I am an academic with an MSc in process engineering. Both my wife & I were awarded phd scholarships by our uni. We have a son who was only 1.5 yrs upon commencement. We are int'l students & were registered at a top UK uni. It wasn't easy at the beginning & were given a month (by our sups) to settle in. We were registered with the same sup group, in the same dept & on the same floor. We were given no living allowance & had to bear that on our own (we're not VERY affluent). It was very tough for both my wife & I (who is also an academic) to balance everything & then take care of our son. One of our phds had to suffer through no fault of our own. It was mine. I would take care of my son more than my wife as I had more experimental results than she did. The impression we got from our supervisors was that it was a sin to have any family related problems. My work was slow but steady & my attendance was very good (not excellent). One of the profs (who wasnt part of the sup team & wasnt even of the relevant field) had been put in charge of judging students. Anyway, he caused me A LOT of emotional stress & depression & I'd complain to my sup but nothing wud b done. They expelled me after 2.5 yrs whilst I was doing my experimental work & was in the process of submitting my first experimental paper. I returned to my country with my son. Have to face people here, my confidence shattered by those money grabbing heartless people. I submitted a 2nd paper too. Now I owe the entire £55k approx to my uni for having failed. I have to take medication now for depression. I'd have suicidal thoughts. My life has been destroyed by those people. I wish I could write in greater detail here. There are vital points Ive not been able to mention here due to lack of no. of words.

That's awful. Did your wife get her PhD?

omg OP, I'm so sorry to hear that : (

Did you write a letter to your funding provider regarding the situation? Maybe they can reconsider based on your circumstances?

I easily cudve sued them but I cudnt bcoz considering the kinda people they are, they mightve ruined the phd for my wife. Therefore, the non litigious route that I had to take. I appealed after I was withdrawn but my sup AGAIN did not support me. All he said was that they did all they cud to help me, which was of course bullsh*t ! He did not talk abt my experimental nor did he mention the 2 experimental research papers that I had submitted to both him & the head of dept (my co-sup). The meetings I had with the PG tutor were more like interrogations, I felt myself hanging on by a thread so many times. It was a horrible time ! I wudnt wish it on my worst enemy. I'm a very +ve person, always laughing, always looking at the good in people but these people, each & everyone of them, took turns in demeaning me in one way or another, making false accusations & stripping away the little self confidence I had left. It was that other prof (who was not on my sup team) who orchestrated the entire thing as the PG tutor was one of his minions. I feel so broken... My life is destroyed. I do not knw how I will teach again as I've lost the confidence to do so especially considering I was a very successful academic. On average there used to be 80 undergrad students in my classes but now I don't think I can face even 20.... I've been under "copious" amounts of stress since I started my PhD but especially since they started "interrogating" me for around 5 months. My wife is doing her phd. I hope she gets it. I think I'll have to re think everything & move to another place for a fresh start otherwise I will never be happy again. I wish I cud mention the name of that uni here & the dept so I cud warn people from gng there ! Theyre money grabbing pieces of filth, NOT professors !

Hi there
Are you able to get a copy of the University's appeal rules? All Universities have an internal appellate system.
On what grounds were you expelled? Do you have this in writing? Have you thought about involving the Student Union to assist with your case? There may also be an external regulatory body to look into matters. Please keep us posted and do not despair.

Hello. Yes I did appeal. I was expelled on the grounds of my attendance & my lack of progress. ALL bullsh*t ! They'd use the words tardiness & attendance VERY loosely. When has there ever been a set time for a phd student ? These people esp that prof treated this like a bloody primary school with attendance & recording what time the students came in. I'm in my early 30s, married with a kid. So if I have to take care of my kid & show up late then does that mean I'm not serious & shud b expelled ? I'm not a morning person therefore, I'd come in late & leave late but that prof wudnt have it. As my primary sup din't have the balls to stand up to him, that prof was left to do whatever the hell he wanted. Thrice, since the start of my PhD & on separate occasions I begged my primary sup to do sumthing as that prof was VERY negative, demotivating & demoralizing but nothing changed. And the funny thing is, when I was withdrawn from my phd, I was running pilot scale experiments & was on the verge of submitting my 1st paper for which I had performed so many experiments. I submitted my 2nd research paper during my appeal period. I spit on the student union people as all these people are together. Theyre the biggest hypocrites ever ! They say they will "help" students but when a situation actually arises then it doesnt matter bcoz u will never win an appeal. I felt more like a criminal when I approached the students union, more like criminal union ! I've appealed to my uni to take into account the huge injustice done with me but unfortunately, I have to pay back the entire scholarship. I don't knw where I will get that money from as I used all my savings & thousands of pounds from my parents for phd living costs. And I wasnt living lavishly, my family & I just had the bare essentials. Theyve destroyed both my career & my life !

I would advise you to go onto the following website, as the QAA oversees the quality control of universities.

My dept got into trouble last yr with the auditing team as the same prof who orchestrated the destruction of my phd did it to some other kid. Also, they did not tell anyone on the floor what happened to me bcoz due to me being withdrawn from my studies, my UK visa was cancelled & I was told to leave within 60 days. I left within a month. Din't wana stay there.

Instead those people have told all the other phd students especially the ones from my session that I went on holiday. They didn't wana scare the other students away or cause any trouble for themselves as they had unjustly expelled a student (me) who was just abt to start his write-up. My intro chapter was complete. I wouldve spent the next 2 months completing my experimental & literature review. So anyway, I feel that they know they messed up my career & feel guilty & so don't want anyone else to find out. I hope they get their comeuppance ESPECIALLY that professor. I hope, for other peoples' sake that something is done abt the facade that is gng on in that dept: the blatant disregard for international students' futures... Greedy vultures !

