Guidance

SFE: Current application timescales

Use this guide to get an estimate of our current timescales and find out when to expect an update on your undergraduate student finance application for 2023 to 2024.

Applies to England

This page is updated weekly.

This page is used for undergraduate student finance applications only. To get an update on your Postgraduate Loan or Advanced Learner Loan application, you’ll need to sign in to your student finance account.

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If you’ve applied for student finance

If you’ve recently applied for student finance, we might give you the minimum amount to make sure you have some funding near the start of your course.

How long it takes us to work on your application depends on what you’ve applied for and how many other students are applying at the same time.

If you apply this week for Current timescales are Expect an update from us between
Full-time undergraduate student finance 2510 working days Monday 522 FebruaryJanuary and 926 FebruaryJanuary
Part-time undergraduate student finance 3428 working days Monday 19 February and Friday 23 February
Childcare Grant, Parents’ Learning Allowance or Adult Dependants’ Grant 2928 working days Monday 1219 February and Friday 1623 February

Remember to check the progress of your application using your student finance account.

If you’ve sent us evidence or made a change to your application

If you’ve sent evidence to help us work out how much you can get, or you’ve told us that your circumstances have changed, the table below shows when you should expect an update from us.

If you send us information or evidence this week about Current timescales are Expect an update from us between
your financial information, including the PFF2 form 1114 working days Monday 1529 January to Friday 192 JanuaryFebruary
a change in your circumstances 119 working days Monday 1522 January to Friday 1926 January
Childcare Grant, Parents’ Learning Allowance or Adult Dependants’ Grant 3028 working days Monday 1219 February and Friday 1623 February

If you’ve uploaded evidence or made a change to your application, your student finance account might not update straight away. We’ll update it once we’ve actioned your change or reviewed your evidence.

If you’ve applied for Disabled Student’s Allowance (DSA)

If you’ve applied for DSA, sent us evidence, or emailed us about your DSA application, the table below shows when you should expect an update from us.

This week, if you’ve sent us Current timescales are Expect an update from us between
a DSA application 2520 working days Monday 5 February and Friday 9 February
medical evidence 2523 working days Monday 512 February and Friday 916 February
a Needs Assessment report 2726 working days Monday 512 February and Friday 916 February
a claim for expenses 2022 working days Monday 295 JanuaryFebruary and Friday 29 February
an email 2321 working days Monday 5 February and Friday 9 February

There’s no need to contact us once you’ve sent something. We’ll update you by email as soon as we’ve reviewed it, so make sure your contact details are up to date. Keep checking your email inbox for our replies and remember to check your junk or spam folders too!

Published 27 September 2023
Last updated 38 January 2024 + show all updates
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  14. Timescales have been updated for the week commencing Monday 2 October 2023

  15. First published.