Number of students applying for and receiving disability allowance for mental health

The request was partially successful.

Dear Student Loans Company Limited,

I am writing to make an open government request for all the information to which I am entitled under the Freedom of Information Act. In order to assist you with this request, I am outlining my query as specifically as possible. However, if this request is too wide or unclear, I should be grateful if you would contact me as Under Section 16 it is your duty to provide advice and assistance.

I am looking for information regarding the change in the number of students applying for and receiving Student Finance’s disability allowance for mental health, over the past decade.

1) Please could you confirm when Student Finance was introduced and how long after did the disability scheme come into force.
2) From 2009 to 2019, please provide a yearly summary of how many students applied for, and received, student finance/ a student loan. Please provide the information in an excel sheet outlining each academic year indicating the number of students for each year.
3) Please provide a yearly summary of how many of these students applied for and received a disability allowance between 2009 and 2019.
4) How many of those receiving the disability allowance between 2009 and 2019 were/ are for mental health? Please provide a yearly summary, clearly showing the year and number of students for each year (also in percentage form).
5) Of those who applied for a disability allowance, please provide a yearly summary of the number of students that did not receive the allowance between 2009 and 2019.
6) Please list the reasons why they did not receive the allowance or why they were rejected between 2009 and 2019.
7) Of those who applied for a disability allowance for mental health reasons, please provide a yearly summary of the number of students that did not receive the allowance between 2009 and 2019.
8) Please list the reasons why they did not receive the allowance or why they were rejected between 2009 and 2019.

I should be grateful if you would provide the requested information in as clear a format as possible. Please provide a Microsoft Excel Sheet outlining the number of students for each academic year clearly indicated and the corresponding percentages.

Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I understand that you are required to respond to my request within 20 working days of receiving this email. I should be grateful if you would acknowledge receipt.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,
Ramsha Vistro

SLC FOI Requests - Do Not Reply, Student Loans Company Limited

This is an automated response to let you know that your email has been
received by the Student Loans Company Limited ("SLC").

SLC's Freedom of Information Office is only able to deal with requests for
information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 ("FOIA"). If your
email relates to a request for information under the FOIA, a separate
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If your email is in relation to a student finance application or account
enquiry, and you have provided sufficient details to identify your account,

your email will be passed to the relevant department. Alternatively,
please contact us using the customer contact details available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati....

If your email is not a customer enquiry then it has been passed to the
relevant department.

SLC's Freedom of Information Office is unable to advise response timescales

for other departments.

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FOI Requests, Student Loans Company Limited

Dear Ramsha Vistro

Thank you for your email dated 17th December 2019.

Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”).

Your request has been allocated reference number 250-19.

We will respond to you under the terms of the FOIA and within 20 working
days.

At this stage, we would be grateful if you could clarify your reference to
""Student Finance" - is this reference to Student Finance England only, or
also Student Finance Wales and/or Student Finance Northern Ireland.

We will contact you further for clarification of your request if this is
considered necessary.  

Yours sincerely

Louise Chapman | Senior Legal Executive
Student Loans Company
100 Bothwell Street, Glasgow G2 7JD
e: 32080  t: 0141 306 2080

[1]www.gov.uk/slc
Follow us at [2]Twitter/SLCcomms for the latest corporate news and updates

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Dear FOI Requests,
Thank you for your response.

If possible, I would like information for all three: Student Finance England, Student Finance Wales and Student Finance Northern Ireland.

Yours sincerely,
Ramsha Vistro

SLC FOI Requests - Do Not Reply, Student Loans Company Limited

This is an automated response to let you know that your email has been
received by the Student Loans Company Limited ("SLC").

SLC's Freedom of Information Office is only able to deal with requests for
information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 ("FOIA"). If your
email relates to a request for information under the FOIA, a separate
acknowledgement will be issued with a request reference.

If your email is in relation to a student finance application or account
enquiry, and you have provided sufficient details to identify your account,

your email will be passed to the relevant department. Alternatively,
please contact us using the customer contact details available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati....

If your email is not a customer enquiry then it has been passed to the
relevant department.

SLC's Freedom of Information Office is unable to advise response timescales

for other departments.

show quoted sections

FOI Requests, Student Loans Company Limited

Dear Ramsha Vistro

I refer to your recent email dated 17^th December 2019 requesting the
following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”).

“I am looking for information regarding the change in the number of
students applying for and receiving Student Finance’s disability allowance
for mental health, over the past decade.

