SLC pays £5.7billion in student finance at the start of the 26/27 academic year

SLC plays a critical role in enabling opportunity through the effective and efficient administration of the student finance system.

As students settle into the new academic year we have reached an important milestone, in our delivery of first term maintenance loan payments to students and tuition fee payments to providers on their behalf.

We have now paid 5.7bn in student finance funding this academic year, including £3bn in maintenance loans paid directly to students in September and a further £2.7bn in tuition fee payments released to education providers this month.

With the majority of first term payments now made we continue to support those customers who applied after the deadline and may have received a minimum level of student finance. 

Where a student applied late for funding, we awarded the minimum maintenance loan and their tuition fee loan to ensure they had funding to start their term, their remaining funding is paid to them as a top-up payment once all necessary application details are confirmed. Applications can take up to four weeks to process, so we do encourage students to apply as early as possible.

Students starting courses on or after 1 January will apply for student finance through Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) funding. Applications will open for LLE by the end of October 2026.