1. Student Finance England – Business Update
Derek Ross
Director of Operations and Customer Services
1st March 2013

2. Overview of Academic Year 2012/13
• Over 1.1 million applications received
• All core operational targets achieved
• Over 91% of calls answered
• Over 99% of ‘on time’ applications paid before start of their course
• Over 40,000 DSA Applications
• Launch of part time fee loans

3. Overview of Academic Year 2012/13
• Introduction of new attendance confirmation processes
• Increased fee levels
• Knowledge management tool rolled out
• Launch of part time fee loans
• Introduction of new style online application for part time
• Step Change in customer satisfaction

4. 2013/14 – Current Position
• Launched later than AY12/13
• Forecast same level of applications as last year
• Around 20% (198,000) of applications already in
• 78% (155,000) of these are already processed
• No early concerns

5. 2013/14 – Challenges Ahead
• Introduction of 24+ fee loans
• Part time returners
• Lack of clarity around forecasted volumes for part time
• Welsh modernisation

6. SLC Strategic Priorities
 Sustaining our Business & systems
 Transforming SLC
 Delivering change
 Serving our customers
 Managing our people
 Managing public money

7. Sustain Programme – Vision and Scope
• Sustain’s vision is that SLC continues to fulfil its key roles and deliver services that meet the needs of its
customers and stakeholders until the Transformation Programme has completed the planned changes to
systems and processes.
• Achievement of this vision will be demonstrated by:
 successful delivery of the annual operating cycle in each of the academic years 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15,
 effective business processes supported by ICT applications, infrastructure and services that are stable, fit for
purpose and provide sufficient resilience to support SLC’s business continuity plans and
 reduction in exposure to risks relating to stability of SLC’s operation as documented in the SLC Corporate Risk
Register.
• A number of projects have been set up under governance of the Sustain Programme and the agreed scope is shown
below.
Business Critical Processes Business Continuity Data Centres
Planning
Imaging CLASS Systems
Healthcheck Performance Strategic Data
Sustaining
COMPLETE Improvement BCP Centres
COMPLETE BCP
Business
Governance
Impact
Imaging Network
ICT Service Analysis
Improvement Stability Infrastructure Design
Management
s - Tactical Audit
Imaging Lotus Notes
ICT DR GSi DR Current Facilities
Improvements - Email
Strategic Stability Improvement
Service Delivery Business Priorities Business & IT Capacity
Planning for 2013-14 Project Proposals
Planning & Risk Assessment Planning
7

8. SLC Transformation Programme: How will it be delivered?
Transformation Programme
Core Systems Digital Business Organisation
Replacement Delivery Improvements Design

9. SLC (CSR) Transformation programme
“The Core Systems Replacement project is a key element of SLC’s Business Transformation.
The requirements will be Customer and Business driven and will ensure we stand with the best
public and private organisations in the UK in terms of digital delivery.
“This is not a soft aspiration, but critical to our mission. It will allow
us to provide agile and efficient services, providing access to
education and tax payer value for many years to come.”
Gordon Simpson
Chief Information Officer (CIO) & Director of Transformation, Student Loans Company

10. Business Services Scope (draft)
Marketing &Comms glow
* Communications Application Services
App Services glow HE Services glow FE Services
FEServices
Information, Customer Process & Assess Validate Schedule HE Attendance Schedule FE Attendance
Advice & Insight Application Evidence Payments Registration & Payments Registration
Guidance Confirmations &
Confirmation
Stakeholder External Affairs Approve Verify Identity Approve Verify Identity Approve s erify
V
Services Application & Income Application & Income Application Identity &
Income
Repayment Services Outbound Payments Glow Account Management
Customer AC Mgmt Glow Contact Services Glow
Schedule Process Sold Debt Process Payments to Customers Financial Account Maintenance Customer Contact Customer
Repayments Deferments Handling Routing Self Service
Process Old Process New Process Payments to Third Parties Apply Interest to Accounts Customer Search Customer
Scheme Scheme and HEIs Account
Repayments Repayments Enquiry
Finance Collections Security
Financial Accounting
Accounting Account Recoveries Manage Users and
Man. Users glow Protect Data
Operations Systems
systems glow Monitoring Management System Access Security and
Privacy
Financial Internal & Arrangement Legal Status Forensic Readiness (Activity Logging)
Accounting External Schedule Monitoring
Reporting Management
Correspondence glow Data Services & Analysis
Mi and Reporting Glow Fraud Services
Repayment Services
In
scope
Inbound Correspondence Operational Answer
Reporting Parliamentary Identify and Investigate potential and
Questions actual student fraud
Out of
Outbound Correspondence National Statistic Student scope
Provision Finance MI
Supporting HR Internal Audit Facilities Procurement Complaints
Services

