Accessibility statement

This website is run by Student Loans Company Limited (SLC) on behalf of UK Government Digital Services. SLC is fully committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. We’re actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and in doing so adhere to many of the available standards and guidelines. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We’ve made the website text as simple as possible to understand. AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

If you need any of our letters, forms or guides sent to you in Braille or large print, email brailleandlargefonts@slc.co.uk with:

  • your address
  • your Customer Reference Number
  • what you need changing into Braille or large print
  • for large print, include the font size and the font type you need

If there are any other parts of our website which you cannot access, please let us know by contacting us at accessibility@slc.co.uk.

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are unable to hear or speak on the phone. Our offices have audio induction loops for those with difficulty hearing and are visiting our offices in person. Or, if you contact us before your visit, we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Find out how to contact us: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/student-loans-company

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

SLC is committed to making its websites accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (“the Accessibility Regulations”). 

We’re striving to fully adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 (“WCAG 2.1”) AA standards. We acknowledge that this website is currently only partially compliant with those standards. We’ve provided details below of current areas of non-compliance, and details of when we expect those areas to be made compliant.

Non accessible content

Non compliance with the Accessibility Regulations

Page titles not unique and are not sufficiently descriptive

Page titles are of the structure main heading | website name. This format does not always provide screen reader users with enough context to understand what a page is or what it relates to. Some pages also have the same title, so the title cannot be used to distinguish pages. For example, the page title on the homepage is ‘HEP Services – HEP Services’ does not clarify what the website is for and is the same title as the services page. Content that’s not within the scope of the Accessibility Regulations

PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents did not meet AA accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This did not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value). We have replaced any such PDFS and Word documents with accessible HTML pages. All PDFs or Word documents we publish now and in the future are tested to meet accessibility standards.

How we test this website

The last full test on this website was run in February 2021. The test was carried out by Student Loans Company Ltd.

It is mandatory for new content written for this site to pass checks on compliance with the AA accessibility standards, before it is approved to be published.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: accessibility@slc.co.uk.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Accessibility Regulations. If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) for advice and assistance.

If you’re based in Northern Ireland and are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, you can contact the Equalities Commission for Northern Ireland, instead of the EASS and EHRC.

This statement was prepared on the 01 March 2021 and published on the 10 March 2021.