student-finance.service.gov.uk Reviews 102

Absolutely no help. Can't change password gives a number to call. After waiting for over 30 minutes person on the phone very unhelpful and rude.

Another long call, 1:59mins to be cut off because they clearly can't deal with my query. This is the second time i have been cut off so a common tactic! I was querying an overpayment, he didn't even know what income applies to the academic year, they can't find the forms, then magically they appear, full of abbreviations CRN, CYI, PR2 when asking questions simply not fit to advise. A student ready to drop out with a £1k 24/25 award, scandalous :(

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 still waiting after sending them our info 4-5 times and numerous phone calls, and apparently they still don’t have our info?? Makes absolutely no sense as they have it when we gave it for my daughter,and also the times we had to send it for my son. SORT IT OUT, waited long enough!!!!!

very poor service
i sent a big pack of evidence costed me £32
they keep asking me for evidence i already sent to them
pls refund my £16 for my prepaid envelope not used
they waste time and no communication whatsover
they send email with an email u cant reply. this is so bad.
on top of it u re already busy studying and they are an extra burden.
be considerate!
thanks

Message sent 7 June 2024 to gov.uk on their Feedback page for Student Finance England SFE
We have 2 children in higher education. Every year we have problems and have to spend a long time on the phone (the site doesn't help because it has confilicting information compared to emails received )because SFE have made mistakes and muddled information. We provide all financial info and endorsements and SFE has told my 2 children I have not sent the financial supporting evidence, despite then one of the two of them receiving an email to say that SFE had received it and then, on my account, an acknowledgement that they had. What a muddle. After 45 mins on the phone (30 min wait), it was discovered that our financial evidence for my husband and I had been 'overlooked' (the word used by the agent) along with the endorsing letter from our accountants (as we live in France so are not part of the PAYE scheme ). Last year, there was a confusion about my daughter's loan which was mistakenly disaproved, but no one had written to her by email, post or on her online account to inform her. Not only had she been made to think it was all 'still being processed' as it was referred to a different department, but then she had the nasty shock of thinking she couldn't go to uni because it had been mistakenly disapproved. Again, it was 'overlooked' and we had to ring at least twice and were told conflicting information. It really feels as though the agents are not thoroughly checking the supporting evidence. It has caused our family stress. I dread this time of year. My son is in the middle of exams is panicking because he has been mistakenly told he is on minimum maintenance because of this 'overlooking' of info. Please check out your system and the ability of those working for you and the cohesion between referral departments as there is something seriously amiss.

Dont even bother they’re service is awful they kept me waiting for over a month kept telling me the same thing phone calls 2x a week to get some clarity on my aplication they kept telling me to submit information that i have already sent just a complete mess was such a struggle to get someone that could actually understand my frustration and help me and even then they still tell you to wait wouldn’t recommend it to anyone

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 says no
And now have to wait 6-8 weeks

Say online that they have everything they need, only to phone up and discover that they are waiting for further evidence. This has happened on numerous occasions.

They claim that we have requested that an application is not means tested, and then in another call concede that that is not true.

If there's one aspect of the service that is consistent, it's that it's consistently full of contradictions that makes the whole process more time-consuming and stressful than it should be.

ZERO STARS. absolutely ridiculous and what a waste of time. Need to send a handwritten letter just to change my email address as the one they have is incorrect which is a mistake on their part because that email address does not EVEN EXIST and i have only ever had one. Appalling. Apparantly my details don't match however they have sent me emails before on my correct email address before. I needed to reset my password but can't receive the reset link as the email address is incorrect!!! what a joke and had to wait for 50 mins to talk to some one. I have supported my daughter's application last year so it's not even like it is my first time. Never experienced anything like this. Guys don't bother with them, i wouldn't even give them 1 star if i could.

Could not run a bath.

They are all over the place each person says a different thing.

It’s hard to find the words to adequately describe how awful the student finance service is. Time and again they mess things up. I have sent my proof of income for my son’s loan 3 times now. I rang today, and after being on hold for a full hour, I was told that the proof had been received and the loan was being processed. And just now my son has received an email saying his loan can’t be granted as I haven’t sent my proof of income!!

I have applied Disabled Student Allowancei n feb 2023 but I did not received their support yet due to their mistakes.
Firstly, they took 6 month to process my application form since they sent it to wrong department by mistake and then they misunderstood that there was not enough information on the form. After my university instructed them, they were able to process it but my first year study was finished.
Then, I had to send an another form for the next academic year. I did it with a staff of my university. Again, Student Finance claimed that they do not have enough information although University staff says they have enough. Currently I and my university have been contacting them but there is not meaningful reply from them.