Seek independant advice, bad debts are bad news. There are a few things you can look at.

1) Have they followed dismissal procedure. Check the documentation with a fine tooth comb. If there is even one small step they didn't follow or right of yours that wasn't upheld the dismissal can be overturned.

2) Had you spoken to a Dr about stress/depression before the dismissisal and did you inform uni? You would be covered by the Equality act and dismissed on medical grounds instead which may mean you don't owe the money back.

3) Check correspondance about attendance. If there is any official paper trail saying your sup can decide attendance patterns their dismissal will be upheld. If it was an informal, unoficial ad hoc 'oh this is just what we do' I doubt the dismisal could be upheld on appeal. Did you attend all supervisory meetings on time etc and can you prove you did? Also were others late and have attendance issues. If they have treated you differently from others you could argue for discrimination under your parenting obligations.

4) I'm not trying to antagonise but reflect. What was your own behaviour like towards them, were you hostile, snappy, defensive etc etc? Did you really try to be part of he team, following instructions etc? Be really hoest with yourself as sometimes it is your fault, you just can't see it until you reflect. If you acted with integrity, honour and goodwill don't let their poisonous personalities make you bitter, it will just eat you up. The best reward is doing well despite them.

Please follow other posters advice. You need this sorting for financial and mental peace of mind, don't let it lie. Do something pro-active to try and sort it out. Good luck. P.S if you've not posted your real name you could name the uni if it makes you feel better ;-p although the forum might delete it x

Very sorry to hear of your problems. My advice would be to seek professional legal advice if you can at all afford it. Even if you could afford a couple of sessions. I am not talking about the student union, or the university support person here but a soliciter or lawyer who may be able to represent you, and also to argue your case.

I am not suggesting taking them to court (expensive and difficult) but
1 -making sure they have done everything by the book, and
2 then if they appear to have done so, mediating on your behalf to get a better deal. (Even if finally this is a reduction in fees owed or similar).

As well as this being incredibly hard on you, it must also be very hard to still be separated from your wife. I hope things improve-but if this were me, and I had truly the same issues-as you have outlined above-, I would seek a professional legal opinion.

Firstly, I want to say thank you to tt_dan, Iwalktall, wowzers & Pjlu for all ur advice & kind words.

1) I really did look at all the mistakes I made. I just wasnt able to work in the office, I don't knw why but I'd feel more comfy working from home. But I'd still try to work when I was at the office. I always felt more comfy working at home.
2) I was always VERY polite. That I am 100% certain of. I took A LOT of shit from everyone but I'd never answer back. I wasnt even on first name basis with my sups, I thought it disrespectful & always was formal (e.g. dr this & prof that etc).
3) I was late for a few meetings at times but hey, who isn't ? It was NEVER as if I was ALWAYS late. But that one prof ruined my record, more like utterly demolished my credibility. He had some problem with me from the start & the harder I pleaded with my primary sup to get him away from me, the more he'd become attached to me & the more damage he'd do. Bcoz of that prof, I started getting very depressed. But that's not to say that I din't have other problems e.g. financial, homesickness, but that prof made everything so very bad.
4) I was bullied into signing weekly progress documents which were partly true but were mostly abt my attendance. I'm not a morning person & that prof wanted me to be there at 9am. I'd come in late & leave late but on those forms all the time I had stayed after 5pm was not counted.
5) the meetings w the PG tutor were meant to b rehabilitation to get me back on track but that guy turned out to be the most unprofessional & rudest twat I've ever met in my life, & I've met some very indecent people ! Those meetings felt more like ridiculing & harassment sessions than rehabilitation.

I would love nothing more than to sue these pieces of filth ! However, I've already lost all my money & I'm in great debt. Disappointed my parents, just let everyone down. I have neither the financial, physical nor mental strength for a lawsuit.

Also, I din't mention that all that depression & demotivation caused a rift in my relationship with both my wife & my son.

After some research it turned out that the PG tutor was a minion of the prof. And even in the final meeting where, in plain words, I was expelled the PG tutor din't have any words of his own. He just read the words that prof had written abt me. He had a file on me ! Can u believe it ?!?!? I was treated like a fking criminal so they could save their hides ! I implored them to reconsider but my prim sup just literally turned his face. This is the guy with whom just the previous evening, I had a 3hr long (approx.) meeting in his office discussing my experiments I was running those days, we discussed the results etc, samples etc. That goes to show u how deceptive & untrustworthy these people are ! After telling me to sod off, the PG tutor said I had 2 choices: a) I could withdraw myself b) wait for the uni to officially withdraw me. I was told I could appeal which of course I did expecting NOTHING in return. After all this, du think they wud let me back in ? But in the appeal there was SO MUCH I did not mention for fear of jeopardizing my wife's phd. I did NOT mention anything abt the way I was treated, nor the prof etc. I only mentioned I was depressed due to personal reasons. Sometimes I wish these heartless, money-grabbing, good for nothing poor excuses for teachers, hypocritical pieces of filth should burn in hell but then I realize I'm not a hateful person. But I'm human after all.

How do I feel happy again after this, seems like an impossibility.

I'm angry all the time, angry with everyone who was a part of all this, angry at everything (my situation). I'm angry at myself as I can't face my parents. I'm ashamed that I let them down, thus I get angry. I then lash out.

I've lost everything. Rock bottom is a baby's crib as compared to where I am right now. I've lost all my self confidence, my confidence to teach which took a long time to build, I've lost my professional confidence... How do I get back from all this ? I'm so lost, so very lost & broken....

of course it costs a lot why you are in college have a job and save ok.

Hey weasy cheers for ur input. Thanks tu I finally knw what to do.