Student Loan - Household income & confidentiality

gwapenut

I have a couple of questions about the assessment of household income for student loans. I am a divorced father, and my daughter lives with her mother.

Firstly, if I needed to fill in an income questionnaire, are the results kept confidential - ie used to notify the amount of loan available, but finer details not disclosed to my daughter or her mother? I have nothing to hide, but I simply wish to keep what are now my own private affairs private.

Secondly, am I correct in thinking that my income would not be assessed anyway as my daughter is living with her mother? I find this latter point very strange, as our daughter is effectively an independent adult anyway who is having to declare income from just one of her parents, and not the parent who has been paying maintenance for the last 17 years. It does not really make sense to me as a fair way of means testing a student's supporting families.

zagfles

See point 3 here

https://www.slc.co.uk/media/latest-news/parents-an-essential-guide-to-student-loans.aspx

Yes it makes no sense, particularly as a parent's new partners income could be assessed, but those are the rules.