Student Loans Company
By Steven Darling, Director of Customer Experience, at SLC
SLC is an enabler of opportunity and exists to help anyone who wants to study to get all the funding they are entitled to. We manage and deliver loans and grants for further and higher education, undergraduate and postgraduate study and both part-time and full-time learning.
In total, we help around 1.5 million people every year who apply for student finance as well as supporting around seven million customer who are repaying what theyve borrowed.
For most of our customers, receiving funding and repaying will be straight forward, and there may be no need to be in touch with SLC. But we know that isnt always the case and for some, navigating through their student finance experience can be more challenging.
A one size fits all approach doesnt always work and we know we need to go further and do more to tailor our customer experience for those who need the greatest support.
Were working hard to deliver our vision for every customer by providing an intuitive, supportive, and trusted service, and today we are proud to demonstrate our commitment to those who need some extra help from us by sharing our Charter for Customers Who Require Additional Support.
We speak to customers every day and often, the type of support they need can be easily identified. For example, someone with a visual impairment might know about Disabled Students Allowance (DSA). But its not always immediately clear when a customer needs additional support. This means its important that we equip our customer service teams to identify when this may be needed and help them to have open and informed conversations with our customers about this.
Customers tell us it can be both frustrating and challenging having to explain their circumstances each time they contact us. This is especially true for those with more complex circumstances or particular support needs. To help address this, weve introduced indicators into our internal systems. This means that with our customers permission, our advisors can apply an indicator to their account, when they share information that indicates they need extra help or support.
An example could be customers who need some extra guidance and explanation from us each time they are in touch because they dont have a support network at home. We know this can sometimes be the case for our customers who are estranged from their families or who have been in care. Indicators can make individual customers support needs visible to each member of the SLC team involved in helping that customer. This means they can tailor their help to meet the customers individual needs and circumstances, providing a much better experience.
Were committed to growing our understanding of vulnerability and additional support needs, as well as continually improving the service we provide to customers who require the most help.
Weve developed our Charter and approach with input from stakeholders and experts including our independent Vulnerable Student Stakeholder Group and the Money Advice Trust. We are grateful for their support and will continue to seek their thoughts and views as we move forward. Weve also worked with SLCs Customer Panel who continue to make a really important contribution to this work.
With over eight million customers we know we wont always get it right, but the Charter is an important milestone for SLC and our customers. We are proud of the direction it sets, providing help to customers who need the financial support, but also need our understanding, empathy