Nearly Half of New Students Missed Finance Deadline
SLC reminds new students to get their applications in now for 25/26 academic year.
The Student Loans Company (SLC) is reminding new full-time undergraduate students in England to apply now for students finance, ahead of the application deadline on 16 May 2025.
Applying before the deadline is the best way to ensure that funding is in place for the start of the 25/26 academic year.
Last year, almost half (45%*) of new applications were received after the deadline and SLC has released statistics that highlight the difference between the regions.
Students in London had the highest proportion of late applications at 57%, while the West Midlands came in second place at 48%, followed by the East of England and Yorkshire and the Humber at 41%. The South West had the least number of late applications, with a third (33%) being submitted after the deadline.
Throughout the 24/25 academic year SLC paid over £23billion in student funding. £5billion of which was paid out in first term maintenance and tuition fee payments after confirmation from universities and colleges that students had registered and were attending their courses. For the upcoming 25/26 academic year, SLC has already received over 630,000 submitted applications with more than 450, 000 in the ‘ready to pay’ status.
But as it can take six to eight weeks to process an application, in line with the student finance regulations, Steven Darling, Director of Customer Experience at SLC, is encouraging new students to apply now. He said:
“We know that preparing for university is an exciting and busy time for all students, especially those starting their course for the first time and getting your student finance application sorted early is one less thing to worry about.
“We received almost half of applications after the deadline last year, and with around 1.5million applications every year, applying early means your funding is much more likely to be ready for the start of term and gives you peace of mind over the summer months.”
Students can apply without a confirmed place at university, as course details can be updated later and their application can be completed entirely online with no need to contact SLC. They should only send or upload evidence through their online account if they are specifically asked to, which also helps to avoid any delays to their application being processed.
At this busy time of year, SLC’s customer service teams are focused on processing applications to ensure customers have their funding at the start of term. Customers who have recently applied for student finance are advised that there is no need to
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/almost-half-of-new-students-in-england-missed-the-student-finance-deadline-last-year