African student with kidney disease has fees refunded by UK university

A PhD student has had her tuition fees refunded due to the distress caused by being unable to pay for her studies.

Sue Agazie, a former Newcastle University student from Nigeria, made a complaint when she faced removal from the UK for not paying her fees while being treated for stage five kidney disease.

According to the complaint outcome, seen by the BBC, the university reimbursed Mrs Agazie £13,285, waived rent arrears and awarded £5,000 for distress and inconvenience, but found no evidence to support parts of her complaints about her treatment.

It said it could not comment on individual cases but said complaints were "investigated thoroughly" and reimbursement of fees was a possible outcome.

Mrs Agazie previously said her PhD supervisor promised her funding when she was recruited which did not materialise and resulted in her being unable to pay her fees and facing removal from the UK.

The complaint outcome found no evidence she was promised funding, but said the financial communication she received from the accommodation and tuition fee teams was "regrettable".

'Critical care'

The complaint was partially upheld, with the university acknowledging Mrs Agazie's anxiety caused by her inability to pay for her studies and that she was unable to continue because of this.

Mrs Agazie said she hoped "other international students can learn from my case and demand fair treatment that they are entitled to".

She is looking to remain in the UK to continue her "critical care" and has applied for leave to remain outside the rules under compassionate medical grounds for herself, her husband and son.

She previously said she did not have the money to get high-quality healthcare for her disease in Nigeria.