To not return and use the money?

[Itllneeditsfeet23]

Keen to hear opinions. Genuinely haven’t decided yet.
started a masters course last September. Knew within a week or two it was the wrong decision. Absolutely tried to get transferred but uni were unhelpful and I decided that I would just do the bare minimum and see it through. I needed to do this to meet the terms of a generous conditional PhD funding agreement.

well things have got worse. The lecturer of two of our modules absolutely hates me. They arrange random trips and events and give me a hard time for not attending when I live 2 hrs away and have kids and no friends or family. My childcare closes at 6 what can I do? So I show up to the scheduled lectures about half the time.sometimes I just don’t bother because it’s so expensive and such a ballache to get there. I complete the assignments to a high standard and I’ve produced some really well received project work. Struggle to see the issue personally, but this lecturer constantly picks on me. One day I went and I was 4 minutes late and they started going off at me and trying to make a scene to embarrass me so I just turned around and walked back to the train station.
i don’t think it’s worth it anymore. This place was heavily discounted due to being a first class graduate from the previous year. I hate the uni but stayed because it was the cheapest way to get the MA. Now, if I don’t go back and pay the fees and keep the money from SF due in a couple of weeks I could use it to purchase a big chunk of an online MA and I’d have no commute so I could work more hours per week.
Are there rules against knowingly letting SF pay me then just not paying the uni and not returning?
The course is heavily undersubscribed because it’s shit. It’s not like someone else would have wanted my place anyway. The online MA will be a better option if a bit more expensive I could enrol and begin in Jan.
should I?

Sorry I don’t have any advice but they sound awful. Do whatever you need to do with no guilt, I hope someone will come by with more advice on what’s permitted.

Is it an option to just "not pay the uni"? I would presume since you have taken up the place on the course, you have committed to pay the full fees of the course?

You signed up to a course and don't want to fulfil the requirements. Where you live or your other commitments are irrelevant- you chose the course, so you are required to fulfil the requirements. End of. And utterly irrelevant to your question.

You want to steal from SF, and are asking if it's ok? At a postgraduate level, I would hope you know what the answer to that is.

No, it's not an option just to ghost and take the money instead of paying the uni - you can be pursued by the uni for non-payment all the way to a debt collector and a CCJ.

Of course you can't take the money, it would be fraud and they could ask for it back in full. On the one hand it's not good that they're picking on you. On the other hand, you must've known how far you'd have to travel before you signed up?

So, if the first university withdraw you, they will update SF and depending on the date of last attendance and date of payment you may end up with an overpayment.

If you/they do withdraw rather than transfer, then continue with the second uni online, you would not then be eligible for a second loan. Your only option would be to transfer to retain your loan.

Hope that helps.

@Neriah To clarify. The fees are paid up until this point. I’ve paid a big chunk of them from the first SF payment as they’re due in advance. So at the point of notifying them of withdrawal I would not have received any ‘tuition’ (I use the term loosely) that hadn’t been paid for I’d just be withdrawing and using my SF to transfer to another uni which offered me online. I am having treatment for a serious illness atm so I could justify it that way.

Not true with a masters loan.

MA fees are paid in increments term by term. If you're paid up to date and leave, you have no obligation to carry on paying.

Unlike undergrad loans, postgrad loans are not means tested and come either as a whole or in two parts in quick succession. Once you have it, it is yours.

If your fees are up to date with the uni, leave. Use the rest of the loan to fund the degree elsewhere.

If you feel like your course has been incredibly poor or you have genuine grounds for complaint, submit one to the uni, then to the ombudsman if they don't take you seriously.

Instead of being judgemental, you could just share facts? Sounds like you don’t know them.

@CandyFluff99 of course I knew. But that’s why I booked childcare a don’t work on the two days that the onsite stuff was supposed to occur. I made it manageable and planned ahead. But they move stuff around and expect extra days and dates which obviously doesn’t work. I was open about this. They knew my situation.

Just leave and let student finance know then.

I withdrew from an MA course, because the courses I had signed up for were no longer available. But I did it before the fees (which I was self-funding) were due at about half-term and, to be fair, they kept the place open in case they were able to offer the options that hadn't been available. They weren't. I can't see the point of pursuing a course which isn't working out.

So you need to officially withdraw from the course. They will let SF know and they will write to you to advise you if you need to repay any of the loan. Do not spend the January payment as it is likely you will have to pay it back. But, you should be able to reapply for funding for the new MA, minus any of the allowance you have already used for the first course. Be honest with everyone and it’ll work out fine.

