This week we have successfully completed the majority of Maintenance Loan payments to new and returning students for the first academic term. So far this year we have made funding payments to 723,786 students totalling over £1.5 billion, with some students still to receive payments as their courses have not started yet. This means we will provide student finance to more students than ever before and are ready to make further payments to students who are starting courses in the coming weeks.
We know that the start of this academic year is very different to previous years and we are continuing to do all we can to support students. While the majority of students have now received their full entitlement, we urge any student who has started their course but not received all their funding, to provide us with the additional information required via their online account as soon as possible. In most cases, it is easy to resolve outstanding issues quickly. If there are any last minute changes to course, university or college, students can make updates via their online account too.
To provide further support, we have made a short film explaining what each of the payment statuses mean. The team is also available to help with queries via social media so follow Student Finance England's Facebook and Twitter channels.
The £1.5 billion that has been paid to students over the last four weeks has been the culmination of months of hard work by the team at the Student Loans Company. It has been a busy few months and will continue to be a busy time as we prepare to make tuition fee payments directly to the universities and colleges on behalf of our customers.
As a result of the Covid pandemic, we have had to quickly evolve to become an organisation that is largely home based. I am pleased to say that we have risen to the challenges and our commitment to support students is undiminished. Looking forward, we will be focused on improving our services to deliver a fully digital customer experience for students to enable them to continue to invest in their futures.
