In 2020, SLC processed and paid more students than ever
before and the next academic year looks set to be another
record-breaker. Data published by UCAS showed 42.6
percent of all 18-year-olds had applied for university by
the main January deadline, which is up from 39.5 percent on
last year. At the Student Loans Company, we have already
experienced a significant increase in applications, with
applications up by more than 10% on last year.
Given the current economic climate, SLC’s role in enabling
access to further and higher education has never been more
important. It is our responsibility to ensure students have
the finance in place to help them achieve their academic
aspirations; and, so that students have the best possible
start to their course, we want that finance to be in place
by the start of the academic year.
We are looking very carefully at how the increasing
applicant numbers may impact on the delivery of our
services this year. Undoubtably, the high volume of
students coming through the system will put pressure on us.
This is particularly true at a time when we continue to
prioritise the health and safety of colleagues by
supporting them to work remotely due to Covid-19. We expect
that over our peak periods this year we will very busy – in
particular, we could see longer call queues, meaning
customers may have to wait for longer than usual to speak
with us. I am grateful for the patience that has been shown
by our customers to date and I hope they will be reassured
to know we are doing everything we can to ensure that any
impact is minimal.
There is one simple step undergraduate students and
potential students can take to ensure they have the student
finance in place before term start this year – and that is
to apply online now.
Applications are open for undergraduate students in
England and students
in Wales will be able to apply from late April. By applying
before the deadlines (21 May for new students and 25 June
for returning students) students can be confident their
finance will be in place when their studies start.
Students should apply now even if they are unsure what
course they will be doing or what university they will
attend. If students wait for a confirmed offer before
applying for student finance, it may be too late to have
student finance in place by term start.
Applications take six to eight weeks to process so students
do not need to contact us during this time to check on the
status of their application. We will contact them, or their
sponsors, should we require any additional information to
support their application.
Since the start of the pandemic, we have provided support
to customers by making additional information available
online. Over the coming weeks and months, we will continue
to provide extra information to address some of the key
questions that we know new and returning applicants have at
this time of year. So, if you are a student, a parent or
sponsor and have any questions for us, I would urge you to
visit our FAQs or get in
touch with us by social media, and of course, apply now to ensure
your student finance is in place for start of the next
academic year.
