Postgraduate Loans

The request was refused by Student Loans Company Limited.

Alessandro Sorrentino

Dear Student Loans Company Limited,

I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information from you:

Since the introduction of post-graduate loans, I would like to request for each year, the following information:

1) How many post graduate loan applications were take out for each year?
2) For each year, what was the total amount given out the above-mentioned loans in £?

Please provide the information in the form an Excel Documents

If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under the Section 16 obligations of the Act, as to how I can refine my request.

If you can identify any ways that my request could be refined I would be grateful for any further advice and assistance.

If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact me via email or phone and I will be very happy to clarify what I am asking for and discuss the request, my details are outlined below.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,
Alessandro Sorrentino

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.
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 contact details available at
https://www.slc.co.uk/contact.aspx.

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 Alessandro Sorrentino

Thank you for your email dated 30/08/2018.

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

Your request has been allocated reference 200-18.

Before processing your request, I would be grateful if you could confirm
if you are looking for postgraduate loan data for England only, or also
postgraduate loan data for other UK domiciles.  Also, for question 1,
please clarify if you are asking for the number of postgraduate loans
taken out, or the number of postgraduate loan applications submitted.  I
have assumed this question to mean the number of postgraduate loans taken
out, however the inclusion of the word "applications" suggests that you
may be seeking application data.

Once we have received clarification of these points we will respond to you
under the terms of the FOIA and within 20 working days.

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

Yours sincerely

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

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

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Alessandro Sorrentino

Dear FOI Requests,

1) Yes, I'm looking for postgraduate loans taken out for England only.
2) With regards to question 2, I'm referring to the number of loans taken out.

Yours sincerely,
Alessandro Sorrentino

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.
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 contact details available at
https://www.slc.co.uk/contact.aspx.

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 Alessandro Sorrentino

I refer to your recent email dated 30/08/2018 requesting the following
information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”):

“Since the introduction of post-graduate loans, I would like to request
for each year, the following information:

1) How many post graduate loan applications were take out for each year?
2) For each year, what was the total amount given out the above-mentioned
loans in £?”

Clarification of the request was sought and you confirmed by email dated
03/09/2018:
“1) Yes, I'm looking for postgraduate loans taken out for England only.
2)  With regards to question 2, I'm referring to the number of loans taken
out.”

Response

Postgraduate Master’s Loans were introduced in England in academic year
(for “AY”) 2016/17, therefore the first year available is AY 2016/17.

I can confirm that the information that you have requested is held by the
Student Loans Company Limited (“SLC”).  However the information is exempt
from disclosure under section 22(1) of the FOIA as it is intended for
future publication.  Postgraduate loan payment data (both number and
amounts) forms part of the annual Statistical Publication (“SP”) “Student
Support for Higher Education in England”.  Section 22 of the FOIA is a
qualified exemption and I must consider the public interest test before
fully engaging this exemption.

The argument in favour of disclosure is the public interest in knowing how
public funds have been distributed.

The arguments in favour of maintaining the exemption, is that it is in the
public interest to permit public authorities to publish information in a
matter and form and at a time of their own choosing.  It ensures the
effective conduct of public affairs, that the general publication of
information is a planned and managed activity within the reasonable
control of public authorities.

To release this information early would undermine the pre-publication
procedures and disclosure control requirements.  The SP has been
designated “National Statistics” by the UK Statistics Authority and it is
compliant with its Code of Practice for Official Statistics. To release
the requested information before the official publication date may not
allow for the data to be designated.

Having considered the arguments both in favour of disclosure and for
maintaining the exemption, I am of the view that the arguments for
maintaining the exemption outweigh those arguments in favour of
disclosure, therefore the exemption under section 22(1) of the FOIA is
engaged.

By way of advice and assistance, provisional AY 2016/17 data is published
in the November 2017 SP which can be found at
[1]https://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistic....
 Table 4E of the Excel Tables confirms the number of postgraduate students
paid and the amounts paid as at 31/08/2017.  

Complete AY 2016/17 and provisional AY 207/18 data will be published in
November 2018.  

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

[2]www.slc.co.uk
Follow us at [3]Twitter/SLCcomms for the latest corporate news and updates

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