I need my Student Support Number with Student Finance England to enrol on my course. Where can I get this?

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1 Student Finance England Students If you are taking out a maintenance loan or a tuition fee loan from Student Finance England to help support you in your studies it is important that you have completed your application correctly. Any incorrect data could cause issues and delays to your funding. Please make sure you update your records with Student Finance England with any changes to your University, course or fees as soon as possible. If you are having any difficulties then please contact us at Coventry University via on slc.reg@coventry.ac.uk Student Finance England (SFE) Checklist If you have come through clearing and previously applied to another university it is important that you have updated SFE with the details of your new university so that your maintenance and tuition loans won t be delayed You must ensure that the course you are planning on studying at Coventry University matches the course details on your SFE account. If your course offers a placement year we will, by default, indicate to SFE that you plan on completing a placement even if you are undecided at the point of application. If you decide against the placement we can update the details at that point. Due to Coventry University having variable fees depending on the course you have chosen to study please make sure your application states the correct fee Your application will be held up if you have not submitted all relevant personal information to SFE, it is important that you have provided up to date bank details and your national insurance number Keep checking your online account and the view correspondence screen, as if SFE have requested more information, it will be detailed here Your application with SFE is not complete until you have signed and returned the online declaration form that they have sent you. Please ensure this is submitted as soon as possible We will not register your attendance at the University, which triggers payment of your tuition fees and maintenance loan/grant, until you have picked up your ID card at enrolment. Frequently asked s I need my Student Support Number with Student Finance England to enrol on my course. Where can I get this? Your Student Support Number can be found on page 3 of your Student Finance Notification of Entitlement letter under the barcode on the top left hand side. How can I check the progress of my application with SFE? You can check the progress of your application by logging into your student finance account at and selecting the academic year you ve applied for. I have received my Student Finance Notification of Entitlement letter, what should I do next? If you have applied online then your Student Finance Notification of Entitlement letter will contain an 'Online Declaration' which you are required to complete and return. Please ensure that the Online Declaration is returned to the following address: Student Loans Company Ltd, PO Box 4035, Glasgow, G52 4XF. Your Student Finance Entitlement letter will also have a 'Payment Timetable', if you have received this after the start of your course then you may need to show this to Coventry University Finance. I have not received an online declaration form how can I get one? When your application for student finance is approved you will be issued with a Student Finance Notification of Entitlement letter and an Online Declaration form for completion. Normally this will take 7-10 days to reach you after your application has been approved.

2 Alternatively you can log in to your student finance account and print it from your 'View Correspondence' screen. I didn't get the grades needed for my firm or insurance choices and have applied for a new course through Clearing. What do I need to do? UCAS do not inform Student Finance England about any changes to your course details, therefore it is imperative that you notify them as quickly as possible of any change in your circumstances. This can be done by logging in to your online account. You will need to supply the following information: New University/College name New course name New course duration New fee amount New year of study I have studied previously, can I still get financial support from SFE? This support is not available if you hold a qualification equivalent or higher level to the one you are going to study. If you hold a lower level qualification or have previously studied in higher education for any period of time, support may be available, but that support will depend on the number of years that you have previously studied. Prior to starting your course you should contact SFE ( ) to confirm your eligibility for student finance to ensure that you can pay for the course. Is my course eligible for funding from Student Finance England? Generally, courses are eligible for financial support in the following circumstances. If they are full-time courses (including sandwich/placement courses) and they lead to: A first degree, such as a BA, BSc or BEd; A Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE); A Higher National Diploma (HND); A Higher National Certificate (HNC); A Certificate of Higher Education; A course for the initial training of teachers; A course for the further training of youth or community workers; A course leading to the an MEng qualification; A course in preparation for a professional examination of a standard higher than that of examination for advanced level GCE, or the examination at higher level for the Scottish Certificate of Education, or the examination for the National Certificate or National Diploma of BTEC or SQA; and not being a course for which a first degree (or equivalent qualification) is a normal entry requirement; or A course providing education, the standard of which is higher than that of examination for advanced level GCE; or the examination at higher level for the Scottish Certificate of Education, or the examination for the National Certificate or National Diploma of BTEC or SQA, but not higher than that of a first degree course and not being a course for which a first degree (or equivalent qualification) is a normal entry requirement. The following courses are not covered: All postgraduate courses except Initial Teacher Training. Access or conversion courses which prepare students to take a higher education course. Courses of further education. My course has extra weeks study, can I get additional support? All current students domiciled in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive an 'extra weeks' portion of Maintenance Loan if their academic year exceeds

