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Student Loans Company Complaints Procedure

Complete step-by-step guide to complaining about SLC decisions and escalating through independent review

Key Takeaways

  • SLC's own process, published on GOV.UK, is: complain by phone, email or post; SLC acknowledges within 5 working days; you can expect a detailed response within 20 working days (longer for complex cases, with updates). If you are still not satisfied, you can ask for a review by an Independent Assessor, which SLC says “concludes the complaints process”.
  • Independent Assessors are appointed by Ministers and are not employed by SLC. SLC says they carry out an impartial review but have no legal powers to overturn correctly made decisions; they may make recommendations, which SLC will implement unless instructed otherwise by Ministers.
  • After the independent review, SLC's page says you may wish to seek legal advice or refer your concerns to the relevant Ombudsman. The Independent Case Examiner is not part of this route: it handles complaints about the Department for Work and Pensions.
  • Complain as soon as possible. If a complaint is made more than 12 months after the event, or after you could reasonably have known about it, SLC says it will only consider it if there were good reasons for the delay and it can still be properly considered.
  • A complaint is different from an appeal. If you disagree with a decision about the student finance you are entitled to, SLC says to use its appeals process instead.

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If the Student Loans Company (SLC) makes a mistake or your service is poor, you can make a formal complaint. This page summarises SLC's published complaints process as it stands on GOV.UK, with the steps in the order SLC gives them. It does not add figures about how often complaints succeed, because SLC does not publish any in that process document and we have not found a reliable source for them.

Source: GOV.UK, Student Loans Company: Complaints procedure (updated by SLC on 31 March 2023, for complaints from 1 April 2023). Details can change, so check the page itself before you complain.

Complaints Process Overview

The steps, as SLC publishes them

  1. Make your complaint to SLC by phone, email or post, as soon as possible after the event.
  2. Acknowledgement: SLC says it will be in touch to acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days, and will assign it to a Customer Relations Officer to investigate.
  3. Detailed response: you can expect a detailed response within 20 working days of SLC receiving your complaint. Complex complaints may take longer, in which case SLC says it will keep you informed, explain the delay and give new deadlines.
  4. Independent review: if you are not satisfied with the response, you can ask for it to be reviewed by an Independent Assessor by replying to the Customer Relations Officer who handled your case.
  5. After that: SLC says the independent review concludes the complaints process. If you are still not satisfied, you may wish to seek legal advice, or refer your concerns to the relevant Ombudsman.

Who the Independent Assessor is

According to SLC, Independent Assessors are appointed by Ministers and are not employed by SLC. They conduct an impartial review of your complaint but have no legal powers to overturn correctly made decisions. They may make recommendations, which SLC says it will implement unless instructed not to do so by Ministers.

The Independent Case Examiner (ICE) is not part of this route. GOV.UK describes ICE as an independent resolution service for complaints about the Department for Work and Pensions (including the Child Maintenance Service, Jobcentre Plus and the Pension Service). Some older guides send student loan borrowers to ICE; SLC's own process does not.

Complaints vs appeals, and time limits

  • If you are unhappy with a decision SLC has made about the student finance you are entitled to, SLC says you should make an appeal rather than a complaint, using its appeals process (Student Finance England and Student Finance Wales each have one).
  • Complaints should be made as soon as possible after the events, or after you became aware of them. If a complaint is made more than 12 months after an event, or after you could reasonably have been expected to know about it, SLC says it will only consider it if it believes there were good reasons for not complaining within 12 months and it is still possible to properly consider the complaint.
  • If SLC does not accept your complaint, SLC says it will write to you to explain why.
  • SLC accepts complaints from third parties if you have given them permission, through its consent to share process.

How to contact SLC's complaints team

  • Phone (Student Finance England and Repayment, UK): 0300 100 0601, Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm, closed on bank holidays; from overseas +44 141 243 3660.
  • Phone (Student Finance Wales): 0300 200 4050, Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm.
  • Email: customer_complaints@slc.co.uk, with your Customer Reference Number (CRN) in the subject line.
  • Post: Customer Relations, Student Loans Company, 10 Clyde Place, Glasgow G5 8DF.

Contact details and opening hours are from the GOV.UK complaints page as checked on 5 October 2026 and can change.

What can be complained about

  • Administrative errors, such as incorrect loan balances, missing payment credits or wrong interest calculations
  • Poor customer service, such as failure to respond to correspondence or unreturned calls
  • Delays in processing applications or responses to queries
  • Data protection issues, including incorrect personal data or a failure to respond to subject access requests

What to Include in Your Complaint

SLC asks you to give as much information as possible so it can deal with the complaint quickly. Its page lists:

  • your Customer Reference Number (CRN)
  • your date of birth
  • your full name and address, as held on your SLC account
  • the password, if you are a third party with consent to share
  • details of what happened and when, including everything you want SLC to consider or investigate
  • what you think SLC should do to put it right
  • your telephone number and a convenient time to call, if you want to be contacted that way

Practical Complaint Guide

These general tips help SLC investigate a complaint. They are suggestions from us, not SLC rules.

Key Principles for Effective Complaints

  • Be specific with dates, amounts, reference numbers, and exact nature of error or poor service. Generic complaints are hard to investigate and resolve.
  • Provide evidence including screenshots, letters, statements, calculations, or other documentation supporting your position. Claims without evidence are easily dismissed.
  • Stay factual and professional. Emotional language or threats undermine credibility and make SLC staff defensive rather than solution-focused.
  • State clear desired outcome such as account correction, compensation amount, or specific action you want SLC to take. Vague requests for fairness are unactionable.
  • Keep copies of everything including all complaints submitted, all responses received, and all supporting evidence. Build comprehensive file for escalation.
  • Complain promptly. SLC says it will only consider complaints made more than 12 months after the event if there were good reasons for the delay.
  • Follow up if you have not had a response within the timescales above (5 working days to acknowledge, 20 working days for a detailed response), unless SLC has told you it needs longer.

Sample Complaint Opening (template, replace the placeholders)

I am writing to formally complain about [what went wrong, for example an incorrect loan balance] on my student loan account. My Customer Reference Number is [CRN].

What happened: [dates, amounts and what you saw on your account or in correspondence].

Evidence: [P60s, payslips, statements, letters or screenshots you have enclosed, and what each shows].

Impact: [financial loss, time spent or distress, stated factually].

What I would like SLC to do: [for example correct the balance, refund an overpayment, explain the calculation in writing].

SLC's complaints process ends with an independent review

Complain to SLC, expect an acknowledgement within 5 working days and a detailed response within 20 working days, then ask for an Independent Assessor review if you are not satisfied. After that, SLC's own page points to legal advice or the relevant Ombudsman. Check the GOV.UK page for the current process.

For more information on your rights, see our guides on data protection rights and loan terms and conditions.

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Student Loan Calculator UK Editorial Team

Editorial Team

This page is maintained by the Student Loan Calculator UK editorial team, checked against GOV.UK and Student Loans Company guidance. Read more about our editorial approach.