Student Loan Application Process For 2010/11 Courses Delayed

Fri, 18 Dec 2009

The application process for next year’s student loans and grants has been postponed following this year’s payment delays.

The Student Loans Company (SLC), the agency which administers student support for the government, confirmed that the application process for university courses starting in September 2010 has been put on hold pending the review into the ongoing problems.

Carried out by Professor Sir Deian Hopkin, the review of loan delays for students who began courses this autumn found that there had been "conspicuous failures" which had had a "far-reaching impact" on students .

It discovered that the processing system had faced problems with lost documents, failures with equipment and difficulties with the online application system.

It also found problems with the SLC’s its call centre network, with only 5 per cent of phone calls to a helpline were answered during the peak of delays.

In response to the review, SLC chairman John Goodfellow announced that it will carry out a "restructuring" of senior management.

"I am most grateful to Professor Hopkin for his speedy and authoritative report," he added.

But Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students (NUS), said the report showed that "heads must roll" in order to restore public confidence in the Student Loans Company .
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