student-finance.service.gov.uk Reviews 102

TrustScore 1.5 out of 5

1.7

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Review summary

Based on reviews, created with AI

Most reviewers were let down by their experience overall. Customers express widespread dissatisfaction with various aspects of the company, including contact methods, the mobile application, and the overall service provided. Consumers are particularly frustrated by issues related to payments, indicating a significant area of concern. Many people report negative experiences with customer service, citing long wait times and unhelpful interactions. Reviewers also express frustration with the app's functionality and the difficulty in resolving issues through available channels. The consensus among reviewers is that the company's performance is subpar across multiple touchpoints.

Based on these reviews

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

What is study support because I did not require this ! And would like to take the University UCLAN to court over no valid reasoning whilst on course for a first class degree ! Please see my tru... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Goodness the staff were clearly untrained and I could barely understand a word they said. I can only assume we were being transferred to a call centre overseas. After speaking with three different cal... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

hire a bunch of temps every SFE season and don't bother training them or actually making an effort to fix systems which repeatedly make mistakes concerning finances nearly every student in england nee... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I applied for my masters funding in August 2026 for it to start in September. When my finance was awarded they had awarded it for next January? I don’t know why as the start date was the 15th of Septe... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

This must the least online user friendly service I know. I am attempting to submit information for my sons student loan application and its just nigh impossible. I'm unable to access my account and... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

They delay all the updates, changed mine instead of my sister’s course details because we have the same surname and doing same course (different years), now both of us have to wait for them to review... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

So this year for some stupid reason I now have to fill in a form and upload it instead of doing it digitally. OF COURSE THERE ARE PROBLEMS. The form gives errors consistently, and there's no where t... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

locked me out of my account, when tried to change password I used my name and details, and it sent the password login to someone else's phone and email (thinking I was them). when called, the useless... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

They're a complete joke. They endlessly chase and harass you wanting to see everything in your banks, every transaction and every piece of information they can get. They will never believe you if you... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

CUSTOMER REFERENCE NUMBER : 37047830089 They take too long to solve simple issues. I repeated a year and started a new course. They put down MENTAL HEALTH instead of ADULT NURSING and I have... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Disgusting attitude to issuing refunds. They'll hold onto your money as long as they can... wouldn't be surpised if they earn interest on it considering how long they take to issue a refund. 28 WORKIN... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I am a full time student ,looking after my disable father as well ,applied for extra help ,approved last year this year rejected when my financial circumstances never changed .I had to apply now for f... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

This company appears unfit for service. A Government run business that is an outlier compared to other Government services. It is almost impossible to talk to anyone at SFE. Their phone system cuts yo... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I am trying to help my daughter for her loan application. I went to university 20 years ago and cannot log in. The phone numbers are an absolute waste of time, automated and tell you to do it online.... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Denied my son tuition fee loan for his university because he previously had to withdraw due to mental health reasons. He got an anonymous decision and the person who received his evidence did not read... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Had my student finance application cancelled as i received an email in April, the email stated if i didn’t submit the necessary documents it would be cancelled in May, they didn’t cancel it until Sept... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Absolutely awful, submitted info 10th April, was accepted straight away for my daughter which is great, they was using our info for my son so should have been accepted straight away….. 3 months on and... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

just like the most recent comment...I went to university 15 years ago and cannot log in. The phone numbers are an absolute waste of time, automated and tell you to do it online. you send them a comp... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

One star seems generous. I have never encountered a system that is so rubbish. I am on day 4 of trying to do a simple application. No one on the phone is any help (they seem nice enough but i couldnt... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Nothing about the process is straight forward. They don't even attempt to explain it to you! None of the forms make any rational sense or are set out in consist manner. The whole system is chaotic any... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I did not want to write a review. Its saturday 12th october, and still nothing about my application form whether its gonna be approved. I rung on thursday 26th september and was told it was getting ch... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Just a terrible waste of life going round and round a 'press 1' phone nonsense. Almost impossible to get a human but they know they have you over a barrel if you want your child's education to be fina... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

4 months and still didn't receive the payment. They blocked my application because they weren't sure about my adress, but didn't bother to tell me. When I contcted them on the chat, they said I will n... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Bloody awful service, with a barely functioning online service and no support email. And a crippling interest rate. If the governkment had guts, they would just make a graduate tax for both mainland a... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

So, its been a week since i have spoken to student finance and still waiting for the aproval status. Had an email about the tutorw fees but states i can still have the maintanance payments but yet sti... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

