'How to' guide

How to check the progress of your application

When you’ve applied, you’ll want to keep up to date with the progress of your application and what happens next.

There are several different statuses. We’ve listed each status and what it means in the following table:

Status What this means

Processing application

We’re processing your application. We’ll keep you up to date by email and in your online account. This used to be 'application submitted'.

Confirming all details

Your application’s approved and we’re just awaiting confirmation of registration/enrolment from your uni/college. When we’ve confirmed everything, you’ll be ready to receive your payments. This used to be 'approved'.

Receiving payments

We’ve received confirmation of registration/enrolment from your university or college. This used to be 'payments scheduled'.

To view your application tracker:

  1. Sign in (opens in a new tab) to your online account
  2. Select ‘Undergraduate student finance applications’
  3. Select the application you wish to view
  4. Select ‘Your status’ where you can view the tracker

How to view and understand your payment status

To help you budget and prepare for your next payment, it’ll help to know how much and when you’re getting paid. Once your application status moves to ‘confirming all details’, you will be able to view your payment dates.

To view your scheduled payments, follow these steps:

  1. Sign in (opens in a new tab) to your online account
  2. Select ‘Undergraduate student finance applications’
  3. Select the application you wish to view
  4. Scroll down to ‘Your Scheduled Payments’ where you will see your Maintenance Loan payments. You can also select the ‘View your payments’ link if you want to see a more detailed breakdown of all your funding, including Maintenance Loan, Tuition Fee Loan and any Grants you are entitled to.

There are several different statuses. We’ve listed each status and what it means in the following table:

Status What this means

Checking details

We need to check your National Insurance number before we can pay you. Go to ‘Your actions to complete’ to enter it.

Scheduled

We’ve scheduled your payments. Before we can pay you, your university or college will need to confirm to us that you’ve registered/enrolled with them. They’ll do this when you start your course.

Awaiting confirmation

Your university or college need to confirm to us that you’ve registered/enrolled on your course. They’ll do this when you start your course. We’ll pay you after we get this.

Payment in progress

Your payment is on its way. It can take up to three working days for it to appear in your bank account.

Ready to be paid

We don't need anything else from you. Your payment will be made on the date shown.

Paid

We’ve made a payment to your bank account.

Blocked

We cannot pay you. You should already know about this. If you do not, we have different ways to contact us.

Cancelled

We’ve cancelled your payment. You should already know about this. If you do not, we have different ways to contact us.

Failed

Your payment has been returned to us. Go to ‘Your personal details’ to check your bank details.

Suspended

We will not make any more payments to you at this time. This is because you’ve suspended your course.

Withdrawn

You’ve withdrawn from your course. This means we will not make any more payments to you.

How to make changes to your application

You may need to update your university, college or course details. For example, if you change your mind about where or what you want to study, or if your circumstances change after clearing. To make a change, follow these steps:

  1. Sign in (opens in a new tab) to your online account
  2. Select ‘Undergraduate student finance applications’
  3. Select the application you wish to change
  4. Under the heading ‘Manage your student finance’, select ‘View and manage your applications’
  5. Select ‘Change your application’
  6. Select ‘Change your application’ again
  7. Select ‘University/college and course’
  8. Select 'Submit' once you've entered and confirmed your changes

It’s important to make any changes as soon as you can. It can take up to 6 weeks to approve any changes. Please don't contact us during this time, to ensure we can process your changes as quickly as possible.

How to upload evidence as a student

You should only upload evidence to your online account if we’ve asked you to do so and only upload your documents once. If you upload evidence we haven’t asked for or we get more than one copy of the same thing it could delay your application.

If you need to send us more than one document, it can help to upload these together. This means we can review all of your evidence at the same time and process your application quicker.

  1. Sign in (opens in a new tab) to your online account
  2. Select ‘Undergraduate student finance applications’
  3. Select the application you wish to upload evidence for
  4. Under the heading ‘Manage your student finance’, select ‘Upload supporting evidence’
  5. Follow the instructions to upload a file from your computer or mobile phone, the file cannot be larger than 16MB

If you’ve uploaded evidence and ‘your actions to complete’ don’t update, it doesn’t mean we don’t have your documents. Once we’ve checked what you’ve sent, we’ll update your actions list.

You don’t need to contact us to check that we’ve got your documents, if we need anything else, we’ll be in touch.

For more information, visit our evidence page.

How to update your personal or bank details

It’s important you keep your contact details such as your email address and mobile number up to date in case we need to get in touch with important information about your account. You should also ensure your bank details are up to date to make sure you receive your payments. It’s quick and easy to update these in your account, just follow these steps:

  1. Sign in (opens in a new tab) to your online account
  2. Select ‘Your personal details’ from the menu at the top of the page
  3. Select ‘Change’ next to whichever details you wish to update
  4. Enter your new details and select ‘Continue’ to confirm

How to check your actions to complete

If you’re applying for student finance or supporting an application, you may have to complete outstanding actions to ensure the application is approved. To view your outstanding actions, follow these steps:

  1. Sign in (opens in a new tab) to your online account
  2. Select ‘Undergraduate student finance applications’
  3. Select the application you wish to view
  4. View 'Your actions to complete'

How to support an application with your household income details

If you’re the parent or partner of a student, we may ask you to give us your National Insurance Number (NINO) so we can use your household income to work out how much loan they can get.

If you can’t find your National Insurance number, you can find it in the HMRC app (opens in a new tab).

We’ll send you an email when your child or partner applies, just follow the instructions to support their application.

If you don’t get an email, or you’re supporting more than one student, follow these steps to give us your details:

  1. Sign in or create an online account (opens in a new tab)
  2. Under the heading ‘Start something else’, select ‘Support a student’s application for student finance’
  3. Scroll down and select ‘Support an application for student finance’
  4. Type in your child or partner’s details so we can link you to their application
  5. Scroll down and select ‘Support an application for student finance’.
  6. Type in your child or partner’s details so we can link you to their application.

How to upload evidence as a parent or partner

After you’ve provided details about your household income, we may contact you to ask for evidence. If this happens, you can upload the evidence to us through your online account. Follow these steps if we request evidence from you:

  1. Sign in to your online account (opens in a new tab)
  2. Under the heading ‘Manage your student finance’, select ‘Upload supporting evidence’
  3. Select ‘Upload evidence’
  4. Follow the instructions to upload a file from your computer or mobile phone, the file cannot be larger than 16MB

Keep in mind, you should only send evidence to us if we’ve asked you to do so, otherwise it could delay the student’s application!

For more information, visit our evidence for parents and partners page.

How to reset your login details

If it’s been a while since you signed in to your online account, you may have forgotten some details. Don’t worry, you can reset or recover these details quickly and easily online:

  1. Visit www.studentfinancewales.co.uk
  2. Select the ‘Sign in’ button
  3. Select ‘Forgotten your email address or CRN?’ or ‘Forgotten your password?’
  4. Then just follow the instructions to recover or reset your details