Helping students get their first student finance payment

Student Finance England

This article or update has been provided by Student Finance England or Student Loans Company

This post first published: 31 August 2020

It’s important you help students know what to do to get their first student finance payment on time.

 

To make sure they get paid on time, students should follow these steps:

 

  1. Make sure they’ve submitted their application and provided any evidence we need. They can sign in to their online account to check if we need anything.
  2. Check their bank details are correct in their online account. If they need to update them, they should make sure they do this at least 4 days before their payment date.
  3. Register on their course. We cannot pay them until we receive confirmation of registration from their uni or college.

Visit our page for more information on student finance payments. We also have helpful films on YouTube:

 

 

If they’ve applied after the deadline

You should advise these students they’ll still get paid, but their first payment could be late. We’ll pay the basic amount of student finance so that they have some money as soon as possible. When we get income details from their parent(s) or partner, we might be able to pay them some extra student finance.

If their payment is showing as ‘blocked’ on their online account, we’ll still be checking their National Insurance number. It can take up to 2 weeks to do this.

 

Studying from home

Due to COVID-19, some students may be studying their course online rather than attending classes on campus. If they’re studying from home they’ll still be paid as normal.

Students need to make sure they’ve given us the correct details about where they’ll be living during term time. If their plans have changed and they’ll now be living at home with parents, they’ll need to update their application in their online account. This also applies if they were supposed to be studying abroad in 2020 to 2021, but will now be studying online with their overseas provider.

If they don’t update their details, they could be overpaid and they’ll need to repay any extra student finance they’ve been paid before they’re earning over the threshold.

 

Consent to share

Some students may find it difficult to deal with their student finance application, so you can encourage them to set up ‘consent to share’ on their account. They can call Student Finance England to give permission for a higher education practitioner to call on their behalf, and help them deal with any student finance related issues they’re having.

 

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