The Students’ Union has been investigating why students will receive their loans and grants one week after the start of the final term.
The Students’ Union has been investigating why students will receive their loans and grants one week after the start of the final term.
In a response to the Education Officer, Mr Raymond Ciborowski, Registrar and Chief Operating Officer said:
In a departure from the practice in previous years, the SLC required information from the University on the term dates applicable for AY 12/13 in November 2011 (rather than in early 2012).
The date that was supplied to the SLC for the start of the Summer Term was 22/04/13. It was understood that this date had been formally confirmed.
In January, however, the Summer Term start date for 2012 was finally set as 15/04/13.
The University did not inform the SLC of this discrepancy in the dates.
Students were informed individually by the SLC at the start of the academic year that the payment date for loans/grants for the Summer Term would be 22/04/13.
In March the University became aware of the discrepancy between the payment date and the start of term date and emailed all affected students before the Easter Vacation alerting them to the payment date of 22/04/13, and making students aware of how to access Money Advice if they were going to experience financial difficulties.
I can only apologise if this has caused any confusion for students who would have expected the payment date, as normal, to coincide with the date of the start of term.
I understand a number of students have been in contact with Money Advice for support.
Zahid Raja, Education Officer said:
I welcome the clarity in the response from the University. However, for many, this administrative error has caused much distress. For those who believe that they have incurred bank charges as a result of the error, it is recommended that you contact Raymond directly: Raymond.Ciborowski@swansea.ac.uk
If you need help with this, please get in touch with the Students’ Union Advice Centre who offer independent advice on such issues: http://www.swansea-union.co.uk/advice/advicecentre/
If you’re struggling to make ends meet whilst you’re waiting for your loan / grant, please contact the Swansea University Money Advice Service who can help you access the financial contingency fund: Email Address: MoneyDoctors@swansea.ac.uk Phone Number: 01792 606 699