to apply elsewhere and/or
- there were caveats in your original offer that your financial support might change, or was not finalised.
However, we do not think it would be reasonable to change your financial support offer if such caveats existed only in the small print. Nor do we think institutions should expect applicants to be unreasonably proactive in finding out about changes to their financial support entitlement.
We encourage you to consult your student union
We would encourage you to test your position with your student union before deciding which financial support package your deferred students are eligible to receive. We will also be happy to discuss the reasonableness of your draft policies. Please be aware that if a deferred student decides to challenge you on the level of financial support you are offering and you cannot resolve the matter to their satisfaction, they may take the matter before the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education.
Looking to the future
Going forward, you need to make sure that:
- you provide clear and accessible information on what financial support package deferred students can expect, preferably direct to deferred students
- this information should make it clear to students that your financial support package is linked either to their year of entry or their year of application (whichever you decide)
- if, when you offer a deferred student a place, you have not yet finalised the financial support package that will apply to their year of entry, you need to give them full details as soon as the package has been finalised.