1) Please could you confirm when Student Finance was introduced and how
long after did the disability scheme come into force.
2) From 2009 to 2019, please provide a yearly summary of how many students
applied for, and received, student finance/ a student loan. Please provide
the information in an excel sheet outlining each academic year indicating
the number of students for each year.
3) Please provide a yearly summary of how many of these students applied
for and received a disability allowance between 2009 and 2019.
4) How many of those receiving the disability allowance between 2009 and
2019 were/ are for mental health? Please provide a yearly summary, clearly
showing the year and number of students for each year (also in percentage
form).
5) Of those who applied for a disability allowance, please provide a
yearly summary of the number of students that did not receive the
allowance between 2009 and 2019.
6) Please list the reasons why they did not receive the allowance or why
they were rejected between 2009 and 2019.
7) Of those who applied for a disability allowance for mental health
reasons, please provide a yearly summary of the number of students that
did not receive the allowance between 2009 and 2019.
8) Please list the reasons why they did not receive the allowance or why
they were rejected between 2009 and 2019.”

Clarification of the term ‘Student Finance’ was sought, and you confirmed
the following by email dated 18^th December 2019:

“If possible, I would like information for all three: Student Finance
England, Student Finance Wales and Student Finance Northern Ireland.”

Response

Student Loans Company Limited (“SLC”) holds some, but not all of, the
information that you have requested.  SLC does not hold any DSA
application/disability type data for SFNI as these applications are
received and processed by the Education Authority in Northern Ireland.
 SLC does not hold any SFW DSA application/disability type data prior to
academic year 2014/15 as up until then these applications were received
and processed by the relevant Welsh Local Education Authority.  

For the information that is held by SLC, having reviewed your request and
in consultation with the appropriate departments within SLC, I have
concluded that this information cannot be released as the cost of
complying with your request would exceed the appropriate limit set out in
the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and
Fees) Regulations 2004.  The limit applying to SLC is £450 or 2.5 days
(calculated to be 18 hours of staff time at £25 per hour).

The information is therefore exempt under section 12(1) of the FOIA and in
accordance with section 17(1) of the FOIA this letter constitutes a
Refusal Notice in respect of your request.

In terms of providing advice and assistance under section 16 of the FOIA,
and by way of answering some of your questions, please refer to our
comments for each of your questions which follow below.

Question 1 – it is not clear if your reference to ‘Student Finance’
relates to the names of the funding authorities within the UK, or ‘student
finance’ in lower case which would cover all/any forms of financial
assistance provided to students for the purposes of Higher Education.  

‘Student finance’ (lower case) has existed (as far as SLC’s FOI Office can
establish) since the 1940’s (source:
[1]http://researchbriefings.files.parliamen...)
, well before the formation of SLC, with Disabled Students’ Allowance in
England being introduced in 1974 (source:
[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/h...).
 

The name ‘Student Finance England’ has existed since 2009, with the
student finance scheme operating under the name ‘Student Finance Direct’
from 2004.  ‘Student Support Direct’ was the student finance service for
students from England and Wales prior to ‘Student Finance Direct’ and
later ‘Student Finance England’ and ‘Student Finance Wales’.  The name
‘Student Finance Northern Ireland’ has existed since 2004.

Question 2 – this question alone would exceed 18 hours of staff time.  It
is noted that this question covers all student finance products, including
loans and grants (including DSA).  Although the reason for your request is
not considered by SLC when issuing a response, to assist you in refining
your request we would observe that this question is not considered
relevant to the reason for your request which is focused on DSA.

We would also direct you to our ‘Student Support for Higher Education’
Statistical Publications (“SPs”) on student support which are published
annually.  These confirm the numbers awarded/paid student support by
product.  The current SPs which cover from academic year (“AY”) 2013/14 to
2018/19 and early in year data for AY 2019/20 can be found online at
[3]https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-s....
 Date for earlier AYs can be found in the November 2013 ‘Student Support
for Higher Education” SPs which can be found online at
[4]https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.....

Question 3 – this question has been broken down into 2 parts – (1) numbers
applying for DSA and (2) numbers receiving DSA.

Please note that the numbers applying for DSA and the numbers receiving
DSA are not directly linked - this is because DSA applications are not
required each year.  Full-time undergraduate students who received DSAs
the previous year, who took out a maintenance loan and/or tuition fee loan
and are continuing on the same course do not need to re-apply for DSAs
each year.  Applications are only required each academic year if students:
·        didn’t take out a maintenance loan or tuition fee loan
·        change their course
·        change from full-time to part-time study, or from part-time to
full-time
·        have suspended their studies and changed their course end date
·        withdrew from their course and are returning to study
·        are repeating a year of study
Part-time and postgraduate students will also need to reapply for DSAs.

