With thousands of A-level students receiving their exam results today, the Student Loans Company (SLC) has said those who plan to apply for funding should do so now to be in with a chance of having some money in place by the start of term.

Chris Larmer, executive director, operations at SLC, said: “If you are applying late, you may get less money than you expect initially. This is because it can take 6-8 weeks to process a student finance application, which means that applications may not be fully processed by term start.

“We will do our best to ensure that all eligible applicants have some money in place by awarding the minimum maintenance loan amount first, followed by a top-up payment if students are entitled to more funding.”

SLC said it is on track to process a record number of applications this year.

It is asking students who are changing their university or course through Clearing to update the details on their online application form.

You can apply for funding at https://logon.slc.co.uk/cas/login.

You can also check the status of your student finance application.