The Lifelong Learning Entitlement is the new student finance system for England that funds higher education by credit rather than by year, starting with courses and modules that begin on or after 1 January 2027. It gives each eligible learner one loan balance to draw down across degrees, shorter courses and individual modules over a working life. This guide explains how the Lifelong Learning Entitlement works for providers, using official publications current as of November 2026.
What the Lifelong Learning Entitlement is
The legal basis is the Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Act 2023, which received Royal Assent on 18 September 2023. The Act changes how the maximum fee is calculated for courses run by English providers subject to a fee limit condition, allowing a credit-based method alongside the older fixed method.
The Department for Education (DfE) describes the Lifelong Learning Entitlement in its policy overview, last updated on 30 October 2026. It covers tuition fee loans and maintenance loans for full courses at levels 4 to 6, some postgraduate courses already funded by higher education student finance, and selected modules. In practice the LLE replaces both the existing undergraduate loan system for new starts and, over time, Advanced Learner Loans for level 4 to 6 study.
When the government named the first 130 approved universities and colleges in May 2026, the DfE announcement said student finance would for the first time cover shorter, flexible courses as well as degrees. It placed the Lifelong Learning Entitlement within the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper published the previous year.
Key dates for the Lifelong Learning Entitlement
The timetable moved during 2026. The May announcement pointed to September 2026 for applications. On 24 September 2026 the Office for Students (OfS) said it had “updated the timeline” to late October 2026. As of November 2026, the DfE overview says learners with courses or modules starting between 1 January 2027 and 31 August 2027 can apply now.
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| First round of the modular expression of interest for providers | July to October 2025 |
| First approved providers and subjects published | 15 May 2026 |
| Learner applications open | Late October 2026 |
| Further expression of interest submissions for modules close | 30 November 2026 |
| Funding starts; OfS registration required to offer funded courses | January 2027 |
| Larger franchising partners must register with the OfS | 2028 to 2029 academic year |
Learners funded for a course that started before 1 January 2027 stay on the current system for that course, including its later years. The GOV.UK application page says existing Student Finance England account holders must create a new account, and learners apply separately for each course or module and for each year of a longer course.
How much the Lifelong Learning Entitlement is worth
New learners can access up to “the full entitlement of £39,160”, according to the DfE overview. That figure is four times the maximum tuition fee of £9,790 a year for 2026 to 2027. Learners can draw down loans for up to 180 credits in a year, including across several courses or modules taken in the same year.
Returning learners receive a residual balance based on the funding they have already used. The DfE example is a graduate of a three-year degree, whose fees of £29,370 at 2026 to 2027 rates would leave £9,790 of entitlement. The OfS page quotes a lifetime figure of £38,140 at 2025 to 2026 fee rates, so the headline amount moves with the annual fee limit.
| Type of entitlement | When it applies | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Standard entitlement | All eligible learners | Up to £39,160 of tuition fee loans for new learners at 2026 to 2027 rates |
| Residual entitlement | Returning learners with past funding | The balance left after earlier higher education funding is deducted |
| Priority additional entitlement | Balance at £0 | Full courses in subjects such as medicine, dentistry, nursing, midwifery, teacher training, social work and listed allied health professions |
| Special additional entitlement | Balance at £0 | Up to two years (240 credits) for veterinary surgery, architecture part 2 and certain Scottish degrees, plus foundation years, study abroad, work placements and Turing scheme study |
Where study is affected by compelling personal reasons, such as illness or bereavement, the cost is added back to the balance. Learners with less than £1,587.50 of tuition fee entitlement left at 2026 to 2027 rates may have to pay fees above their remaining balance themselves, unless the course also qualifies for a maintenance loan.
Who can apply
The Lifelong Learning Entitlement is open to new learners and to returning learners who have studied a higher education course or module before. DfE defines new learners as those who have not previously received government support for higher level learning or level 4 to 6 Advanced Learner Loans. Nationality and residency rules are the same as the existing higher education student finance rules.
Tuition fee loans are available to learners aged under 60 at the start of the course. Those aged 60 or over may still receive maintenance support, but not a tuition fee loan. The May 2026 announcement said people who already hold a degree may still qualify if they have entitlement left or want to retrain in priority subjects.
Modules and modular study funding
The most significant change for providers is modular study funding. Under the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, a learner can borrow for a single module or a bundle of modules rather than committing to a whole qualification. The DfE overview sets out strict conditions. A module must:
- belong to a designated parent course run by the same provider;
- be worth at least 30 credits on its own or as a bundle from the same parent course;
- sit at a single level, 4, 5 or 6;
- be assessed and recorded on a standardised transcript on completion;
- be delivered directly, not through a franchise arrangement.
