The Tories have accused the government of introducing an over-complicated system for delivering student loans, which has left 109,000 undergraduates struggling with inadequate financial support weeks into their first term at university.

Shadow universities and skills secretary David Willetts said the latest figures released by the Student Loans Company indicate the system has " collapsed" and accused ministers of failing to tackle an issue they were warned about weeks ago.

"Even though we are well on the way into the academic year, more than one in 10 students is still waiting for a proper assessment,” said Willetts

“The crisis is having a particularly severe impact on new students and students from poorer households, and many disabled students are suffering particularly hard as their applications seem to have been placed near the bottom of the pile."

Willetts warned the danger now is of higher drop-out rates and fewer applications next year. He demanded more details about an independent review the government has ordered into the handling of the crisis.

The National Union of Students (NUS) has called on Student Loans Company (SLC) chief Ralph Seymour-Jackson "to take full responsibility for this shambles and resign immediately".

NUS president Wes Street said: "The SLC has given students a string of broken promises about when they should expect to receive some or all of their loan payments."