Rush for loans by Scots students
October 1, 2009
The Student Awards Agency for Scotland (Saas) has taken on extra staff to try to cope with "higher volumes of applications than usual".
The agency has issued an apology to applicants having difficulties getting through to its customer advisors.
Thousands of people are still applying every week for financial support, in some cases after courses have begun.
But the agency has assured students it is not affected by delays in the loans system in England and Wales.
"We understand that this is a worrying time for those students who have not yet had their award confirmed, but we will continue to process applications and deal with enquiries as quickly as we can," said an update on the Saas website.
As of 28 September it had processed more than 114,000 applications out of the 140,000 or so it expected to receive for the year as a whole.
It is not clear, however, whether that forecast for the number of applications is being borne out.
A 10% rise in applications had been predicted for this year by the Scottish government following its reforms to the student support system.
This is likely to have been boosted by the impact of the recession and the relative lack of jobs as an alternative to higher education.
Longer hours
The Saas said: "This is always Saas's busiest time but, for the last few weeks, we have had to cope with higher volumes of applications than usual along with associated phone calls and e-mails."
It said it was meeting its target of processing applications within 21 days of receipt.
It has made available more telephone lines, employed additional staff, put in extra facilities to handle visitors to its office and was working longer hours.
"However, we are still receiving thousands of applications every week from people who are only just now applying for financial support for courses that have already started or are about to do so shortly," the agency said.
"We will deal with such late applications as quickly as we can."
Anyone needing money urgently should approach their college or university for assistance, it added.
Some people have been worried by reports of the widespread problems affecting tens of thousands of students, especially in England, whose applications are handled by the separate - albeit Scottish-based - Student Loans Company.
"Students should not be concerned by media reports of delays in student loan payments in England and Wales; these delays are not currently affecting students in Scotland," the Saas said.