Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Answer of 20 April 2016 to Question 34012, what estimate he has made of the average time the new Exceptional Case Process will take from receipt of an application to awarding interim support; and who will be responsible for assisting applicants with that process.

When an application is received for interim support through the Exceptional Case Process, Student Finance England (SFE) will assess that request and confirm as quickly as possible whether interim support will be awarded. SFE expects that this will be within one month.

In applying for interim support, the student and their higher education provider will need to confirm that the provider will not meet the students’ needs through a reasonable adjustment, and that the student has made a formal complaint to their higher education provider about this. Students are advised to speak to their disability adviser if they wish to apply under the Exceptional Case Process.