We have been working hard to continue providing our core student finance services for those applying for academic year 2020/21, for current students expecting summer term payments, for customers in repayment and for the universities and colleges we work closely with.
In response to Government guidance on the COVID-19 pandemic we took the decision to temporarily close our contact centres to enable us to change the way our services are delivered. To start to restore customer contact services, we have enabled a team of colleagues working remotely to support a core team of critical office based workers.
Partial customer contact services are now available, however we anticipate our telephone lines will be very busy. We will continue to work to restore more of our services over the coming days and weeks.
We are prioritising urgent student finance cases and we request that before calling us customers visit the Frequently Asked Questions which are available for Prospective Students, Current Students and Customers in Repayment.
Customers can also contact us on Twitter @SF_England, @SF_Wales or @SLC_Repayment for help with funding and repayment queries.
New and returning students in England and Wales can continue to apply for student finance. Information is also available online for customers who have questions in relation to recent applications for funding for academic year 20/21.
We are processing Maintenance and Tuition Fee payments for existing students as normal. Students will shortly receive an e-mail or SMS to confirm their payment is on its way.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused and trust you understand the reasons for these changes and the importance of the measures we are taking in the current circumstances.
Will I still get my next student finance payment?
SLC can confirm that students will receive their scheduled or next instalment of their Maintenance Loan at the planned start of their summer term, regardless of whether their university or provider has made alternative arrangements for teaching.
Can I still apply for student finance?
If you’re studying at the moment or you’ll be starting a full-time, undergraduate course after 1 August 2020, you can apply online for student finance as normal.
Will you still take student loan repayments if I can’t work due to COVID-19?
We are still collecting repayments but it’s important to remember that you’ll only make repayments to your student loan once you’re earning over the repayment threshold for your repayment plan type. This means that if you stop working, or your income drops below the threshold, your repayments will stop too. Find out about the repayment thresholds for Plan 1, Plan 2 and Postgraduate Loans.
I have recently graduated. Can you confirm when my repayments will start?
You will become eligible to repay in the April after graduating from your course. You will then only repay once your earnings reach the threshold for your plan type. No action is required at this point.
When will full service be restored?
We will continue to work to restore our customer contact services by enabling colleagues to work remotely in support of a core team of critical office based workers. However, as a predominately office based organisation with 3,500 employees across 4 sites, this will take some time.
Our Contact Centres in England and Wales are open between 10.00 – 17:30 for funding and repayment queries.
Our @SF_England and @SF_Wales social media teams are available to answer questions about your funding.
Our @SLC_Repayment social media team will be available to answer questions in the coming days.
We will continue to provide further updates for customers here and on our social media channels.
Follow this news feed: HM Government