Skip to main content
Guidance

Lifelong learning entitlement (LLE): guidance for providers

Published 31 July 2026

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2026

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lifelong-learning-entitlement-lle-guidance-for-providers/lifelong-learning-entitlement-lle-guidance-for-providers

The lifelong learning entitlement (LLE) will replace higher education student finance loans, and advanced learner loans for level 4, 5 and 6 qualifications.

Students will be able to apply for finance under the LLE from September 2026 for courses and modules starting on or after January 2027.

Courses and modules available for the LLE

Lifelong learning entitlement: what it is and how it will work has more information on courses currently funded by higher education student finance. It also has information on:

  • priority additional entitlement
  • special additional entitlement
  • repeat study

Registration and funding

To offer LLE-funded courses, providers must be registered with the Office for Students (OfS) from January 2027. There are 2 registration categories:

  • approved
  • approved (fee cap)

Only OfS-registered providers can access LLE funding. The OfS registration page has information about the process of registration and how to apply.

Advanced learner loan funding at providers not registered with OfS

Level 4 to 6 courses already offered by providers not registered with OfS, which are approved for LLE funding, will also be eligible for extended advanced learner loan funding, from academic year 2025 to 2026 until academic year 2029 to 2030.

Advanced learner loan funding for level 4 to 6 courses will only be available for eligible courses with providers that:

  • are not registered with OfS
  • have an advanced learner loan funding agreement

If learners are funded through advanced learner loans, they will not be entitled to LLE funding for that course. This includes LLE’s maintenance support and access to modular funding options.

If a provider is not OfS registered at the course start date and the course is eligible for Advanced Learner Loans under an Advanced Learner Loan funding agreement, LLE funding will not be available for that course.

Where a course is not otherwise designated through Advanced Learner Loans and the provider becomes OfS registered later, students may be able to access LLE support from the point the course becomes designated, subject to the usual application time limits.

The introduction of the LLE will not affect advanced learner loan funding for students starting a course before January 2027.

The list of approved qualifications shows if a qualification has been approved for funding.

Further education (FE) colleges and OfS registration

From the 2028 to 2029 academic year, higher education providers must be registered with the OfS if they deliver courses through franchise arrangements and have 300 or more franchised students. They must do this, unless an exemption applies. 

Franchise arrangements for higher education providers has more information.

FE colleges are exempt from the requirement. FE colleges that deliver a designated course on behalf of a provider that is registered with the OfS can continue to do so and do not need to be registered with the OfS. This is the case regardless of any number of franchised students that the FE college has. 

FE colleges will still need to register with the OfS if they want to directly deliver level 4 to 6 designated courses or modules. This is because LLE-funded modules cannot be delivered through franchised arrangements. 

The OfS consultation for proposals not to apply certain registration conditions for FE colleges in England closed in February 2026. Find out more about the outcomes of the consultation.

Preparing for the LLE

Higher education providers and further education colleges will need to make sure that they are ready for the introduction of the LLE as the new student finance system.

As a provider, consider whether you are:

  • continuing to offer undergraduate courses only
  • interested in delivering modules as well as undergraduate courses
  • interested in delivering modules in the future, but not necessarily in year 1 of the LLE (January 2027)

Credit values

LLE funding is based on credits. This means fees are based on the number of credits, not years of study.

The system applies to all LLE-funded courses and modules.

You must make sure that every LLE course or module has a credit value recorded in the Student Loan Company’s Course Management Service (CMS).

You will need to assign credits to:

  • modules
  • Ofqual regulated qualifications
  • all parent courses of any modular provision
  • courses shorter than one year

The Lifelong Learning (Fee Limits) Regulations 2026 set out credit values. If your course does not use credits, a default credit value will be applied.

Default fee limits for non-credit bearing courses or course years will be the number of credits, multiplied by the per-credit fee limit.

Preparing your systems

You should continue to prepare course data in the usual way.