They scam,people. I pay all amount of money back, and after 2 years I received an email from them I must own them 120 pounds, after I call them 4 times and keep me on the phone half hour, they said is... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Student finances really need to work on the customer service. That the customer service was horrible and they seemed unbothered the whole time and he kept on sighing which seemed like he did not want... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Been waiting for over a month should have been updated by the 24th October 2024 as my class starts 4th november now they telling me updated will be 22 november 2024???? 2hat a waste of my time as... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Had rung up for a query regarding repayment. I was left on hold for 40 mins by Raz, who said it’ll be 2 mins. Didn’t have the decency to get back saying it’ll take longer just kept me on hold. Had no... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I made the mistake and clicked on something which I misread in the first place. As soon as I noticed it, I contacted SFS. They asked me to provide several evidence, a cover letter (twice, because they... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Cannot speak with anyone on the helpline , advises to use the Non existing Web chat on your on-line account. Recorded messages and options. Dehumanising and unhelpful.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Shocking service, a basic error with my email address and I have to jump through hoops to get this load sorted for my daughter. No consistency with the information given on the phone. Computer sa... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Have never dealt with a agency like it for a government operation my lad is so stressed his rent is due and now they will look at his application in November absolutely a joke . No one updates the not... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

very poor website , needs multiple needless passwords and secret answers (as fraudsters will obviously want to hack in and pay my kids student fees) - no point ringing the contact number as its just a... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

This organization it's a absolute BULLSHIT,staff is arrogant and disconnect the calls if they not like something,not support to customers,and honestly the reason why I will stop my education will be t... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

This is the worst company in the UK by a landslide. Horrible to work with. Absolutely a disgrace to the country. Never seen anything this bad in my whole life.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Rubbish company they come back in a years time and start harassing young British born citizens and civilians for money and your life is put at immediate risk please don’t put yourself in future stress... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Their entire system is constantly in chaos. They have absolutely no clue what they are doing.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Even 1 star is too many. Dreadful service and serious questions over the organisation's ability to handle sensitive personal financial data, much less storing it safely. Being asked to upload bank st... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

My girlfriend has had an awful experience with student finance from day one of her third year at university. She lives with her nan and supports herself on income she had earnt on a... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Aplied for student finance, in September, they received my documents on the 2 October, ie: my passport for ID, they emailed 3 times saying they have received the passport, even though I got the tracki... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Absolutely horrendous!! Everything is wrong with this system!! Couldn’t continue with my application because they said my mother had an account even though she’s never created one in her life?! Imposs... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

incredibly unresponsive and lack any sense of urgency. almost impossible to contact anyone with support on an application, even though my position at university was at risk due to their lateness. a tr... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

29-9-25 DISABLED STUDENT. Completed standard SFE paperwork before the start of term for a full time post graduate course at York. I completed the DSA form at the same time and posted LOTS of evid... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

SLC is currently owed £260 billion pounds at up to 8% interest and can't even answer a phone or process payments from a PAYE system that funnels cash directly to them. The most frustrating, unfit... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Not fit for purpose. Whilst the call staff are generally lovely ( once you get through after hours on hold) the system is completely unfit for purpose and has caused me unreasonable distress an... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

This is a bent company. Calls to them just rrfer you to the website. Emails are rejected. Documents sent to them are ignored or denied to be the correct ones. They should have doubled my daughter... See more

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1.7

Bad

TrustScore 1.5 out of 5

102 reviews

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

One star seems generous

One star seems generous. I have never encountered a system that is so rubbish. I am on day 4 of trying to do a simple application. No one on the phone is any help (they seem nice enough but i couldnt tell you why theyre there). A rubbish, broken system that heaps on massive amounts of stress during an already stressful period and there is nothing you can do about it as they have you backed against the wall.

May 30, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Just a terrible waste

Just a terrible waste of life going round and round a 'press 1' phone nonsense. Almost impossible to get a human but they know they have you over a barrel if you want your child's education to be financed. All that makes me sad about how the 'working' world is now!

May 29, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Truly appalling organsation Even 1 star is too many

Even 1 star is too many. Dreadful service and serious questions over the organisation's ability to handle sensitive personal financial data, much less storing it safely. Being asked to upload bank statements for every bank account, showing all bank account details, is truly appalling, especially when all the information required is supplied to HMRC and the website says SFE checks with HMRC the validity of information- so check with HMRC. Even HMRC doesnt ask to submit sort codes and bank account details for every account held.
Multiple contradictory emails being received in the same household. In one 24 hour period as a family unit we received 6 emails between all of us asking us to provide information we had already provided and saying urgent action required, however on logging on to account all that is showing is that no further action is necessary. Or we received emails saying they had all the forms, leaving us confused and spending hours trying to comply. Tone of email to daughter suggesting we deliberately failed to comply with providing information when we could clearly see it on our accounts further supports the concern that SFE is not a suitable organisation to process sensitive financial data, Goodness only know where all this information ends up.

May 22, 2025
Unprompted review
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Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Dsa / SFE

I will say, the application process for disabled students who need more funding is abit more tricky then if u have no issues at all and need no support. HOWEVER, i spent weeks/days worrying about my DSA application and my regular application because on my portal under actions to complete its a bit confusing. I spoke to an online advisor and they said to ignore this, and just to provide them with the next steps they provide. I also rang up afterwards for my DSA application to cancel it, it was that confusing. However, the person who picked up, sounded like a young gentlemen, was so reassuring and helpful, not only did he help me and reassure me that my SFE application my DSA hinder wont, he also informed me of my next steps to my SFE application aswell, confirming what the advisor told me.

April 29, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Absolutely horrendous!

