Students with outstanding tuition fees denied accessing exam results

Students that owe outstanding tuition fees owed to the University of Manchester will be prevented from viewing the results of their January exams, it has been confirmed.

An email was sent out revealing that students with a ‘negative service indicator’ on their record would be unable to access results on the online system.

The restriction applies to students from the School of Arts, Languages, and Culture (SALC), who have their marks published online on 22nd February.

It remains unclear as to whether students would be able to request collection of their exam results in-person. The email advised contacting the Credit Control Team for further assistance with the issue.

The move to withhold results has stirred controversy, with widespread frustration that financial constraints could prevent students from continuing with their university work as normal.

While possibly seen as an effective way of assuring that unpaid fees are collected, many will argue that universities should be supportive of students who cannot as the financial hardship of university life may make additional costs difficult to pay.

Back in September, it was revealed that the average student loan falls short of average university living expenses by around £141.83 per month.

It also appears that those with fines could be unfairly disadvantaged by missing the period for written exam feedback, that lasts from 25th February to 8th March.

A third-year English Literature with Creative Writing student, who wished to remain unnamed, raised concern over the effect the withholding of results could have on final years applying for postgraduate programmes: “I know a lot of my friends are considering applying for Masters courses, and exam results are very important because most Masters courses give conditional offers based on 3rd year exam results.