You must:

  • submit full-time, part-time and modular course data for January 2027 starters to the Student Loans Company (SLC) CMS
  • make sure all courses and modules have credit values
  • check your internal course data is up to date to submit to the SLC’s CMS

SLC’s LLE course service definition is a useful guide to the CMS.

You should also:

All systems must meet accessibility standards.

Delivering courses

Providers should review their courses to understand how the LLE might affect course design. As part of this, providers should:

  • review how tuition fee limits will be calculated under the LLE
  • make sure fees for courses starting from January 2027 follow LLE fee rules
  • review the Student Loans Company (SLC) Course Service Definition for eligibility requirements

Changes to tuition fees: 2026 to 2027 academic year and 2027 to 2028 academic year has more information.

LLE qualifications gateway

From January 2027, alongside the introduction of the LLE, we will launch the LLE qualifications gateway. This is a mechanism through which Advanced Learner Loan qualifications can become eligible for LLE funding.

Level 4 to 6 qualifications previously funded under the Advanced Learner Loans (ALL) scheme are eligible for LLE funding if approved in the previous gateway process which ran in March 2024. This does not apply to HTQs.

Applications to the new gateway will be integrated into the HTQ approval process. This will create a streamlined single-entry point for new level 4 to level 6 qualifications. We will publish more detail about this before September 2026.

More information on previously approved qualifications is available on the following page: transfer of advanced learner loans to lifelong learning entitlement: approved qualifications.

Raising awareness

For courses starting on or after 1 January 2027, as a provider you may want to:

  • consider how your marketing strategy may need to change for the LLE
  • update your information, advice and guidance (IAG) to include LLE funding information and credit values (where this applies)
  • make sure you update your outreach and recruitment information and any other student resources
  • update your attendance management and fee-charging policies

Useful resources for students

Students will find the following guidance helpful:

Delivering modules

The LLE will fund modules from:

  • higher technical qualifications (HTQs)
  • full level 6 qualifications (for example, degrees)

Modules must be in subject areas linked to priority skills, including:

  • computing
  • engineering
  • architecture, building and planning
  • physics and astronomy
  • mathematical sciences
  • nursing and midwifery
  • allied health
  • chemistry
  • economics
  • health and social care

Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) coding

Each module must have a valid HECoS code.

To be eligible:

  • the module must be in an approved subject area
  • the parent course must also be eligible for LLE funding
  • where multiple HECoS codes are used, more than 50% must be in scope

Designing your modular offer

When developing a modular offer consider:

  • whether any of your existing HTQs or level 6 qualifications could be adapted for modular delivery
  • which modules are likely to attract demand - the modular acceleration programme: process evaluation interim report has useful information
  • which courses already have high demand in your institution
  • how modules fit into existing courses
  • financial viability and student numbers
  • whether your credit transfer framework needs updating

Not all courses can be modularised from launch. Modular funding will initially focus on modules from HTQs, and full level 6 courses in approved subjects.

Modules must:

  • be part of an existing course delivered by the provider
  • total at least 30 credits (single module or combined)
  • be at level 4, 5 or 6
  • be assessed and recorded with a standardised transcript
  • not be delivered through franchise arrangements

To meet these requirements, you may need to:

  • create bundles for existing 5, 10, 15 or 20 credit modules to meet the minimum 30-credit criteria
  • adapt processes to provide standardised transcripts

Providers do not need to redesign courses if they do not already use 30-credit structures.

You should also consider:

  • working with employers to identify demand and to design modules that meet local skills needs including:
    • collaborating to make course content relevant to the future workplace
    • addressing skills shortages
    • improving learner employability
  • flexible delivery options, including evenings or part-time study
  • how admissions and student records systems will support modular learners
  • how applications for modular provision will be administered and whether registration for modules will need to adapt over time

Case studies showcasing learning and best practice from colleges involved in the modular acceleration programme pilot are available. They aim to help providers prepare for the LLE rollout.