In the first phase, modular study funding covers modules of approved Higher Technical Qualifications at levels 4 and 5, with no subject restriction, and level 4 to 6 modules from full level 6 qualifications in priority subjects. The approved providers list names ten subject groups: computing; engineering; architecture, building and planning; physics and astronomy; mathematical sciences; nursing and midwifery; allied health; chemistry; economics; and health and social care.
DfE approved 127 providers through its streamlined route, with six course-specific approvals for three more providers through an alternative route. Approved names include Imperial College London, The Open University and Activate Learning. DfE says the range of modules will be narrow at launch and expand gradually, and modular study funding is limited to students in England at providers registered with the OfS.
Fee limits under the Lifelong Learning Entitlement
Fee limits under the Lifelong Learning Entitlement are calculated per credit, not per academic year. The DfE guidance on tuition fee limits sets out the method: the number of credits in a course year multiplied by a limit per credit. Its worked example is 120 credits at £50 a credit, giving a fee limit of £6,000. A 60-credit course therefore has half the fee limit of a 120-credit course at the same provider.
Further rules affect course design and pricing:
- A credit-bearing course year can be charged for up to 180 credits.
- Courses without credits receive a default value: a full-time year of more than 900 hours of notional learning counts as 120 credits.
- A standard bachelor’s degree with honours counts as 360 credits, and a work placement or study abroad can add up to 120 more.
Limits depend on a provider’s OfS registration category and may be lower where a provider does not hold a Teaching Excellence Framework award or an approved access and participation plan. The guidance also notes that the fee limit for classroom-based foundation years is “likely to reduce from £9,250 to £5,760” from 2025 to 2026.
What providers must do before January 2027
DfE’s guidance for providers, updated on 30 October 2026, says providers must be registered with the OfS from January 2027 to offer courses funded by the Lifelong Learning Entitlement. They must also submit full-time, part-time and modular course data for January 2027 starters to the Student Loans Company’s Course Management Service, record a credit value and a valid HECoS subject code for every course and module, and set fees that follow the per-credit rules.
Money follows attendance. The guidance states: “All payments depend on confirmation of student attendance.” In the first year, tuition fee payments to providers are made in 13-week quarters, with between one and four payments for each course year. Where a learner leaves early, the provider must confirm how many credits the learner is liable for, which determines the charge against the learner’s balance.
The OfS says it will extend its normal risk-based approach to regulation to modular courses funded by the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, and that it will collect data on modular provision.
Further education colleges can keep delivering a designated course on behalf of an OfS-registered provider, and they are exempt from the franchising registration rule that applies from 2028 to 2029 to higher education providers with 300 or more franchised students. To deliver level 4 to 6 designated courses or modules directly, a college must register with the OfS.
Level 4 to 6 courses at providers outside OfS registration can receive extended Advanced Learner Loan funding until 2029 to 2030, but learners funded that way cannot also use the LLE for that course.
Maintenance, grants and repayment
Maintenance loans under the Lifelong Learning Entitlement are available for designated in-person courses and modules, and they are paid in up to three instalments at launch. Distance learning remains excluded from maintenance support, as under the current system. A course year must contain at least 30 credits for the learner to qualify for tuition fee and maintenance loans.
Under the LLE, targeted grants for dependants and travel, which do not have to be repaid, go to new learners studying full-time, defined as at least 120 credits in a course year. Disabled Students’ Allowance is available for courses or modules of 30 credits or more.
Repayment of LLE loans follows Plan 5. Borrowers repay 9% of earnings above £25,000 a year (£2,083 a month or £480 a week), and any outstanding balance is cancelled after 40 years. Three pieces of secondary legislation set the fee limits, the funding system and the repayment changes.
Why the Lifelong Learning Entitlement matters for the sector
For institutions, the Lifelong Learning Entitlement turns the module into a unit that can be priced, sold and funded on its own. That opens study to adults and graduates who want to retrain, but requires changes to records, transcripts, timetabling and finance systems. Progression from school and college into higher education in England has recently fallen, as DfE data reported by The Education Daily show, which gives providers reason to look at older learners as a source of demand.
Ministers have presented the change as a matter of access. Skills minister Jacqui Smith said in May 2026: “Financial support should be available whether you want to do a degree, take a short course, or retrain later in life.” How quickly the module list grows beyond the first ten subject groups, and how many learners use modular study funding rather than full courses, will shape whether that aim is met.
