Paying back student loans

[Emmaleighton]

Hi, I'm Emma. Myself and my partner Matthew unexpectedly had a baby girl on the 4th Jan 2016 after not knowing I was pregnant. I went to A&E thinking I had a kidney infection at 4 am and at 12.10 I had given birth to our daughter.
It was a huge shock for both of us but my partner is taking it harder than myself. He is currently at university studying to be a special education teacher at level 7 but as our baby came out of no where he took some time off (only one week) and his tutor is now saying he can't progress in the course.
We are really worried about being able to afford the repayment of his student loan as neither of us are in work. Is there any help we can get or will he have to pay it back straight away?
Thank you so much for any help, we desperately need it!

Emma.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Congratulations on your baby girl!

I believe the minimum income to incur student loan repayments is now 17k and it's less than £5. If not earning/under 17k then there are now payments.

I don't think refusing to allow him to progress with his course is right, or legal. Please pursue that.

I'm sorry the birth of your baby, which must have been as stressful as it is wonderful given you had no idea, that you have to deal with extra stress now.

[peteneras]

I wouldn’t worry a toss, not at all at the present time, about the student loan repayment, Emma. And therefore, I’m not talking anymore about it.

But I am seriously concerned about the university’s treatment of Matt. To my mind, the university is encroaching dangerously close to infringing Matt’s human right as a father by threatening to stop his progress in the course, not to mention they may have broken the law under the arrangement of Paternal Leave in their dealings with Matt who has a legal right to be with you on the birth of his/your daughter. Show this to the university and I’m confident they will take everything back with an apology.

Congratulations on the New Arrival!

[alreadytaken]

if you named the university on here I suspect someone would look up the university policies for you and maybe even draft a suitable appeal letter if you needed it. There will be an appeal process.

[NNalreadyinuse]

Emma, I think that the most your partner's tutor can demand is that he completes a certain number of weeks actually in school before he can qualify, which might mean a delay in qualifying. I think it is very unlikely that they can throw him off the course completely, unless he has missed other essential work. Definitely get advice from student services before accepting this decision.

Many congratulations on the birth of your baby

[senua]

Congratulations on your baby.

There are two problems: paying back the loan and being taken off the course. The first problem isn't a problem, as others have said. The second problem is more serious: don't take it lying down. Carry on as normal - going to lectures etc - so he doesn't miss any more time and give them more ammunition.
Meanwhile go to Student Services, and any other support you can think of, and get the lowdown from them. The University have to follow their procedure ... so find out what it is!

[insancerre]

I'm pretty sure that would be covered by extenuating circumstances

[Emmaleighton]

Thank you everyone! You have all been a huge help :)
We're keeping our fingers crossed that they let him stay on the course, he has a few meetings to go to and we have a letter from the hospital explaining the situation. Everyone I have asked about it said pretty much the same thing so if things do go pear shaped and he loses his place hopefully he won't have to pay it all back straight away but we will have to wait an see what happenes. It was such a shock but the best surprise ever, she was around 34 weeks when she was born, I have no idea how I didn't put any weight on or have any signs of being pregnant!
She was born only 3pound 11 but she's getting stronger every day :)

[LuciaInFurs]

Congratulations Emma!

I have £25,000 worth of student loans as do most of my colleagues and you do not have to pay your student loan back until your in working and earning a salary.

It's not like a normal loan, there won't be anyone chasing your partner for repayments. The interest on the loan will increase the loan amount and that's the worst that will happen.

I do agree with Pootles2010, your partner should be looking to go back on to his course. If he drops out then student finance won't cover him for the years he has already received finance for a future degree.

[Pootles2010]

Yes thats my understanding too, check the Moneysaving expert website to be sure though.

However, I would say your concern should be more his course - you need to take that further, ridiculous to say he can't progress for missing one week.

[WiIdfire]

Congratulations on your surprise baby!

I'm pretty sure you don't have to repay any student loan until you are earning above a certain threshold. So in theory low-earners could never pay it back. Have a check of the student loan paperwork to make sure it hasn't changed since I had mine, then hopefully you can forget about it for the time being and focus your attention on your little girl.