SLC pays £0.8 bn in Maintenance Loan payments to students today
The Student Loans Company (SLC) has paid £0.8 bn in first term Maintenance Loan payments into students’ bank accounts across the UK today (Monday 21 September).
At SLC, the core purpose is to enable opportunity through the delivery of student finance, and today £0.8 billion in Maintenance Loans is being paid to students starting or returning to university.
This is the biggest payment date at the start of the 2026/27 academic year and follows £0.8 billion paid earlier in the month. SLC expects to pay a total of £3bn in maintenance funding by the end of September. Similarly timed payments of £0.9 billion were made in September 2024 and £1.1 billion in September 2025.
Tuition Fee Loan payments are paid directly to higher education providers later in the autumn.
Payments are released to students when their university or college confirms that they have registered/enrolled. Once SLC has this information, it will send a text message to students a few days before the expected payment date to let them know that their Maintenance Loan is on the way. SLC is encouraging students to log-in to their online account to track their application and payment progress. Student can also find more tips on preparing for payment here: Preparing for Payment - GOV.UK
As payments continue, SLC is reminding students to be vigilant of scams targeting their payments. More information can be found at: Students urged to ‘stop and think before you click’ as student finance payments begin - GOV.UK
- SLC paid out £12.9 billion in loans and grants to new and existing students, as well as £11.9 billion tuition fees to higher and further education providers in 2025/26.