Contact Student Finance: Phone Numbers, Opening Times and Addresses

What is the Student Finance contact number?

If you cannot hear or speak on the phone, dial 18001 followed by the relevant UK number to use Text Relay. British Sign Language users can use the Video Relay service linked from the GOV.UK contact pages. Calls to 03 numbers cost the same as calls to 01 and 02 numbers and are included in inclusive minutes.

What are Student Finance opening times?

Student Finance England phone lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, and are closed at weekends. Webchat inside your online account runs longer, Monday to Friday, 8am to 7pm. Student Finance Wales and Student Finance NI use similar weekday hours. SAAS in Scotland is the exception: its phone lines open only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

None of these organisations runs a 24-hour helpline and none opens at weekends. Waiting times peak between late August and late September, when new and returning students are chasing first payments. Calling in the first hour after opening, or using webchat after 6pm on a weekday, usually gets you through faster.

Student finance number or student loan number: which one do you need?

They are two different organisations and two different phone numbers. Call 0300 100 0607 (Student Finance England) while you are still applying or studying. Call 0300 100 0611 (Student Loans Company) once you have left your course and the question is about repaying. Ringing the wrong one is the most common reason people get transferred or told to call back.

Not sure which repayment plan you are on? Our student loan repayment plans guide explains the differences between Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 4, Plan 5 and the Postgraduate Loan, which is the first thing an adviser will ask you to confirm.

Is there a Student Finance live chat?

Yes. Student Finance England webchat runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 7pm, but it is only available inside your online student finance account, not on a public page. Sign in and the chat option appears when an adviser is free. The Student Loans Company runs the same in-account webchat for repayment queries, also 8am to 7pm on weekdays.

• Student Finance England and SLC webchat: sign in to your online account. The chat option only shows when an adviser is available, so it can disappear at peak times.
• Student Finance Wales webchat: in your online account, Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm, closed on bank holidays.
• SAAS webchat: a chat widget on the SAAS website, Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm. SAAS describes webchat as the quickest way to get help.
• SLC webchat limits: advisers cannot update bank details or take repayments over chat. You do both yourself in the online account.

Student Finance England and the Student Loans Company also answer general questions on social media (@SF_England and @SLC_Repayment). They will not discuss your account there, so never post your customer reference number or any personal details.

What is the Student Finance email address?

Student Finance England does not publish a general public email address, and neither does the Student Loans Company. GOV.UK lists phone, webchat, post and social media only. The way to send a written message about your account is the secure message and document upload facility inside your online student finance account, which is treated as the official written channel.

A small number of specialist mailboxes are published, and they are the only official student finance email addresses we could verify:

Student Finance NI publishes an alternative formats mailbox on its general enquiries page and an alternative formats phone line on 0141 243 3686. If you see a “studentfinance” email address quoted on a forum or an unofficial listings site, treat it as unverified: student finance phishing peaks in September, and no genuine student finance body will email you asking for your password or bank details.

What is the Student Finance postal address?

The main Student Finance England address is Student Finance England, PO Box 210, Darlington, DL1 9HJ. Repayment post goes to the Student Loans Company at 10 Clyde Place, Glasgow, G5 8DF. The address depends on what you are sending, so check the table before you post anything: sending evidence to the wrong PO Box delays an application by weeks.

These are processing addresses, not public counters. None of them accepts visitors, and none of the four student finance bodies offers face-to-face appointments about your account.

How do you contact student finance in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland?

Call Student Finance Wales on 0300 200 4050, Student Finance NI on 0300 100 0077 and SAAS on 0300 555 0505. Which body funds you depends on where you normally live, not where you study, so a Welsh student at an English university still deals with Student Finance Wales.

Before you call, check this first

Most calls to student finance helplines are questions that already have a published answer. Checking first saves a 30-minute wait in September. Have your customer reference number to hand before you dial, because the adviser cannot start without it.

Is there a Student Finance contact number for London?

No. There is no separate London phone number and no London walk-in office. Students living in London use the same Student Finance England line, 0300 100 0607. London matters for how much you are awarded, because the maintenance loan has a higher rate for students living away from home in London, but it makes no difference to how you contact Student Finance England.

Student Finance England processing sites are in Darlington and Glasgow, and none of the four UK student finance bodies runs a public counter. The searches for a “London student finance office” usually come from students looking for the higher London maintenance rate, which you can model with our maintenance and repayment calculators.

Frequently asked questions