Registration status & funding implicationsVoluntary Suspension for medical or caring reasons
If you need to take a period of Voluntary Suspension for medical reasons or to care for someone, this may affect your funding.
Voluntary Suspension for medical or caring reasons may be taken for a whole academic year, Semester 1 only, Semester 2 only, or across two consecutive academic years i.e., Semester 2 of a session and Semester 1 of the next session.
What happens next and the level of funding available will depend on the policy of your funding body.
SAAS (Student Awards Agency Scotland)
If you start your course and must suspend your studies for medical or caring reasons, SAAS may continue to fund you for the rest of the academic year.
If you need to suspend your studies for a full academic year, SAAS will not pay you any funding during this time.
When you go into Voluntary Suspension (Medical/Caring) we report this to SAAS and give them your last date of attendance, if you have attended at least 1 day of the academic year you will continue getting your funding to the end of that academic year. If you have your tuition fees paid and/or take a bursary this will use your plus 1 year of funding so it is worth considering if you may need this at another point of your course.
If your Voluntary Suspension (Medical/Caring) spans more than one academic year the funding in the second year will be affected.
SAAS only offers continued funding for one approved absence during your studies, so if your Voluntary Suspension (Medical/Caring) goes into the next academic year your funding will stop at the end of the academic year you went into suspension, and it will not start again until you return to your studies.
If you take a second period of Voluntary Suspension (Medical/Caring) during your studies, you will not receive any funding from SAAS during this period.
- You take Voluntary Suspension (Medical/Caring) for the whole academic year (either applied for in advance or retrospectively)
You will not be eligible to a maintenance Loan, bursary and living cost grants. SAAS will not pay anything towards your tuition fees - You take Voluntary Suspension (Medical/Caring) and have been in attendance for at least 1 day of the academic year (either applied for in advance or retrospectively)
You will be entitled to your tuition fee award, maintenance loan, bursary and living cost grants until the end of that academic year. If you aren’t being charged a tuition fee but you take a bursary from SAAS this will use a year of your funding, it is worth considering if you should just take the loan in case you need your plus 1 year in the future.
- You take VS (Medical/Caring) across two consecutive academic years i.e., Semester 2 of the current academic year and Semester 1 of the following academic year
SAAS will pay your tuition fee award, maintenance Loan, bursary and living cost grants for the remainder of the academic year that you go into Voluntary Suspension (Medical/Caring). The following academic year you will not receive any funding until you return to your studies. In this second academic year, if you return to your studies after the 1 December SAAS will not pay anything towards your tuition fees.
Contact us
If you're still unsure of the impact to your funding, you can email financial-support
In your email, please tell us what your registration status is/will be and if applicable the duration, and if you have previously had funding for a repeat year or Voluntary Suspension for medical reasons.
Student Finance England, Student Finance Wales & Student Finance Northern Ireland
When you go into Voluntary Suspension (Medical/Caring), we tell your funding body, and we give them your last date of attendance. You will be entitled to receive maintenance loan support for 60 calendar days from the last date of attendance.
If your Voluntary Suspension (Medical/Caring) period is longer than 60 days, you must contact your funding body and send further evidence to support this.
Tuition fee loan
Below is a table showing the tuition fee loan amount your funding body will pay us depending on what term your last date of attendance is in.
| Term your last date of attendance is in | Tuition fee loan they will pay |
|---|---|
| 1 | £2,312.50 |
| 2 | £4,625 |
| 3 | £9,250 |
Contact us
If you're still unsure of the impact to your funding, you can email financial-support
In your email, please tell us what your registration status is/will be and if applicable the duration, and if you have previously had funding for a repeat year or Voluntary Suspension for medical reasons.