Information on how the OfS will regulate modular provision is available: modular provision and the lifelong learning entitlement.

Provider eligibility

To be able to offer modules which attract student finance, providers will need to:

Modular expression of interest (EOI)

The EOI process is in place to ensure readiness, capability and successful delivery of the parent course. To be eligible for the EOI process, providers needed:

  • a teaching excellence framework (TEF) rating of gold or silver
  • an Ofsted rating of good or outstanding
  • to submit more information if they had neither of these or only met one condition

There will be another EOI process in October 2026, find out more from LLE modular funding: expression of interest .

List of successful providers

A list of providers who were successful in the first EOI process that ran until October 2025 is available from providers approved for lifelong learning entitlement modular funding.

Submitting module data

You must:

  • submit module information through the SLC CMS – use the CMS guidance
  • ensure credit values are assigned to all modules
  • keep internal data up to date
  • consider what information needs to be collected as part of the student data returns (through HESA or ILR) - find out more from LLE and what it means for you

Supporting modular learners

Providers should review how support services work for modular learners, including:

  • academic support
  • accommodation
  • access to maintenance loans
  • providing a standardised transcript for students completing a module – LLE modules: standardised transcripts has more information
  • wider support for modular learners, for example access to wellbeing services and opportunities to join societies

Promoting modular provision

Providers should:

  • consider a target audience for modules
  • develop a marketing approach for modules
  • work with employers and local partners to design and promote your modules
  • conduct a review of your organisation’s information, advice and guidance on student finance across digital and paper-based platforms to consider where updates are needed to reflect the LLE
  • update information, advice and guidance
  • use DfE communication materials including LLE communication assets for education providers

Demand and local needs

Providers should:

Financial and operational planning

You should assess:

  • whether your organisation can support modular delivery and whether additional resource is needed for example to handle increased student enquiries
  • what the minimal viable student numbers are to run a module
  • the impact on admissions, student services and marketing
  • whether modules will run separately or within existing courses

Working with local employers can help ensure:

  • modules meet skills gaps
  • provision attracts enough demand

Further reading on modular provision:

Tuition fee payments

Payment schedules

In the first year of the LLE, tuition fee payments will be made in instalments across the course year:

  • payments will be made in quarters (13-week periods)
  • the payment period runs from the course start date to the end date recorded on the CMS
  • this includes holiday periods within the course, but not after the course ends

There will be a:

  • minimum of 1 payment
  • maximum of 4 payments per course year

The total tuition fee loan will usually be split evenly across instalments.

For course years with 3 instalments, the payment split will be:

  • 25%
  • 25%
  • 50%

All payments depend on confirmation of student attendance.

How payments work

  • payment dates will follow the existing higher education student finance schedule
  • payments are based on course length (number of quarters or days)
  • most full-length higher education courses will work in a similar way to the current system

If a student leaves part way through a course:

  • providers will receive payment in line with the number of credits studied
  • providers must confirm the number of credits the student is liable for
  • additional payments may be made if needed

Student support for courses and modules

Students starting courses from January 2027 will apply through the new student finance system. Student applications will open in September 2026.

Under the LLE, students can access:

  • funding for up to 4 years of study
  • up to £39,160 in tuition fee loans

You should give clear information to prospective students about:

  • courses and modules and direct students to GOV.UK guidance on How much LLE you could get
  • eligibility, entitlement and application information using DfE and SLC communication materials

You should also:

  • support credit transfer between providers for modular study
  • recognise prior learning where appropriate
  • provide standardised transcripts for completed modules

SLC have the following guides:

Communications asset pack

An asset pack to help education providers communicate and explain the LLE is available LLE communication assets for education providers.

Information for potential learners about the LLE is available on the Skills for Careers website: Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE).

Support for providers

The government will support providers to deliver the LLE by:

  • building new systems
  • simplifying registration processes
  • sharing best practice
  • providing communication materials
Back to top