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 2024 to 2025.

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 3338 working days Monday 269 AugustSeptember and Friday 3013 AugustSeptember
Part-time undergraduate student finance 3539 working days Monday 29 September and Friday 613 September
Childcare Grant, Parents’ Learning Allowance or Adult Dependants’ Grant 25 working days Monday 1926 August and Friday 2330 August

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 49 working days Monday 1623 September and Friday 2027 September
a change in your circumstances 2425 working days Monday 1226 August and Friday 930 August
Childcare Grant, Parents’ Learning Allowance or Adult Dependants’ Grant 25 working days Monday 1926 August and Friday 2330 August

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 1415 working days Monday 2912 JulyAugust and Friday 216 August
medical evidence 910 working days Monday 225 JulyAugust and Friday 269 JulyAugust
a Needs Assessment report 12 working days Monday 295 JulyAugust and Friday 29 August
a claim for expenses 910 working days Monday 225 JulyAugust and Friday 269 JulyAugust
an email 1012 working days Monday 295 JulyAugust and Friday 29 August

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!

Updates to this page

Published 27 September 2023
Last updated 1622 July 2024 + show all updates
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  42. Timescales have been updated for the week commencing Monday 2 October 2023

  43. First published.

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