I would make a formal complaint about the lecturer but carry on. Make sure they don’t supervise your dissertation.

@ACynicalDad thanks. I’m not sure how I’ll manage to avoid this. The tutor is one of only two . The group is tiny ( less than 10) I don’t have to go back for 6 weeks and I’m already dreading it. However I’ve already suffered and had plenty of mini breakdowns, migraines and tears so I sort of don’t want to waste what I’ve already endured. I’d like to just do the assignments and send them in. The meetings are horrendous and awkward and all the interesting trips and visitors seem to be on the days they know I can’t be there. Plus I have an illness that causes issues but I haven’t spoken about that because it’s personal and this person despises me so I literally don’t speak to them at all now.

I dont know much abut this area but logically Id contact new uni where you want to do online MA and ask about transferring credits you have from modules at current uni (if its similar to undergrad in that respect)

To clarify for you, you committed to a course, not bite size pieces of it. The fees are due in advance because you are required to pay for the course in advance. It isn't pay as you go. The university are legally entitled to pursue the entire debt, and universties will do so. The contract you signed and entered into freely explains all this, and I assume that, being at postgraduate level, you read what you agreed to before you agreed to it. There is no "justification" for what you are proposing.

If you are honest and tell the truth, that you have chosen a course that does not work for you, they may agree to terminate. But not if you just walk away.

@Neriah you appear to have no idea what you're talking about, and are also being unreasonably rude.

I agree with this.

OP, don’t believe this poster, speak to someone you trust at the university.

Sorry but a masters course us not arranged for the convenience of one student.

When you withdraw the uni will notify SFE and they will calculate how much you will need to pay back if need be. I would not attempt to defraud SFE in anyway. It can have serious consequences. It is not as simple as using it for another course. You need to reapply to see if eligible for that course especially where you have already received some funding for a course you intend to drop out of

Sorry it hasn't worked out how you expected but I very much suspect that like UG degrees timetables are liable to change at any time.

As harsh as it sounds your own personal home, travel and subsequently health does not mean they will change to suit you.

Can you not speak to your GP / consultant for your medical problem and then speak to a different person at the uni and arrange to only go in when you feel able . Surely they are obliged to make reasonable adjustments for illness . Seems a shame to waste what you’ve done so far particularly as you say it’s a good standard .

It seems weird to sign up for a masters in the first place and then say ‘it’s a ball ache’ ‘can’t be bothered’ and that you only show-up to half of lectures. Wouldn’t a PHD be even more demanding of your time? Must be soul destroying for the lecturers if they only have a class of ten students and some don’t turn up.

I hear you and I would also want to throw in the towel if my tutor despised me but I’m also the type who couldn’t wait to finish my degree and never wanted to do a piece of coursework ever again. Doing any further education with children if you have no support is always going to be a challenge.

You would need to check the terms of your place carefully because usually once you have committed to a place for a course you have to pay your fees to conclusion even if you drop out. There should be a student finance team at the university you can speak to to check.

is there someone you could talk to about the lecturers behaviour? Do you have an academic advisor?

I'd be surprised if you were allowed to leave a full masters course part way through without paying the outstanding fees. I have two masters degrees from different universities and it was impressed on students at the point of registration that if you leave during the course, without completing your studies, you are still liable for the remainder of the fees. This was at both universities.

Maybe it does depend on the university you attend, which is why, likes others have suggested, I would be speaking to the university to see what options are available to you, such as transfer of credits. I wouldn't just take unilateral action by not returning without consulting the university first.

I want to thank everyone who’s commented here, the kind,patient ones and the harsher responses too because they aren’t wrong. I’m not sure how I’ve got so far in life while being such a perpetual wet wipe and a wimp. I contacted another student, a sort of mother hen character who’s very knowledgeable and a sort of self appointed team leader. It takes a lot of guts for me to admit to anyone if things aren’t going well. Anyway, according to this lady, the awful lecturer isn’t going to be much of a presence moving forward and the rest of the course is going to be much more self led and getting on with our own thing which largely solves the problems I have. I don’t expect it to be an enjoyable experience at all, less excruciating than this first term has been though.
I’ll just pay the fees and soldier on, it’s essentially 40% complete now. I had imagined months more of the same shit but it looks much better and more home based study for the rest of the year.
I don’t know how I managed to tie myself in these knots. It’s my whole life story.