Thousands Of Students' Details Leaked In Student Finance Security Breach

Thousands of students have fallen victim to a major security breach by the Student Loans Company after staff sent out emails containing personal data.

More than 8,000 students had their details released by the government quango in what the company has called an administrative "error", according to the Daily Telegraph.

On Monday, Student Finance England emailed a reminder to students due to start university in September to complete their grant applications. But staff then accidentally attached a list containing the email addresses of all students.

Those involved have been contacted and reassured no more details were released.

A statement released by the Student Loans Company (SLC) says:

"We are sorry that a number of student email addresses have been included in an email which has been sent to other customers.

"The integrity and security of student accounts and the protection of personal information is vital to us and we apologise to all of the students involved."

The mishap follows an investigation launched last year at York University when the personal details of nearly 17,000 students and residents were leaked online.

Addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and even A Level results were published on the university's website in what campaign group Privacy International called the "largest breach" to have occurred in the UK.

The SLC came under fire in 2009 after thousands of students started university without loans.

An inquiry into the incident at the time revealed the blunder had had a "far reaching impact" on students and caused the public to lose trust and confidence in the quango.