Student turn to universities for financial support

Representatives from Queen Margaret University and the Edinburgh College of Art told The Journal that their institutions have had to financially support a number of students, some of whom were “extremely frustrated” at the “very poor communication between the loans companies and themselves”.

Universities across the country are being forced to hand out emergency funds to those awaiting money from the Student Loans Company (SLC), months into the Autumn term.

A recent survey conducted by the BBC found that three quarters of British universities have had to make additional funding available as a result of problems with the loan system.

It is estimated that up to 70,000 students are still suffering from delays in an application process the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) has described as “shambolic”.

The National Union of Students (NUS) has recently called for the chief executive of the SLC to resign over the furore.

The greatest difficulties have been experienced in England, where the body has had to deal with a 9 percent surge in applications compared to last year as the recession hits the job market.

The SLC also recently took over various assessment functions from local authorities, while postal strikes and late-stage applications have added to the administrative burden.

The Student Awards Agency for Scotland, which assesses Scottish students, has also experienced an increase in applications, but is having less trouble clearing its backlog.

The government has come under heavy criticism for its handling of the situation, with shadow universities and Skills Secretary David Willets claiming that the government had “failed to deliver” on promises to improve the system.

Joe Cawley, chairman of the University of Edinburgh Conservative Association, lambasted the government for failing to remedy a system “clearly in dire need of reform”.

Mr Cawley added that “nobody should miss out on the opportunities they deserve because they couldn’t get a loan”.

The loans delay comes in the wake of an NUS report finding that the majority of Scottish students worked more than the recommended 10 hours a week, while two-thirds reported themselves as being in high-cost commercial debt or borrowing from friends and family.

SLC Chief Executive Ralph Seymour-Jackson admits the organisation is working “around the clock” to rectify scanning problems, but insists that its commitments to the swift processing of applications remain unbroken.

It is expected that an inquiry into the funding issues will be held in the new year.