Students heading to class this Autumn are reminded to apply for student finance

IT'S estimated that more than 1.5million people will attend college or University this autumn, and the Student Loans Company (SLC) is urging students to apply for student finance in plenty of time. SLC's role is to enable opportunity for students to invest in their futures through access to further and higher education, and new full time, undergraduate students in England have just under three weeks to apply for funding before the deadline on Friday, 20 May 2022. Students should apply online now, even if they don't have a confirmed place at University. By submitting their application before the deadline, they can ensure their finance will be in place for the start of the academic year.  Returning students in England also need to reapply for student finance every year, and the deadline for applications is Friday, 24 June 2022.

Chris Larmer, SLC Executive Director, Operations said:- "Our mission is to enable opportunity and we are committed to supporting students to achieve their ambitions.   Our application window opened earlier this year, which gives students plenty of time to apply before the deadline to ensure they have the best possible start to their further or higher education journey. We know that this can seem daunting, particularly for new students, but there is a range of content on our website and social media channels to help guide students, and their parents or partners, through the process. Applying early means that busy students can tick at least one thing off their list as they prepare for University life."

SLC is continuing to improve its customer experience and students have access to self serve tools allowing them to track their application online and receive progress updates. Chris added:- "We continue to invest in providing a digital service that offers the best customer experience to students. Applications can take around 6 to 8 weeks to process and for the vast majority, the whole experience will be online. Students can monitor their application's progress via their online accounts and if we need any further information, we will get in touch directly."

Students can continue to apply for finance throughout the summer, but SLC is not able to guarantee that funding will be in place for the start of term.

Tips for applying for student finance:-

► Apply online now even if you don't have a confirmed place at University as it only takes 20 minutes to apply and the quickest and easiest way to do so is online at:- StudentFinance.Campaign.Gov.UK. You should apply now even if you don't know what course you are doing, or which University you are going to. Select the course you are most likely to do, and you can update the application easily later, if required.

► Stay up to date with your application's progress; Remember it can take 6 to 8 weeks to process an application. You can stay up to date with your application's progress via our application tracker in your SFE online account. We will also notify you if you have any outstanding actions to complete. You should check that your email address and telephone number are up to date in your online account.

► Have your important documents to hand when applying; Have your National Insurance Number, passport and bank details to hand before you start your application, as you will be asked for this information as you apply. If you don't have a bank account in your own name, we would encourage you to set one up to ensure you receive your funding.

►  Provide your supporting evidence online; To make an application you will need to create an online account and you may be asked to provide evidence to support your application. Don't forget to submit any evidence you are asked for.  All evidence, apart from some forms of ID or residency evidence, can be submitted digitally via your online account. We can't process your application until we have all the evidence we need.  Read our guidance on submitting evidence online at:- Gov.UK.

►  Tell us if your household income has changed; If you have applied for a Maintenance Loan based on household income, then your sponsor - usually your parents or partner- will be asked to provide details of their household income for the previous tax year. For 22/23 academic year applications, that's the 20-21 tax year. If your sponsor expects their income to drop by 15% or more, it is possible to request a Current Year Income (CYI) assessment.  A CYI can only be requested once you have submitted your application and your sponsor has also submitted their household income for the 2020 2021 tax year to support your application too. To do this, visit:- SFEngland.SLC.Co.UK to download a digital version of the form once you have filled it in you can then upload it directly from your online account.

►  Understand how much funding you could be entitled to; You can apply for Tuition Fee Loans to cover your fees and Maintenance Loans to help with living costs. Use the student finance calculator to find out how much you could be entitled to:- Gov.UK.

►  Find out if you could be eligible for extra support - Extra funding may be available if you have a disability or a child or adult dependant who relies on you financially on:- Gov.UK.

►  Follow Student Finance England (SFE) on social media.

Students can stay up to date with all the latest student finance information by following SFE on:- Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.