MPs slam delays by student loans agency

The performance of a government agency set up to deliver student grants and loans has been slated as "completely unacceptable" by MPs.

The Commons public accounts committee said it was "disappointed and concerned" that no officials appeared to have been held to account for the way in which the English Student Loans Company let down undergraduates in its first year of operation, 2009.

Last year, the company took a third longer to process applications than local councils had done previously and left more than a quarter of its applicants without funding by the beginning of term.