AT the start of the 24/25 academic year, the Students Loans Company (SLC) is reminding students to be vigilant of smishing scams.

Scammers target students at this time of year as they receive their first maintenance loan payment. SLC is expecting to pay £2bn to students over the autumn term and last year it stopped £2.9m of maintenance loan payments being taken by smishing and phishing scams, where students received and acted on false communications.

Smishing, which is fraud involving text messages, is currently the most popular form of scam, with students usually being asked to click a link to complete a task – for example verifying bank details or confirming their personal information, providing an opportunity for a payment to be diverted to a scammer’s bank account.

SLC will never ask students to provide or verify their personal or financial information via email or text message, and Alan Balanowski, Risk Director at SLC, is urging students to pay attention to any communication they receive from Student Finance Wales (SFW) or SLC over the coming weeks.

He said: “Starting or returning to university is an exciting time, but it’s also busy, with students getting organised and set-up for the academic year, which includes dealing with information from different organisations, including ourselves. We aim to ensure our payment process is simple for students, but we do experience a rise in smishing scams at this time year. This means students need to be alert to any potential attempt to intercept their maintenance loan instalment.

“We have a range of preventive methods we use to target scams, but the most impactful tool we have is working together with students to stop scammers. If a student receives a suspicious message, they should delete it and report it immediately, but if a scammer does succeed in obtaining personal details, then we must collectively act quickly to spot and block the action”.

“Last year, we were able to stop £2.9m of maintenance loan payments ending up in the hands of scammers and we are focused on working as effectively as we can to protect students and their finance.

“Our message to students is quite simply, think before you click.”

SLC’s top tips

• Neither SLC nor SFW provide any services through WhatsApp and will never initiate contact with a student through social media channels, including Facebook, X, Instagram and Tik Tok, to discuss their application or student finance entitlement. If a customer receives a communication from SFW that they are unsure of, they should log into their online account to verify if it’s genuine.
• Check the quality of the communication – misspelling, poor punctuation and bad grammar are often signs of phishing.
• Keep an eye out for any suspicious looking emails, phone calls or text messages, especially around the time of an expected payment.
• Scam emails and text messages are often sent in bulk to many people at the same time and are unlikely to contain both a first and last name. These commonly start – ‘Dear Student’.
• Messages that convey a sense of urgency are also unlikely to be genuine – for example ‘failure to respond in 24 hours will result in the account being closed’.
• Think before you click. If an email or text message contains a link, hover over it to check that it goes where it’s supposed to. If in any doubt don’t risk it, always go direct to the source rather than clicking on a potentially dangerous link.
• Scammers can use a variety of methods to try and get students to pay money or share personal details, including the use of fraudulent phone calls, social posts and direct messaging on digital platforms. Always use official phone numbers, the online account and official communication channels to verify the contact received is genuine.
• Be mindful of the information you share about yourself on social media, and elsewhere online, to help guard against identity theft. Identity theft happens when fraudsters access enough information about a person’s identity, such as their name, date of birth, customer reference number, course information or their current or previous addresses to impersonate them online and over the phone.
• SLC or Student Finance Wales (SFW) send a text message to students in Wales if a change has been made to their bank details. If you haven’t changed your bank details and receive a message, contact us immediately.
• Check out our guide to identifying a scam at www.gov.uk/guidance/phishing-scams-how-you-can-avoid-them
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If a student receives a suspicious message, they should report it immediately by email [email protected] and to SLC by calling our dedicated hotline on 0300 100 0059. 

There is also a range of additional advice and information on recognising and avoiding scams from Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. 

This year and next, fans of musicals will be in awe as the Torch Theatre broadcasts recordings of the most popular and much-loved shows including Les Misérables and The Phantom Of The Opera. From this September to April 2025, six well-known musicals will feature on the Torch cinema screen.

The first of these musicals will be the spectacular, sell-out 25^th Anniversary Gala Performance of the global stage sensation Miss Saigon on Sunday 22 September. This will also feature appearances by the original cast including Jonathan Pryce and Lea Salonga. Described as “the most thrilling, soaring and emotionally stirring musical with magnificent performances” by the Daily Telegraph and “the greatest musical of all time” by the Daily Mail, this epic love story is a must see.

