Students still waiting for loans

Students have started term without funding

Thousands of students in England are still facing delays to loans and grants weeks after the start of term, according to the latest figures.

According to the Student Loans Company there were 132,000 "applicants who have not received first maintenance payment after approval" on October 25th.

This total will include applicants who failed to take places - but at least 60,000 are still being processed.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson criticised the delays on Tuesday.

The loans company had assured students that all payments would be processed by the end October - and the next update on figures next week will show whether this has been achieved.

Following complaints by students and ministers, the loans company promised that "anyone who applied and submitted correct evidence in support of their application by mid-August will be processed for payment by the end of October".

'No excuse'

The latest figures show that there are 132,000 approved applicants who have not received payments - but this will include students who have not started courses, those who are not seeking support and applications about to be paid into bank accounts.

But there are still 24,000 applications being processed and a further 40,000 waiting for further information from students - a figure that could include students who have complained about lost documents and confusion over information submitted.

Speaking in the House of Lords on Tuesday, Lord Mandelson was the latest to voice concerns about the delay.

"The company's service has fallen well short of the expectations of students and their families," said Lord Mandelson.

"More students than ever before have applied to universities, so the workload has been huge. None the less, there is no excuse for the service which the company has provided."

An inquiry is being held into the problems - which have seen students complaining that they have been left without funds after term has started.

There were also widespread concerns from students and their families about the difficulty in getting through to the loans company and a lack of information about the processing of forms.

The Westminster government appointed two external experts to lead the review into the problems - former London South Bank University vice-chancellor Sir Deian Hopkin and Bernadette Kenny of HM Revenue and Customs.

In response to the latest figures, the Student Loans Company's chief executive, Ralph Seymour-Jackson, said: "We are actively doing all we can to work through all applications as quickly as possible.

"While the vast majority of students have received their funding, we apologise that a number of students are still experiencing difficulties. We are working very hard to resolve each individual case and deal with every application as fast as we can."

The Student Loans Company says there have been 723,000 students paid by October 25 - "at the same time last year, 705,000 students had received their first maintenance payment".