National Insurance number

Hello,
I submitted my Student Finance Application for the 25/26 academic year last week. When I log into the government portal to track the application, it says that I have "actions to complete" and that I need to enter my National Insurance number. I have never received an NI number, so I am not able to fill this in. I am also not able to apply for an NI number as the form on Gov.UK says I can only apply for one if I am looking for work. I was not able to find my NI number either (if it exists) because for some reason, when I entered my name, address and date of birth, these "did not match our records".
I have just received an email from SFE saying that they will send me an email on 28th March with further information. I am not sure what I should do about the NI number, please could someone clarify what I need to do to get my NI number? Thank you very much.

Reply 1

Drew SLC

Official Rep

Hi there,

You will need a National Insurance Number as we cannot pay you without this. Have you logged into your online account to see if we have sent any emails to you that are in your inbox?

Thanks, Drew

Reply 2

FutureMedic124

Thank you for your reply, I received an email today stating: Thanks for your patience.We're checking your evidence and we’ll provide you with an update by 28 March 2025.You do not need to contact us for updates. If we need more information, we'll get in touch by email or letter.