Guidance

SLC Statistics: Statement of administrative sources

Updated 28 November 2024

This page was last reviewed/updated on 28 November 2024.

1. Background

Official Statistics published by the Student Loans Company Limited (SLC) are derived entirely from data in administrative systems hosted by SLC: the Higher Education Student Finance Application and Assessment system (Protocol); and the Customer Ledger Account Servicing System (CLASS). In addition, the Welsh Government publishes data taken from the company’s Further Education Student Finance Application and Assessment system.

The UK Statistics Authority requires all producers of official statistics to publish a “Statement of administrative sources” that lists:

• The administrative systems they currently use to produce official statistics.
• Information about other administrative sources that are not currently used for statistical purposes, but which have the potential to be so used; and
• The arrangements they have put in place to provide statistical staff with appropriate access to such sources; to take account of changes to such systems; to audit the quality of the administrative data used for statistical purposes; and to ensure the security of the resultant statistical processes.

This document will be reviewed on a regular basis and updated when necessary.

Administrative data sources held by SLC which are used for producing Official Statistics

2. Higher Education Student Finance Application and Assessment System (Protocol)

2.1 Collection

All information relating to applications for student finance in the UK (except for applications in Scotland and for Open University) is captured in this system which is hosted by SLC. The information is provided by applicants (online or by paper), and higher education providers (course details). If the applicant is seeking means-tested support the system captures income information from their sponsors (normally the parents on whom they are dependent).

2.2 Application

The information is used to check the eligibility of the applicant for student finance and, if they are eligible, the level of support they will receive for the course they plan to attend.

2.3 Access and dissemination

A wide range of personnel have access to the appropriate section of this operational database to perform their assessment and customer support tasks: for England and EU this means assessment and contact centre staff at SLC in Glasgow and Darlington; for Wales this means SLC contact centre staff in Glasgow and Llandudno Junction; for Northern Ireland this means assessors in the Education Authority and SLC contact centre staff in Glasgow. In addition, there are a wide range of SLC corporate personnel who have access to all of the data in this database for their corporate role e.g. Complaints, Internal Audit and Customer Experience. There are other corporate functions that do not have direct access to all the data but do receive Management Information derived from the data. These functions include External Affairs, Finance and Policy.

2.4 Non-statistics publication

Management Information from this database is published to key stakeholder groups throughout the application period that leads up to the start of the academic year in question.

2.5 Statistics publication

For England, this database is used to publish Official Statistics on the student finance that has been approved by Student Finance England: ‘Advanced Learner Loans paid in England’.

For Wales, data from this database is provided to the Welsh Government who publishes a monthly Official Statistics ‘Student Support Applications for Higher Education’.

For England, Wales and Northern Ireland, this database is used to publish statistics on the student finance that has been approved by the relevant assessing organisations:

• National Statistics: ‘Student Support’.
• Official Statistics in development: ‘Early-in-year student withdrawal notifications’ and ‘Estranged students & care leavers by HEP’.

For all UK administrations, this database is used to publish Official Statistics in development: ‘Student loans repayments via PAYE eligible for refund’ and ‘Over-repayment of income contingent loans through PAYE’.

2.6 Synergies

Data from this database is supplied to the relevant Government administrations to assist them in their understanding of who applies for student finance so that they can forecast future student finance expenditure.

3. Customer Ledger Account Servicing System (CLASS)

3.1 Collection

All information relating to the payment and repayment of approved student finance accounts is held within this system. Some of the accounts will have been approved in systems other than the assessment systems hosted by SLC. These other accounts include those for Scottish domiciled students and those for students studying at the Open University.

3.2 Application

The information is used to make sure that eligible students receive the student finance payments for which they have been approved. For those students who take out loans the information is used to manage the repayments they are required to make once they finish their course of study.

3.3 Access and dissemination

A wide range of SLC personnel have access to the appropriate section of this operational database to perform their customer support and/or account maintenance tasks. In addition, there are a wide range of SLC corporate personnel who have access to all of the data in this database for their corporate role e.g. Complaints, Internal Audit and Customer Experience. There are other corporate functions that do not have direct access to all the data but do receive Management Information derived from the data. These functions include External Affairs, Finance and Policy.

3.4 Non-statistics publication

None

3.5 Statistics publication

For England, this database is used to obtain data for the payment element in the Official Statistics: ‘Advanced Learner Loans paid in England’.

For England, Wales and Northern Ireland this database is used to obtain payment data for:

• National Statistics: ‘Student Support’.
• Official Statistics in development: ‘Estranged students & care leavers by HEP’.

For Scotland, it is used to obtain details of the maintenance loans paid on their behalf and the Scottish Government includes this data in their National Statistics publications: Higher Education Student Support in Scotland.

For all UK administrations, the data from this database is used to publish

• National Statistics: ‘Student Loans’
• Official Statistics in development: ‘Over-repayment of income contingent loans through PAYE’ and ‘Student loans repayments via PAYE eligible for refund’.

Monthly data on loan payments and repayments is supplied to the Bank of England for inclusion in their Official Statistics on Lending to Individuals.

3.6 Synergies

Data from this database is supplied to the relevant Government administrations to assist them in their understanding of the rate of student loan repayments so that they can forecast future student loans repayment amounts.

4. Further Education Student Finance Application and Assessment System

4.1 Collection

All information relating to applications for the Education Maintenance Allowance in Wales and Northern Ireland is captured in this system which is hosted by SLC. It also captures all information relating to applications for the Further Education Welsh Government Learning Grant and the Pathways to Apprenticeship grant in Wales. The information is provided by applicants (by paper), and further education “learning centres” (attendance details). All of these grants are means-tested so the system captures income information from their sponsors (normally the parents on whom they are dependent).

4.2 Application

The information is used to check the eligibility of the applicant for the relevant further education grant and, if they are eligible, the level of support they will receive. The system raises payment instructions which are passed to the CLASS system which handles the actual payment.

4.3 Access and dissemination

A wide range of SLC personnel have access to the appropriate section of this operational database to perform their assessment and customer support tasks. In addition, there are a wide range of SLC corporate personnel who have access to all of the data in this database for their corporate role e.g. Complaints, Internal Audit and Customer Experience. There are other corporate functions that do not have direct access to all the data but do receive Management Information derived from the data. These functions include External Affairs, Finance and Policy.

4.4 Non-statistics publication

None

4.5 Statistics publication

Statisticians in the Welsh Government use data from this database (via the SLC Data Warehouse) for their monthly and annual National Statistics on applications for the Education Maintenance Allowance, and their annual National Statistics on the Further Education Welsh Government Learning Grant.

4.6 Synergies

Data from this database is supplied to the relevant Government administrations to assist them in their understanding of who applies for the grants so that they can forecast future expenditure.

5. Administrative data sources held by SLC which are not used for producing Official Statistics but have the potential to do so

5.1 Contact Centre systems

This suite of systems allows SLC to measure performance in responding to customer calls about applications and accounts. Management Information from this database is published to key stakeholder groups throughout the application period prior to and beyond the start of the academic year in question.