Absolutely horrendous!! Everything is wrong with this system!! Couldn’t continue with my application because they said my mother had an account even though she’s never created one in her life?! Impossible to get on the phone. Finally tackled this hurdle by posting a form with her information on and then I get an email saying they’ve contacted sponsor 2 for income information, even though I never gave them any contact details for another sponsor??? I then try to phone again and also cannot get through surprise surprise. I just don’t understand why this has to be so difficult

April 23, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

a disgrace

incredibly unresponsive and lack any sense of urgency. almost impossible to contact anyone with support on an application, even though my position at university was at risk due to their lateness. a truly terrible, disgraceful service and establishment. i'd sooner pay my fees out of pocket than have to deal with SFE again.

April 3, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

SLC is currently owed £260 billion…

SLC is currently owed £260 billion pounds at up to 8% interest and can't even answer a phone or process payments from a PAYE system that funnels cash directly to them.

The most frustrating, unfit for purpose company I've ever come across, if they had to earn money no one would ever use them. You are so bad, you make the rest of the UK government look as efficient as Toyota

March 28, 2025
Unprompted review
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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Not fit for purpose.

Not fit for purpose.
Whilst the call staff are generally lovely ( once you get through after hours on hold) the system is completely unfit for purpose and has caused me unreasonable distress and frustration since 2023 which could have been avoided if they had simply been consistent and thorough.
Staff are trained to follow flow charts and not trained well enough to understand the variability of both possible situations and the solutions. They are lovely but not being equipped to help other than basic responses which often causes problems further down the line.
It’s impossible to escalate a call to speak to more senior staff who should be available to help in the less straightforward situations.
Though often it’s SF making a simple situation into an impossible web of problems.One of our children were told they had received an overpayment of 5k. The other 3k ( each had the same maintenance loan and same 2 sponsors). Both have had to manage on severely reduced maintenance loan because 2 yrs later SF still haven’t managed to get it right . . If SF had used our income details neither would have had an overpayment as our income was particularly low on the year in question.
We have spent HOURS on the phone and each time been told it’s sorted- but it isn’t . We have written and received no reply. We have done their sums for them and submitted a detailed summary 6 months ago and still no reply.
Never ever trust what they tell you. Never ever believe what they say. It’s a broken system which is not fit for purpose.

March 24, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

This company appears unfit for service

This company appears unfit for service. A Government run business that is an outlier compared to other Government services. It is almost impossible to talk to anyone at SFE. Their phone system cuts you off and asks you to use Live Chat. Live Chat closes the talk if you spend more than 3 minutes constructing a question. You ask smaller questions and the responses do not make sense. Their emails asking for data but when you check the Student Account it says it is up to date. They then up the email threat to say unless information (that has been provided) is sent it will affect the students follow on grant when the student has finished their degree. Hopeless system. SFE need to operate a telephone switchboard that is fit for service.

March 6, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 2 out of 5 stars

My Perspective Plus UCLAN

What is study support because I did not require this ! And would like to take the University UCLAN to court over no valid reasoning whilst on course for a first class degree ! Please see my trustpilot review !! I spent my final year of funding at Chester ! Still no degree ???

I am now on Universal Credit and back home ! I have copies of my full finance and also my transcript!

Please feel free to share!
Please see trustpilot review!

I personally feel disgusted by the treatment I have received as a UK British Citizen.

February 19, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Casey is worth his weight in gold!

This review is purely for Casey. Previous advisors made life a lot harder than it needed to be where Casey explained everything concisely and diligently. The world would run a lot smoother if we had more Casey's in customer service.

February 11, 2025
Unprompted review
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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

They scam,people

They scam,people. I pay all amount of money back, and after 2 years I received an email from them I must own them 120 pounds, after I call them 4 times and keep me on the phone half hour, they said is an error and I must to pay only 77 pounds, which I paid. After 2 days I call them back and they said I have few peny left,crazy and when I ask why,they don't know ,said to call after 5 days again to resolve the error, Are scam people for money, go to Hell all of them

February 10, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Poor customer service!!!

Had rung up for a query regarding repayment. I was left on hold for 40 mins by Raz, who said it’ll be 2 mins. Didn’t have the decency to get back saying it’ll take longer just kept me on hold. Had no other choice but to end the call as no one was going to get back to call and would have still been on hold! Whilst having conversation I could also tell there were breaks taken to vape, not professional at all!!

January 15, 2025
Unprompted review
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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Thank you Casey!

Currently speaking with an officer on the phone, Casey, and they have been extremely helpful, kind and informative. From an unfortunately outdated system, with which I have had troubles in the past, my trust in Student Finance England is returning thanks to this delightful helper!

January 13, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

They take too long to solve issues.

CUSTOMER REFERENCE NUMBER : 37047830089

They take too long to solve simple issues.
I repeated a year and started a new course.
They put down MENTAL HEALTH instead of ADULT NURSING and I have to wait for 21 working days for such simple correction. I need that correction and entitlement form for NHS Learning Support Fund but its taking too long .

November 12, 2024
Unprompted review

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