Student Finance England (SFE): Current application timescales
Use this guide to get an estimate of our current timescales and find out when your next expected update on your undergraduate student finance application for 2026 to 2027.
Applies to England
This page is usually updated on a Monday, but some weeks this may change. This page was last updated on Monday 28 September at 16:00.
If you’ve applied for student finance for 2025 to 2026
If you’re still waiting for your application to be approved, there’s no need to contact us. Sign in to your account to find out when to expect your next update on your application or evidence.
If you’ve applied for student finance for 2026 to 2027
If you’ve recently applied for student finance, we might give you the minimum amount to make sure you have some funding near the start of your course.
How long it takes us to work on your application depends on what you’ve applied for and how many other students are applying at the same time.
Our timescales are provided in ‘working days’, this refers to the days Monday to Friday and excludes weekends and bank holidays.
Example: If we received your evidence on Thursday 17 October and the current timescale is 5 working days, you should expect an update on Thursday 24 October.
| If you apply this week for | Current timescales are | Expect an update from us between |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time undergraduate student finance | 22 working days | Monday 26 October and Friday 30 October |
| Part-time undergraduate student finance | 22 working days | Monday 26 October and Friday 30 October |
| Childcare Grant, Parents’ Learning Allowance or Adult Dependants’ Grant | 22 working days | Monday 26 October and Friday 30 October |
Remember to check the progress of your application using your student finance account.
If you’ve sent us evidence or made a change to your application
If you’ve sent evidence to help us work out how much you can get, or you’ve told us that your circumstances have changed, the table below shows when you should expect an update from us.
Our timescales are provided in ‘working days’, this refers to the days Monday to Friday and excludes weekends and bank holidays.
Example: If we received your evidence on Thursday 17 October and the current timescale is 5 working days, you should expect an update on Thursday 24 October.
| If you send us information or evidence this week about | Current timescales are | Expect an update from us between |
|---|---|---|
| your financial information, including the PFF2 form | 22 working days | Monday 26 October and Friday 30 October |
| a change in your circumstances | 22 working days | Monday 26 October and Friday 30 October |
| Childcare Grant, Parents’ Learning Allowance or Adult Dependants’ Grant | 22 working days | Monday 26 October and Friday 30 October |
If you’ve uploaded evidence or made a change to your application, your student finance account might not update straight away. We’ll update it once we’ve actioned your change or reviewed your evidence.
If you’ve applied for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA)
If you’ve applied for DSA, sent us evidence, or emailed us about your DSA application, the table below shows when you should expect an update from us.
Our timescales are provided in ‘working days’, this refers to the days Monday to Friday and excludes weekends and bank holidays.
Example: If we received your evidence on Thursday 17 October and the current timescale is 5 working days, you should expect an update on Thursday 24 October.
| This week, if you’ve sent us | Current timescales are | Expect an update from us between |
|---|---|---|
| a DSA application | 14 working days | Monday 12 October and Friday 16 October |
| medical evidence | 14 working days | Monday 12 October and Friday 16 October |
| a Needs Assessment report | 14 working days | Monday 12 October and Friday 16 October |
| a claim for expenses | 14 working days | Monday 12 October and Friday 16 October |
| an email | 14 working days | Monday 12 October and Friday 16 October |
There’s no need to contact us once you’ve sent something. We’ll update you by email as soon as we’ve reviewed it, so make sure your contact details are up to date. Keep checking your email inbox for our replies and remember to check your junk or spam folders too!