11. Core Systems Replacement: Customer Personas (Examples)
AY12/13 baseline

12. Core Systems Replacement: Customer Engagement
• Online Questionnaires and forums undertaken over period of 2 weeks
• The 452 online survey completions breakdown is as follows:
 139 new 12/13 students  31 currently making repayment
 198 returners
 26 classed as repayers but not actively repaying
 56 parents of students  2 finished repaying their loan

13. CSR Timescales
• Procurement requirements signed off December 12
• OJEU notices issued Jan 13
• Initial responses received and being evaluated
• Separate procurement for transformation partners

14. What is “Digital Delivery”?
• A programme of work to deliver a new customer experience
• Aligned with government strategy
– “Digital by default” – online self-service the main channel
– “Assisted digital” – help customers to help themselves
• Begin by replacing the online applications & self service
• Move on to look at:
– Mobile access (e.g. application tracker)
– Excluded groups (e.g. DSA & EU)
– Repayment services
– UCAS integration, removal of signatures…

15. What is the goal of the new solution?
“Improve customer satisfaction
while simultaneously decreasing
the number of incorrect/incomplete
online applications and minimising
the level of assistance required
throughout the process”

18. DIGITAL BY
Key aspects from Martha Lane Fox Letter to
DEFAULT Francis Maude…
Martha Lane Fox Recommendation Digital Delivery Commitment
“Make Directgov (GOV.UK) the government front end for all All new application services being released through
departments' transactional online services to citizens and GOV.UK website and meeting design requirements
businesses “
“focus on improving service quality for citizens and delivering Through our customer focussed design (User Experience
significant cost savings from service simplification and a Testing) we are simplifying the digital service and expect to
shift to digital only services “ save £1.77m per annum in avoidable calls
opening up of Application Programme Interfaces (APls) to We are currently looking at improving our integration
third parties. (through APIs) with both UCAS and HMRC
“the time is now to use the Internet to shift the lead in the We are challenging policy where possible to simplify the
design of services from the policy and legal teams to the customer journey – this is balanced however by the returns
end users.“ the Exchequer may make from some policy that isn’t
necessarily user friendly.
“A new central commissioning team should take We have had our screen designs reviewed by Government
responsibility for the overall user experience on the Digital Services and by virtue of being the first large complex
government web estate…“ transactional system are providing insight to the GDS team
on design outcomes
“…develop a single shared, more agile, suite of web We have adopted an Agile methodology within Digital
services. “ Delivery (now embedded) and are rolling the practices out
across other delivery teams

19. USERS
VOICE
“It was awful, none of the
options work properly.
I've had to submit it
anyway because of the
deadline tomorrow.
Every option I have tried
to do doesn't work
properly.”
“…why do they want to know
household income? Why do they
want to know if you're going to be
living at home or not living at home?
Does that mean they will help
towards the cost of living away? I
don't know – do you get that help?”
“I'm, like, really baffled.
It makes me feel a bit
stupid. I don't know, it's
“Because the button not worded very well.“
that allows me to
change which course
I wanted to apply to in
some form of sick
practical joke was
grayed out. I couldn't
make any changes.”

20. WHAT MEASURES DIGITAL
DELIVERY SUCCESS?

21. USER EXPERIENCE TESTING – Example of how
our design has improved through UXT…
June
August
October

22. HOW DID WE DO?
“Improve customer satisfaction while simultaneously
decreasing the number of incorrect/incomplete online
applications and minimising the level of assistance throughout
the process”
Applications build on old Applications build on new
system system
• 61.4% of users dissatisfied with • 82% of users satisfied with
application application
• 3.6 calls per application • 2.5 calls per application
Happier customers
Lower support costs
This is just the beginning...

23. 80% OF USERS
SURVEYED AGREED
11% DID NOT AGREE
80% 83% 82% 80%
77%
7% 14% 12% 10% 12%

24. 83% OF USERS SURVEYED
GAVE A POSTIVIVE RATING
10% GAVE A NEGATIVE RATING
84% 80% 82% 85%
10% 7% 13% 11%

27. Derek Ross
Director of Operations and Customer Service
 derek_ross@slc.co.uk
 0141 306 2025
 www.slc.co.uk