The students in question, namely Omolade Olaitan, Emmanuel Okohoboh, and Paulette Ojogun, were unable to continue their courses after missing the fee payment deadline. Swansea University informed Legit.ng that the affected students have the option to apply for a refund or to defer their studies to a later start date.

The university clarified that the trio will not be re-enrolled and disclosed that they have been reported to the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) office, potentially facing deportation.

The situation prompted Legit.ng to contact Swansea University for clarification. The university's information officer, Kathy Thomas, confirmed that the university's guidelines strictly adhere to the policy of timely fee payment.

Thomas stated, "We can confirm that appropriate guidance is provided to all students throughout our application process. In our pre-arrival communications to international students, it is made very clear that, upon enrolment, a payment of 50% of the total tuition fee (less any deposit already paid) is required, and that failure to make this payment will result in students not being permitted to fully enrol onto our programmes."

Swansea University emphasized that the initial payment deadline was set for January 30, 2023. However, due to some students' challenges in making international payments, the deadline was extended to February 24, 2023. Nevertheless, further extensions were no longer feasible.

The university explained, "We acknowledge that some of our students face challenges in successfully making international payments and therefore agreed to extend this enrolment deadline to 24th February 2023, after which point students’ provisional enrolment status was curtailed and they were reported to the UKVI for non-enrolment, in line with UKVI guidance."