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Students: Finance

Volume 471: debated on Monday 4 February 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many complaints have been received about the time taken to pay student loans or grants; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for complaints. (181908)

In the academic year 2007-08 the Student Loans Company (SLC) has so far received 65 complaints about the time taken to pay student loans or grants. We do not have a breakdown of the causes of the complaints received by SLC and we have no record of complaints that may have been made to local authorities.

The SLC has paid loans and grants to 825,000 customers attending university in England in academic year 2007-08. Delays can occur at different parts of the process: late applications; delays in supplying information and evidence; if confirmation is not received that students have registered at their college; if assessment and approval processes are not completed within the agreed performance standards.