The Phantom Of The Opera from the Royal Albert Hall will provide the second treat.Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical is a worldwide entertainment phenomenon. It has been staged in 145 cities across 27 countries and its box office sales eclipse Avatar, Titanic and Star Wars. To celebrate its 25th Anniversary year, Cameron Mackintosh presents The Phantom Of The Opera in a fully-staged, lavish production with a recorded broadcast on Sunday 3 November at 7pm.

On Sunday 24 November at 7pm, audience members can watch Girl From The North Country. Written and directed by celebrated playwright Conor McPherson and featuring Tony Award-winning orchestrations by Simon Hale, Girl From The North Country reimagines 20 legendary songs of Bob Dylan as they’ve never been heard before, including “Forever Young,” “All Along The Watchtower,” “Hurricane,” and “Like A Rolling Stone.”

Taking us into 2025, and Les Misérables – The Staged Concert (40^th Anniversary celebration) can be viewed on Sunday 2 February 2025. Seen by over 120 million people worldwide, it is undisputedly one of the world’s most popular musicals. In 2019, Cameron Mackintosh produced a spectacular sell-out staged concert version at the Gielgud Theatre featuring an all-star cast including Michael Ball, Alfie Boe, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Matt Lucas and John Owen Jones. Now cinema audiences can experience a unique encore of this incredible show to celebrate Les Misérables 40^th Anniversary. Featuring a cast and orchestra of over 65 the musical includes the songs I Dreamed A Dream, Bring Him Home, One Day More and On My Own.

Moving onto March 2025, and Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock classic Jesus Christ Superstar returns to its roots with this sensational performance filmed in the UK during the Live Arena Tour. An incredible cast including Tim Minchin as Judas Iscariot, Melanie Chisholm as Mary Magdalene, Chris Moyles as King Herod and Ben Forster as Jesus Christ, perform hit songs including “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” “Gethsemane,” “Heaven on Their Minds,” “Everything’s Alright,” “King Herod’s Song” and “Superstar” in an exciting and contemporary interpretation screened here at the Torch on Sunday 2 March.

To conclude the Musical Season, the show based on the Academy Award® nominated film, Billy Elliot the Musical has won the hearts of millions since it opened in London’s West End in 2005 and will be screened at the Torch on Wednesday 2 April at 7pm. Set in a northern mining town, against the background of the 1984/85 miners’ strike, Billy’s journey takes him out of the boxing ring and into a ballet class where he discovers a passion for dance that inspires his family and whole community and changes his life forever. The original creative team behind the film, including writer Lee Hall (book and lyrics), director Stephen Daldry, and choreographer, Peter Darling, is joined by music legend Elton John (music) to produce a funny, uplifting and spectacular theatrical experience that will stay with you forever.

To book your tickets to see any of these musicals which can be enjoyed by all the family or for further information, contact the Box Office on 01646 695267 or visit torchtheatre.co.uk. Tickets for each musical: Full £15. Concession: £13 and U26: £8.50.

A UNIQUE remote classroom will cross the Irish Sea this month to give young people in Pembrokeshire an introduction to Aquaculture – the farming of aquatic animals and plants.

The Aquaculture Remote Classroom (ARC) from Ireland will visit Pembrokeshire College on September 18th and 19th, and Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi on September 20^th.

The event at Pembrokeshire College on Wednesday 18^th includes an open session and anyone interested in attending is asked to please contact in advance (see details below).

The ARC visits schools across Ireland to introduce students to Aquaculture and demonstrates the importance of marine life. 

This will be the first time the ARC has visited the UK, and Pembrokeshire’s students the first to be welcomed aboard.

Local students will be offered a unique insight into the fascinating world of Aquaculture and also have the opportunity to taste different types and view various Aquaculture products.

Pembrokeshire will be the first stop for the ARC, before it moves on to Croatia and Germany, where it will continue to educate students on the importance of Aquaculture as an industry and its positive impact on biodiversity.

Pembrokeshire County Council Aquaculture officer, Donna Page said: “This is a unique and fantastic opportunity for our students to learn about Aquaculture, and how it is an environmentally responsible source of food and why it’s a growing industry for producing protein, one of the basic building blocks of our diet.

“Aquaculture can be an essential tool in increasing the sustainability of seafood and how it helps to create healthier habitats, and also used to rebuild stocks of threatened or endangered species.

“We need to invest now in educating our future generations. We owe it to them to equip them with the knowledge and skills that they will need in years to come.”