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Making an appeal

An appeal is a formal request by you to Student Finance England to review the decisions made about what and how much student finance you鈥檙e entitled to. We assess student finance applications in line with the student support regulations that define who can get student finance and how much they can get.

But sometimes, you may think we鈥檝e not applied these regulations correctly when we鈥檝e assessed your student finance application. If this is the case, you can appeal the decisions we鈥檝e made.

SLC can also accept appeals from third parties if you鈥檝e given them permission to make an appeal on your behalf. The third party should be aware that we鈥檒l not provide them with information we hold about you unless we know that you鈥檝e given your consent. This can be done via SLC鈥檚 consent to share process. The third party will need to provide the security information used to set up consent to share each time they contact us on your behalf.

If you鈥檙e unhappy with a decision we鈥檝e made about your student finance and don鈥檛 think we鈥檝e kept to the regulations, you should make an appeal as soon as possible.

For example, if we initially gave you student finance that you weren鈥檛 entitled to because we didn鈥檛 take your previous study into account. We鈥檒l only review these cases in exceptional circumstances. Find out what situations this covers and the type of evidence you鈥檒l need to send on our dedicated page.

If an appeal is made to us more than 12 months after the decision, we will only consider it if:

• we believe there were good reasons for not making the appeal within the 12 months
• it is still possible to properly consider the appeal

If we don鈥檛 accept your appeal, we鈥檒l write to you to explain why.

What is not an appeal

You should not make an appeal if you鈥檙e unhappy about:

• an administrative mistake
• receiving an impolite or unprofessional service
• how long it鈥檚 taken us to respond to you
• being given incorrect information

In these cases, you should follow our complaints process rather than make an appeal.

Information to include in your appeal

To help us deal with your appeal, please give us as much information as possible.

If you鈥檙e sending an appeal by email, please make sure you send it from the same email account you have linked with your student finance account. You can check this by signing in and selecting 鈥榊our personal details鈥�.

You should include:

• your Customer Reference Number (CRN)
• your date of birth
• your full name and address (this should be the same as the one on your online account)
• the password (if you鈥檙e a third party with consent to share)
• the decision you disagree with
• why you think our decision is wrong
• any evidence that supports your case

How to make an appeal

You can make an appeal by email or post.

By email

You can download and complete the (PDF, 204 KB, 1 page). Then, attach it to an email and send it to [email protected].

Or if you prefer, you can just send us an email explaining your appeal without using an appeals form.

Make sure to include your CRN in the email subject.

By post

You can print and complete the (PDF, 204 KB, 1 page). Then, post it to us at:

Formal Appeals
Memphis Building
Lingfield Point
P.O. Box 226
Darlington DL1 9GA

Or if you prefer, you can just write us a letter explaining you appeal. Make sure to include all the information we need.

What happens once you鈥檝e sent us your appeal

We鈥檒l be in touch to acknowledge your appeal within 5 working days of receiving it. We鈥檒l assign your appeal to one of our case handlers to investigate.

The case handler may need to contact you for more information.

You can expect a detailed response explaining our decision within 20 working days of receiving your appeal.

We鈥檒l try our best to complete all appeals within these timescales. Sometimes an appeal can be very complex, and we may need more information from you. You may have to wait until we have everything we need before we can respond fully to you with our decision. If this is the case, we鈥檒l keep you informed of the progress of your appeal, explain the reasons for any delays and tell you any new deadlines.

What to do if you鈥檙e still not satisfied with our decision

If you鈥檙e not satisfied with our response to your appeal, you can ask for it to be reviewed by an Independent Assessor by replying to the email we sent to you.

Independent Assessors (IAs) are appointed by Ministers and are not employed by SLC. The IAs conduct an 鈥�impartial review鈥� of your appeal but have no legal powers to overturn correctly made decisions. The IAs may make recommendations which SLC will take on board unless instructed not to do so by Ministers. The independent review concludes the appeals process.

If you鈥檙e still not satisfied following the independent review, you may wish to seek legal advice on what options are available to you. Alternatively, you may wish to refer your concerns to the relevant Ombudsman.

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