At least two University of Edinburgh students have yet to receive their student loans for this semester, and have expressed frustration and anger regarding their interactions with the Student Loan Company.

The delay has also drawn criticism from Edinburgh University Students Association (EUSA) Vice-President of Academic Affairs Stevie Wise, who called the situation "worrying".

The students have each been in touch with the Student Loans Company, which supplies loans for British students, on multiple occasions.

The first student, who is in third year, wished to remain anonymous. Speaking to The Student, she explained: "The student loan I received last year wasn’t income assessed and I applied for the same loan in February this year...I received approval for my loan straight away.

"However, in April of this year my dad lost his job. In July he still hadn’t found one and told me to apply for additional support from Student Finance England on top of the loan I had already had approved."

The student says she was first told by Student Finance England to fill in two forms, and then when she called with a question the following day, was told her situation required four forms. All her forms were mailed the next day.

She contacted the company twice before returning to university, and both times was told that her loan was being processed.

In total, she has spoken to the Student Loans Company a total of 12 times.

She went on to say that "I’m still no closer to finding out whether my additional grant application will be approved let alone whether I receive the money.

"I’m quickly running out of money to live off and I don’t have an overdraft and I do have another month’s rent due in December. Talking to Student Finance is extremely frustrating and many of the advisors don’t help."

"I understand that the Student Loans Company have a lot of people to deal with but I think it needs to be a bit more efficient. The correspondence from them is shocking and unless you phone them it takes months for you to hear anything from them."

The student said that she had applied for support from a discretionary fund at The Advice Place.

Max Crema, the second student who has yet to receive his loan, said that he applied for his loan at least a month before the deadline.

Crema, who is in second year, says he was confused when he received two letters telling him that there was a problem with his loan, even though his application information online showed no problems, so he phoned the helpline.:

"The first time someone on the line told me my application was fine. The second time I was told there was a problem with it but that I had to go online to find out what it was. The third time I was told they weren’t sure where I had been living over the past year and that was the problem, to which I pointed out that they knew I had been a matriculated student in Edinburgh for the past year as they had paid my fees.

"The fourth time they told me they were simply waiting on my signature and once they got that it would be sorted; apparently the problem with where I lived last year has been forgotten. I’m still waiting to hear back now that I’ve sent in the signature."

He added: "I think Student Finance could do a much better job of providing a consistent message to its customers. If I had simply been told what I needed to do to finish my application 4 months ago instead of right during exam season I wouldn’t have had to deal with writing 4 essays and trying to avoid angry rent demand emails.

"I’m quite upset by the matter and I’m considering writing a strongly worded letter of complaint to Mr. [David] Cameron on the matter."

EUSA's Stevie Wise told The Student that she understood the student’s frustration: "Something very similar happened to me two years ago. Having dropped out of university for financial reasons, I made the decision to return at the last minute, so applied late.

"I had to make several calls to the Student Loans Company before I eventually received my loan at the end of November, was having to battle with my landlord over rent and was even getting regular emails from the university demanding that I pay my tuition fees or be fined.

"This is a terribly stressful situation for any student, and my advice to anyone going through it is to contact EUSA’s Advice Place in the first instance. They have offices in George Square and KB House, or can be contacted online. They offer emergency loans and can help you to apply for University hardship grants. They can also offer advice if you are facing other issues connected to finance, such as dealing with banks or landlords."

EUSA President Liz Rawlings said: "These stories are appalling. Once again, we are seeing evidence that the Students Loans Company is failing to provide support for students on time. This is inadequate and unacceptable.

"In Scotland, students are in record levels of debt and are having to work longer hours in order to finance their studies - without a loan, for some students this will become an impossible task. It will be devastating if students have to drop out of University because of what is essentially an administrative error by the Student Loans Company."