The first payments of income-contingent student loans are made after the university or college confirms that the student is in attendance. On current performance, the Student Loans Company (SLC) then initiates payment within one working day of receipt of the confirmation in all cases. Payments are made through an automated system into bank accounts, which takes three working days from initiation.
A payment may be made after the start of the course if the student's application has been received late and did not allow sufficient time for processing. A change in student's circumstances can also affect payment where re-assessment is required.
SLC monitors payment performance against a target set in a service level agreement with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, and reported in the SLC Annual Report. The target is for 95 per cent. or more of payments to be initiated within one working day of confirmation of attendance, and 99 per cent. within two days. In 2007-08 100 per cent. were initiated within one working day.
The following table shows performance given in the annual reports. The target has changed over the years.
Measure Target (percentage) Actual performance (percentage) 2007-08 Initiated in 1 working day 95 100 Initiated in 2 working days 99 100 2006-07 Initiated in 1 working day 95 98.2 Initiated in 2 working days 99 100 2005-06 Initiated within month 99 99.4 2004/05 academic year Loans paid 1-14 days 90 94.9 Loans paid 1-17 days 100 95.4 2003/04 academic year Loans paid 1-14 days 90 91.9 Loans paid 1-17 days 100 94.7