Accordingly, the number of students in receipt of DSA in any given AY will
always be higher than the numbers applying in the same AY.

SLC holds records of SFE DSA applications from AY 2010/11 onwards and
records of SFW DSA applications from AY 2014/15 onwards.  

SLC does not hold any DSA application data for students applying to
Student Finance Northern Ireland (“SFNI”) – this would be held by the
relevant Education Authority in Northern Ireland.

Turning to the second part of this question, i.e. ‘ and received a
disability allowance’, this has been interpreted as the number of students
paid DSA in each year since 2009.  This information is held by SLC, but
exempt from disclosure under section 21(1) of the FOIA as it is considered
reasonably accessible to you by other means.  I would direct you to the
annual SPs for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which are published on
SLC’s website.  

England - Tables 4B, 5B and 6B of the Excel Tables at
[5]https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics...
cover back to academic year 2013/14 up to 2018/19.  Data for academic
years 2009/10 (for full time DSA)/2010/11 (for part time and postgraduate
DSA) to 2012/13 can be found in Tables 3B, 5A and 5B of the November 2013
publication ‘Student Support for Higher Education in England: academic
year 2013/14’ which can be found at
[6]https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov....

Wales - Tables 4B, 5B and 6C of the Excel Tables at
[7]https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics...
cover back to academic year 2013/14 up to 2018/19.  Data for academic
years 2009/10 (for full time DSA)/2010/11 (for part time and postgraduate
DSA) to 2012/13 can be found in Tables 3C, 5A and 5B of the November 2013
publication ‘Student Support for Higher Education in Wales: academic year
2013/14’ which can be found at
[8]https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov....

Northern Ireland - Tables 4B, 5B and 6B of the Excel Tables at
[9]https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics...
cover back to academic year 2013/14 up to 2018/19.  Data for academic
years 2009/10 (for full time DSA)/2010/11 (for part time and postgraduate
DSA) to 2012/13 can be found in Tables 3B, 5A and 5B of the November 2014
publication ‘Student Support for Higher Education in Northern Ireland:
academic year 2013/14’ which can be found at
[10]https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov....

Question 4 – We would be able to provide some disability type data for SFE
and SFW DSA students, but not for the whole time period requested.  Please
refer to the third paragraph of the response to question 3 above for time
periods held by SLC.  

SLC does not hold any disability data for students applying to SFNI – this
would possibly be held (if captured) by the relevant Education Authority
in Northern Ireland.

Question 5 – For SFE and SFW can confirm applications were not made
eligible or did not have a Needs Assessment, but again only for a more
limited time period.  Please note that this question is complicated by the
fact that a student could be awarded DSA, attend a Needs Assessment, but
then not proceed to attend their course, so no payments are made other
than the Needs Assessment fee.  

SLC does not hold any data for SFNI students under this question.

Question 6 - We will have some information on this for SFE and SFW DSA
applications, but again, for the more limited time period.  

SLC does not hold any data for SFNI students under this question.

Question 7 – Please refer to our response to question 5 above.

Question 8 - Please refer to our response to question 6 above.

Once you have reviewed the above advice and assistance in relation to your
individual questions, any refined/narrowed request for information will be
progressed as a new request for information.

Internal review process

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review.

Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date
of receipt of the response to your original request and should be
addressed to the Freedom of Information Office, Student Loans Company
Limited, 100 Bothwell Street, Glasgow, G2 7JD,  or by email:
[SLC request email].  Please remember to quote the reference number
above in any future communications.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House  
Water Lane  
Wilmslow  
Cheshire  
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Louise Chapman | Senior Legal Executive
Student Loans Company
100 Bothwell Street, Glasgow G2 7JD
e: 32080  t: 0141 306 2080

[11]www.gov.uk/slc
Follow us at [12]Twitter/SLCcomms for the latest corporate news and
updates

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References

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1. http://researchbriefings.files.parliamen...
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/h...
3. https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-s...
4. https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov....
5. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics...
6. https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov....
7. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics...
8. https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov....
9. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics...
10. https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov....
11. http://www.gov.uk/slc
12. file:///tmp/www.Twitter.com/SLCcomms