Local education authorities are facing stern criticism as many students from University College Falmouth report late payments and increased stress over getting hold of their loans.
The students applying to the Lancashire, Devon and Denbighshire LEAs have reported poor service, long phone waiting times and sending required information twice.
The LEAs, along with the Student Loan Company have recently introduced a new online application system in a bid to speed up the application process, but many applications seem to have been lost in ether.
The apparent breakdown in communication between the SLC and the LEAs has angered many students struggling to pay rent, food bills and other general living costs.
Alex Titley, a Journalism student at University College Falmouth said, "I applied online around April/May of this year, when I still heard nothing by the start of term I rang up Denbighshire LEA and they said they hadn't received required information they needed to process my application, but I had already sent it and then had it sent back!
"So I've had to send my passport and parents financial information to them again and have been told I may not get my loan until November" he added.
He also told of other students he knew who were having similar problems with their applications derived from local authorities in Devon and Lancashire.
The Student Loan Company boast of having the most efficient year ever in 2006 in their annual report, but declined to comment on the current situation presented before them, along with the LEA.
At the time of going to press the NUS was also unavailable for comment.
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2 comments:
This is newsworthy and highly pertinent to you audience. The story is structured in news format and tightly written. Your intro is strong – although ‘are facing’, rather than ‘face’ would more appropriate to news language.
To relate this to your readers (Falmouth students) then you need to make clear in your first or second par that it is Falmouth students who are waiting for their money – mentioning the names of the LEAs in isolation is slightly misleading.
Another quote or two from students who are struggling would have given weight to your story. At the moment it is a little light on evidence. One student comment doesn’t really back up your intro. The quote you have used is rather long and might have been edited for best effect.
Also, there is no need to conclude a news story, so your comment at the bottom is inappropriate.
Your punctuation and spelling are generally good, apart from a missing comma or two.
It looks as if you have revised your story and it is much improved. Well done. It is now only in need of more substianting evidence -- another quote or two from affected students.
(It would be useful if you could post a note to say when you have made changes in future, as part of the reflective learning process).
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