The Student Loans Company (SLC) has been accused of spying on the social media accounts of vulnerable students as part of an anti-fraud drive that resulted in some losing funding and dropping out of university despite no finding of guilt against them.

SLC made a random selection of 150 estranged students, part of a group recognised as vulnerable because they have no relationship with their parents and tend to be financially disadvantaged, and asked them to provide evidence that they no longer had contact with their families.

According to charity workers now supporting some of the students affected, if they failed to respond within 28 days with the required proof their funding was suspended and in some cases their social media accounts were monitored to try to find out if there had been any contact with parents.

Minutes of an SLC meeting seen by the Guardian said 81 of the 150 had funding withdrawn. That figure has since fallen as cases have been resolved, but campaigners say the affected students, many of whom have mental health problems, have suffered enormous stress and hardship.

Becca Bland, the chief executive of Stand Alone, a charity that supports estranged people, said affected students had the third and final instalment of their maintenance and fee loans suspended. Some had to wait five months to have it reinstated, leading to extreme poverty, homelessness, defaults on tenancy agreements and a deterioration in their mental health.

She described the anti-fraud exercise as ill-considered and heavy-handed. “Stand Alone understands the need to monitor fraud within the student population, but the vulnerabilities and characteristics of young adults who are estranged from their family must be taken into consideration in processes.



“Students who are estranged from family suffer from extreme financial disadvantage whilst studying at university as they don’t have family support, and may have mental health difficulties linked to abuse, neglect or rejection from their family or the time they may have spent in the care system.

“In this exercise, the actions of this fraud investigation have had negative consequences on students, who have had their funding cut off for many months, have been forced into homelessness or sofa surfing, and in some cases have dropped out of university.

“It is both ethically and practically unacceptable to cut off a vulnerable student’s maintenance loan and fee loan prior to finding a student guilty of fraud. The idea of a financial institution monitoring a random sample of students’ social media to determine their family relationships is unsettling, and an invasion of their privacy.”

James Smith, 20, quit his studies after his funding was suspended as a result of the fraud investigation. He denies doing anything fraudulent and feels that he has been treated like a criminal. He said he had been left with no choice but to give up his place studying zoology at Salford University, ending his dream of opening an animal sanctuary.

He said the SLC had picked through his Facebook account in an attempt to find evidence of contact with his family, and had leapt to the wrong conclusions after finding a five or six word post. “I’m dropping out of university now. I’m not strong enough to be honest.,” he said.

“I can’t even find the words to tell you how it’s made me feel. It’s been an absolute nightmare. My house mates were worried when they saw me not eating and not sleeping. It’s all I think about. It’s had a dramatic effect on me. I feel like I’ve been persecuted.”



An SLC spokesperson said that as a result of the anti-fraud exercise one student had had all funding removed after submitting a fraudulent estrangement letter, five students would no longer receive the additional estrangement element of their funding, three voluntarily withdrew their application for estrangement funding before the process started and one withdrew during the process.



“There are currently 34 students who have not yet responded to our requests for information and, as a result, we have withheld the third instalment of their maintenance and fee loans,” the spokesperson said. “We would ask them to please call us on 0141 243 3324 as soon as possible to allow us to review their evidence and future funding.”

Stand Alone has called for an urgent review of the investigation and the reinstatement of funding to those who have been cut off without any proof of fraud.

A spokesperson for the National Union of Students said: “The number of students applying for estrangement status is low and at every opportunity the SLC should remain sensitive to the situation these students find themselves in and refrain from overzealous responses.