It’s like pulling teeth. They constantly lose information meaning me and my sponsors have to constantly resubmit. There are no forms of management when you call meaning there are people the same age as me having to muddle through a disorganised system to find answers and solutions for issues the same system has made. You would expect a company that is supporting the progression of the majority of students into and through university to be better run and managed, but it is clearly another case of a service that should be public being run by a private shareholder on behalf of the government. I would rather have an increase in tax and student grants being reinstated than for anyone to ever go through this system ever again. It’s broken from top to bottom and the only way to fix it is to scrap it and start again, with students’ and therefore the future of our country and planet in mind. Less extortion and more support, and integrity within that source of support.

Thank you for email.

I disagree that amending the lockedout account system from 30 mins to 15 mins makes the slightest difference, what is the point of having this at all, why not just a password reset.

I did not say the I was out of the country on my application, I changed my address from Eastleigh and East Witterings, UK, and when I called the agent about what the error was they said my application was fine and it was a system error.

Why would I say I was living outside the country?

What country did I say I was living in?

You're lying about this and blaming me for your system.

I was approached by Student Finance England The Customer Care Team on 22nd September 2022 to inform me that I should ask my Practitioner to write and sign a declaration that because of mecidical condition i am unable to mange my finances for the forseeable future. Prior to this communication I emailed SFE informing that I am resuming my studies in October 2023 MA in Crime & Justice and I have every intention to repay the Postgraduate Loan and will enter into a payment plan with The Student Loans Company in October 2023. From April 2022 The Student Loans Company have harrassed and innundated me with phone calls and emails for the payment of £2400 which is only due on completion of your course and if you fall within a certain salary bracket. I am an Independent Woman . I live alone and payment of all my bills falls on me. SLC and SFE have harrased, insulted and denigrated me as I had to be detained in Hospital from November 2022 - February 2023 and as my GP, The East Of England Ambulance Service are aware of I am in the process of recovery and I approach my studies with dedication and posiitive enthusiasm. I am a 54 year adult who has been the subject of traumatic experiences in childhood and adulthood and would not tolerate any abuse, psychological denigration and intimidation by alleged professionals who work in the caring Profession who have morals and standards which they are required by law to uphold,
I wish to recover fully and resume my studies MA in Crime & Justice in October 2023.
I want SFE and Student Loans company to stop insulting my integrity and my position in societyand a s a Citizen of England.

Rang and was on hold for an hour . Got through to a young woman 5 pm who sounded very weary and then was very rude and unhelpful. My daughter needs to swap Uni but it doesn’t allow you to do it online. Long story short rude unhelpful and weary. Not enough training either.

Soul destroying doesn’t even go half way in describing SFE.
As a childcare provider SFE have left one of my parents in so much debt it’s triggered depression and put her in a situation where she owes me over 2k.
She’s now in a position after being given the run around by SFE where she has no other choice but to give up the last year of her degree.
They constantly lie and pass the buck.
I was told after personally speaking to them that they would be making a payment to me within two days.
We are 4 weeks on with no signs of a payment being made.
They do not care about the students or the burden and stress they place upon them by not doing their jobs.
My parent in good faith was told payments would continue to be made.
I’m so angry that if I have to take someone to small claims court it won’t be SFE, that burden will fall upon the parent.
Absolutely disgusting shoddy behaviour.

Writing as a parent providing evidence for an offspring's loan application, the SFE site and system and processes are soul-destroying. Once one has input (uploaded) information it is impossible to interrogate it to check in the future. Nor can one see what has been input in previous years. The emails one gets are threadbare in the information they offer: one gets chasing emails that don't go into specifics, making it hard to work out what is required, especially as one cannot view the system to see what error of omission or commission might be the problem.

Worse, when one gets a chasing email and go online to check why, one receives a contradictory bland reassurance that all the input is complete. This does not inspire confidence. And finally... update emails to us and to our offspring contain baked-in spelling mistakes - these are HM Gov official communications about further education, for goodness' sake - they should not contain spelling mistakes. We'll leave you to find them as a good exercise in checking and proof-reading. Being Agile and Beta is one thing; being sloppy is another.

The only reason this review struggles up to 2 Stars is because - once one has queued for up to an hour - the telephone service staff are invariably polite and try - against insurmountable odds - to be helpful. I don't blame them for the awful system they have to operate.

Craig from Student Finance England was extremely helpful and delivered an excellent service. I called Student Finance England in the 20/0/2022 at around 3:50pm because I had an issue, Craig was able to resolve it in no time unlike some of his colleagues.
I am grateful people like him exist.
Thank you Craig!