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The head of the student loans agency caused outrage today by saying it was "reasonable" for 50,000 people to start university without their grants.
The Student Loans Company has failed to cope with a surge in applications this year, leaving tens of thousands of undergraduates facing hardship as they begin their studies.
The quango's chief executive Ralph Seymour-Jackson said: "The situation is not perfect, but it's reasonable." He said the backlog had forced the company to give at least a "basic level" of funding to all students when they arrive at university over the next few weeks. But up to 50,000 students will be forced to wait weeks for the full grant to which they are entitled, he told the BBC.
Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, condemned Mr Seymour-Jackson for trying to play down the fiasco.
He said: "It is completely unacceptable for some of the poorest and most vulnerable students in the country to be left short of funds. It is particularly insulting for Ralph Seymour-Jackson to claim that this situation is 'reasonable'."
Mr Streeting said he had received reassurances that the backlogs would "not be a problem" from the agency's subsidiary, Student Finance England, which took over handling applications for English students from councils this year. "Now it is apparent that this is not the case," Mr Streeting said. "Student loans are a lifeline to many people and without them the costs of university would simply be unbearable."
The agency has apologised for the delays. It said there had been a rise of 16.7 per cent in the numbers applying for loans this year, fuelled by a record number of university applications during the recession.
Shadow universities secretary David Willetts said: "This is an appalling administrative cock-up. It would be a tragedy if the Government's failure led to students dropping out of university.
"Ministers need to come clean about precisely when they first knew about the problems, what steps they took to sort them out and exactly how many students are going to be affected."
Reader views (4)
I find this mans comments repulsive, my son started UNI in Sept so far due to no fault of his own and four change of circumstance forms that he was requested to put in and they lost or ignored, he has recieved nothing !!
I have had to pay for his first quarter accomadation which came to an incredible £1700 plus give him around £50 / week for food and equipment, so now i am broke and struggling to support him and my other two kids.
So it is now at the stage where he may have to give up what he worked so hard for and go on the dole as there is no work anywhere for youngsters !!
On another note whenever you phone them and get through to an advisor they contradict each other and in one case just to get us off the phone tell you downright lies.Oh yes they have no obvious procedure for complaint either.
Disgaracefull treatment of young people, surely these loans can be sorted better than this, or perhaps like my son giving them dole money is a better option !
- Brian, Wiltshire
They're not grants, they're loans.
- Paul, London
I gave up my job to start a Uni course (as a "mature" student) and am still waiting for finance. It is NOT reasonable to deny students money to survive, and contary to popular belief, we are not all spending our grants on booze etc. We just need to keep our heads above water. Why delay payments to people such as me, who will graduate and then not be supported by the state, will pay taxes, and will be in full time employment?
It is an absolute fiasco and the company should not be in charge of such an important funding program.
- Rod, Epping, UK
Was he hired by Gordon?
- Tonyjohnson, Hythe Kent
