Student loans technology overhaul

The Student Loans Company (SLC) has implemented an IT service management system as a starting point for a major tidy-up of the data supporting student loan applications.

The firm used to grant access to its database to staff lacking knowledge of processes and administration rights, which led to unreliable information and a decline in service levels and user satisfaction.

As a result, improving the quality of the underlying data was a priority, said SLC’s ICT infrastructure incident manager, Paul Clugston.

“It was crucial to have full visibility of our resources, so we put a plan in action to rebuild the system with a proper infrastructure,” he said.

“We knew that by improving the data we would improve the adoption and perception of service management in the business.”

With the ability to find asset information quickly, IT staff can focus on more productive tasks instead of taking notes on IT resources, which was a costly exercise, said Clugston.

“There is no doubt that customer service has improved, and the staff have gained confidence in IT and in the system itself,” he said.

The company faced problems in 2004 with a separate system that caused local education authorities to employ temporary staff and work around the clock to process student loan applications in time for the start of the academic year.

Student loan applications will be made entirely online this year and SLC will run the process.

At the time of the announcement in 2006, Bill Rammell, now minister for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, announced that his department would liaise closely with the SLC and local government agencies to ensure a smooth transfer of functions to the company and maintenance of a good service to customers.

The IT service management system is being provided to SLC by supplier Axios Systems.