CONCERNS have been raised over problems with making applications for student loans in Wales.

Speaking in the Assembly last week, Newport West AM Jayne Bryant said had received “a number of complaints” from constituents about making applications through Student Finance Wales.

“Correspondence with the Student Loans Companies, which provides the Student Finance Wales service, has not provided some of my constituents with the outcomes and explanations they sought,” she said. “A repeated concern is the observation that staff had not had sufficient training to equip them to answer specific questions, and that more senior management aren't available on hand to assist.

“This can lead to delays in processing applications, causing great distress to constituents, who have clear and obvious deadlines for university.”

Education secretary Kirsty Williams replied the company had faced problems with recruitment and retention of staff at its headquarters in at Llandudno Junction, but had recently come to an agreement around paying employees the so-called real living wage.

“A number of new members of staff have been inducted this month, but there are still some vacancies in the office, and clearly that can lead to some difficulties,” she said. “And we continue to discuss, as I said, with the Student Loans Company, what steps they can take to improve the service available to Welsh students.

The most recent figures showed an 86 per cent satisfaction rate with Student Finance Wales at the start of October.