Repayment of student grants (FOI)

​Request

A

How many funded students withdraw or failed university study in the last three years? Can I have that broken down as follows:

• Off island

• On island

B

How many students have had to repay their student grant due to failure or withdrawal, in the last three years?

C

How many were due to inaccurate or fraudulent information supplied to the department for the same period?

D

What was the total amount due to be repaid for each of the last three years for withdrawal and or failure?

E

How many students have had to repay more than one year of course fees as per the regulations over the three years?

F

How many have repaid less than a years course fees?

Response

A

The number of students receiving student finance who have withdrawn or failed university study in the last three years:

B

The number of students who have had to repay their student grant due to failure or withdrawal, in the last three years:

2016 - 17

2017 - <5

2018 - <5

The Education Department have determined that revealing the number where there are less than five (<5) would likely breach the privacy of the individuals and therefore, Article 25 (Personal Information) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

There are many reasons why a student may withdraw from a course. This could be due to ill health or simply transfer to another course. Some students withdraw before any fees are paid therefore they will not have a debt raised against them. Some cases are ongoing where investigations have not been completed into the withdrawal or fees owing and are therefore still pending.

C

None. The Department investigates each case thoroughly and takes every precaution to ensure the correct information has been supplied before releasing finance.

D

The total amount due to be repaid for each of the last three years for withdrawal and or failure:

2016 - £30,651

2017 - £6,309

2018  - £16,199

E

None. The department has not asked any student to repay more than one term of fees.

F

See answer B.

Article applied

Article 25 Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

(3) In determining for the purposes of this Article whether the lawfulness principle in Article 8(1)(a) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 would be contravened by the disclosure of information, paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 2 to that Law (legitimate interests) is to be read as if sub-paragraph (b) (which disapplies the provision where the controller is a public authority) were omitted.