Government Savings

Hi all,

It's probably an issue that's affecting or affected you (especially if you are a student hoping to go to university, like me), but when it comes to the government giving out money to people, I think you actually have to donate a body part to actually get anything out of them. Be it for declaring that you're a carer, separated, signing on for benefits, or student finance, the government will simply not allow the application process to be straightforward to understand. I mean, okay, I'm grateful for the fact that we can actually apply for this, but surely the government should make it easier to understand about applying for sums of money, especially the Student Finance England website - it's literally the biggest pile of rubbish I've seen in ages. It's like comon, surely the government could afford to invest in decent IT staff to look over the website and improve it. It'll save everyone precious time.

To affirm that my parents are separated, Student Finance needed evidence. That's understandable. Except for the fact that on the website, there were only two options. Now I'm sorry SFE, but due to the fact that I'm applying for the highest amounts of loans and grants possible, maybe you haven't realised that a solicitor's letter would be a massive sum of money to pay out on, for people like me who live underneath David Cameron's shoe, holding our breaths in case the shoe drops down upon us (again). Surely you realise that not every separation involves a court order. What to do, what to do.

They sent me a letter about a week after I finished my application (soon after the applications were first open), saying they needed proof, and get this, they even said we could send FINANCIAL INFORMATION this time! Fair enough, a small mistake on their website, no harm done yet. We sent the evidence off, as they asked, and even the right year as they requested. Nearly everyday I checked my application online, still saying that they haven't received evidence. We phoned them up twice, and both times they said that they had definitely received the evidence, and the second time the person even said they were processing it as they were speaking. Still no confirmation of this on the website. So it came to May 30th (yesterday), and the website was still saying they were waiting on evidence. Phoned them up, and surprise surprise, their 'systems were down' so we couldnt do anything. Phoned them up again today, and finally we get some response, albeit an extremely annoying one. Apparently, the evidence we submitted was not valid, because they needed the 2011-2012 information - this was only given to us this month, way after I first submitted my application and original evidence. SFE, you really are taking the piss now. Earlier today I sent off the information they required to fully complete my application and secure me a grant. Lets just hope that they don't ask for my left arm next time (I hope there isn't a next time).

Student Finance England, you NEED Computer Scientists, so get your act together in the mean time.

Until next time.