3 30 weeks and 3 days in length. Your application must be income assessed before a long course rate can be applied. I sometimes use a different spelling of my name. How will this affect my application? You should apply to Student Finance England (SFE) using the name that is showing on your identification (ID) i.e. Birth Certificate or Passport. If you have already made an application to the University (HEI) and your name differs from the name that you used when making a Student Finance Application, it will affect your payment from Student Finance England. Please contact your university to make the necessary changes. I am an EU student. What type of support can I receive? All eligible, full time EU students can take out a loan to cover the cost of tuition fees. Please note that any previous study undertaken at Higher Education (HE) level may affect your eligibility for funding (see section regarding previous study). The maximum you can borrow depends on the fees charged by your university. It is not affected by your household income. Should you require any further information please feel free to contact the Student Finance Services European Team. Student Finance Services European Team, PO Box 89, Darlington, DL1 9AZ Phone Number: (+44) (0) Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 9.00am to 4.00pm I started on a full-time course but now want to study on a part-time basis how will this affect my funding? Please note that any previous study undertaken at Higher Education (HE) level may affect your eligibility for funding (see section regarding previous study). The funding available will depend on your mode of study i.e. Part Time or Full Time. Please see details below on how to apply and finance available. Part Time If you change your actual 'mode of study' from full time to part time you should apply as a new part-time student using a PTL1 form. You will be eligible to receive a Tuition Fee Loan only (subject to eligibility) but no support towards living costs. Full Time - If the faculty states that you are classed as a full time student regardless of the intensity of your study, you should complete a PR1 form as you will be a returning student. You will be eligible to receive funding available as a continuing student. If I need to repeat a year of study what funding can I apply for? Repeating a year of study If you are required to repeat a year of study you should still apply to SFE as a full-time continuing student using a PR1 form. As you intend to return to full-time study you will still be classed as a full-time student for funding purposes. If you are applying by paper application please send your completed application form to the following address: Student Finance England, PO BOX 210, Darlington, DL1 9HJ I do not have a bank account yet, can I pay my student finance into someone else's account? Due to financial regulations your Student Finance payments must be paid into your own account.

4 Please see the Gov.uk website for further information as to the types of bank accounts that are available. Other people on my course have received their funding but I have not, why is this? There are several contributing factors that may result in you not receiving payment of student loans or grants. Your application for student finance must first be approved and you will have received a Student Finance Notification of Entitlement letter to confirm your funding. This will also clarify the next steps you must take to receive payment. If you have not received this then there may be some outstanding information they require from either yourself or the sponsors (parent/guardians) of the application. You can check the progress of your application or check if there is any further information needed by logging into your Student Finance account. My fees have not been paid to the University, can you tell me why? Normally fees will be paid to the university or college on set dates within the academic year. If your loan has been approved by Student Finance England then you are only required to show your university or college your 'payment advice notification' that was sent to you at the beginning of the academic year, it is included in the Student Finance Notification of Entitlement letter. These fees will only be paid on receipt of the Attendance Confirmation Report which is returned by your university or college. If you have not had your loan approved by student finance you will have to make alternative arrangements to pay the fees directly to the university or college. For some courses your fee support may come from other sources, e.g. NHS courses. How and when will I be paid? You have to enrol at your university or college before they can make your first payment. You will usually do this in the first week of your course and you may have to take along your Student Finance Notification letter, so make sure you keep this safe. Once you have enrolled and picked up your ID card, we will let SFE know you are attending and they will make your payment. You don t need to do anything other than enrol and collect your card. It can then take three to four days for the money to reach your account, depending on your bank. When will I get my first payment/why have I not received my first instalment? When your application for funding has been fully approved you will be sent a Student Finance Notification of Entitlement letter, this letter will detail proposed payment dates for any loans and grants. The payment dates are set and governed by your university term start dates and these cannot be changed. Before the first instalment of funding is paid to you by the Student Loans Company (SLC) there are a few things that must happen: SLC must have your bank details If you have made an online application, you may be asked to return a signed and dated Online Declaration A valid National Insurance Number (NINO) must be showing on the account* You must have enrolled on your course and attendance confirmation have been received from your university or college** * The National Insurance Number (NINO) validation process will take approximately one week and will only be sent to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) once your application for support has been fully approved. Normally this is sent on a Wednesday and returned the following Wednesday. This process will take only place for all new students as the national insurance number would have been validated previously for students who are returning. **Your University/College (HEI) will only have access to your details on the Student

5 Information System (SIS) once your application has been fully approved. If your application is 'Approved - Awaiting Signature' the HEI cannot confirm your attendance, as you have not signed and returned the declaration form. Note: If you submitted an online application you will have been sent a declaration to complete and SFE cannot send your National Insurance Number for validation until this is returned. Maintenance loan and Tuition Fee loans will not be paid until we have a confirmed valid National Insurance Number in our system. My payment shows as blocked, why is this? There are general issues that may arise that can result in payments being blocked. Examples of these are as follows:! You have not provided SFE with bank details! Your national insurance number has not been provided or validated as yet by the DWP.! SFE have had returned mail from your address You can check your correspondence from SFE to see why your payment is blocked I have been refused funding for student finance and I would like to appeal this decision, how can I do this? If you think a decision Student Finance England have made regarding your funding application is incorrect, you may have the right to appeal. An appeal is a formal request to Student Finance England asking them to review their decision either on whether you are entitled to financial help or on the amount of funding we have awarded to you. If you wish to appeal against their refusal to award you student funding or you disagree with how any funding has been calculated then you can appeal in one of three ways: By downloading and sending them an appeals template from the Gov.uk website By sending an to formal_appeals@slc.co.uk Or by writing to them at: Formal Appeals, Memphis Building, Lingfield Point, P.O box 226, Darlington, DL1 9GA When submitting your appeal you will need to give them details of the decision you are appealing, and why you consider their decision to be wrong. You should also enclose any evidence which supports your case. On receipt of your appeal a dedicated team will issue an acknowledgement within 5 working days of the appeal being received and they will send you a full response within 15 working days. Note!! The above time-scales do not start to run until SFE have all the evidence required If your appeal is upheld your application will be passed back to the processing unit and processed as normal. If you are not satisfied If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your appeal they can escalate your appeal to the relevant Head of Service. Again, an acknowledgement will be sent within 5 working days and a full response within 15 working days. Finally, if you are still not satisfied You can ask for your appeal to be referred to an Independent Assessor. The Independent Assessor is completely impartial and has Terms of Reference agreed by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.