What is the Lifelong Learning Entitlement?

CONTENTS

1. What is the Lifelong Learning Entitlement?

2. How will the LLE change student finance?

3. Lifelong Learning Entitlement eligibility

4. How does the LLE work?

5. LLE loan repayments

What is the Lifelong Learning Entitlement?

The Lifelong Learning Entitlement will bring a major change to how student finance in England works for people aged 18 years and over.

If your higher education course starts after 1 January 2027, you may need to apply for a Lifelong Learning Entitlement loan. This new system opens to applications from September 2026. As well as full courses, after 1 January 2027 you will also be able to get an LLE loan to study eligible modules.

If your course starts before 1 January 2027, you’ll apply for the normal student finance support from England. You will carry on applying for loans under this system for the duration of your course. If you have a break in studies and resume after this date, you will be able to apply under the LLE.

How will the LLE change student finance?

1. It will replace the current system in England of student finance loans and advanced learner loans. In the future, if you study a Level 4 to Level 6 qualification, whether at uni or at college, you will apply to the LLE. It will also apply to some Level 7 courses, such as PGCE teaching qualifications.
2. It will be flexible, funding not just degrees or technical qualifications but also eligible short study modules.
3. You can continue to access your loan entitlement until it runs out. This gives you the chance to upskill later in life if you need to – which is why it is named the Lifelong Learning Entitlement.

What won’t change is that it includes loans for your tuition fees and, where applicable, maintenance or living costs. And there will be the same support for learners with disabilities or student parents who pay for childcare.

The LLE aims to make learning more flexible, allowing people to acquire the skills needed for current and future jobs.  

Lifelong Learning Entitlement eligibility

LLE eligibility depends on your own eligibility and that of the course you want to study.

Your eligibility for the LLE

• You must meet the usual student finance eligibility criteria – read our article Are you eligible for student finance.
• You must be aged 18 or over. If you are over 60 years old, you may be able to get living cost support if you have a low income, but you won’t get a tuition fee loan.
• Your previous studies will affect the financial support you can get. This includes any undergraduate student finance or advanced learner loan you may have had in the past.

Courses eligible for the LLE

All courses must be run by an approved higher education provider in the UK. If they are in England, they must be registered with the Office for Students.

• Courses are from Level 4 to Level 6 (if you study in Scotland, level SCQF 7 to 10) and some Level 7 courses.
• Courses include foundation degrees, bachelor’s degrees, higher technical qualifications, and PGCE teaching qualifications.
• Courses also include undergraduate courses with an integrated master’s degree, or with an integrated foundation year that’s part of the overall degree.
• Higher technical qualifications, such as HNCs and HNDs, are in the new system.
• You will also be able to study modules of level 6 courses or higher technical qualifications. They must be in approved priority subjects or skills areas.

You must study at least 30 credits per year to get LLE student finance. 180 credits per year is the maximum for funding – if you study more credits than this in a year, you won’t get extra support.

Modules must be part of a full course and include an assessment. They must be worth at least 30 credits – though this could include a single module worth 30 credits, two 20-credit modules totalling 40 credits, or three 10-credit modules. Modular study must be delivered by the provider who awards the qualification.

A new LLE qualifications gateway will list approved modules in due course. Initially modules will only be available in the following areas:

• Computing
• Engineering
• Architecture, building and planning (excluding landscape gardening)
• Physics and astronomy
• Mathematical sciences
• Nursing and midwifery
• Allied health
• Chemistry
• Economics
• Health and social care

If you want to study a module and aren’t sure if it’s eligible for funding, check with your university or college before you apply for the course.

How does the LLE work?

The Lifelong Learning Entitlement uses a credit-based system to work out the amount of study in your course.

You will be able to access the following support.

• Tuition fee loan for courses or modules.
• Maintenance loan for living cost support.

Lifelong Learning Entitlement tuition fee loans

Tuition fees will be determined by the number of credits a course has, rather than by the number of academic years, as at present.

If you are a new student who hasn’t had a loan before, your total tuition fee entitlement is 480 credits. This is equal to four years of full-time study, or £39,160 if you start a course after 1 January 2027. (This amount is based on current rates and may change over time.)

Each year the government will set the fee limits that providers can charge per credit. This means the fees for a 60-credit course will be roughly half the cost of a 120-credit course. Courses will also have a cap on how many modules they can contain.

In 2027, you can get up to a maximum of £9,790 for every 120 credits you study. Most degree courses will have 120 credits per year.

Some modules will have lower tuition fees rates:

• Foundation years will have different rates for ‘classroom’ based subject compared with practical subjects – the same as in the current system.
• Modules linked to study abroad or work placements may also have lower tuition fee rates than normal taught study – but this won’t always be the case.

Not all courses use credits, for example, teacher training PGCEs. In this case, the government will set a ‘default’ rate of 120 credits.

At the end of your studies, if you have not used all the tuition fee loan you are entitled to, you may be able to use the remaining credits in the future. If you don’t have enough left on your LLE balance to cover the tuition fees, you’ll need to pay for the difference yourself.

For example, in England, a typical bachelor’s degree is 360 credits. So, whether you study this over three years, or in two years as an accelerated degree, or part-time over six years, the total number of credits you get a tuition fee loan for will be the same. And after finishing your degree, you could still get a loan for a further 120 credits if you want to study again in the future.

If you have to withdraw from a previous course for compelling personal reasons (such as a bereavement or illness), you’ll need to provide evidence of this. If your reasons for withdrawal or repeating a year are accepted, the cost of affected study may be added back onto your tuition fee loan balance.

Tuition fees for longer courses

Some courses are longer than others. If you are studying the following, you’ll be able to get a tuition fee loan for up to two more years:

• Veterinary surgery
• Architecture (including the MArch RIBA Part 2 course taken after you finish an undergraduate degree in architecture)
• Bachelor’s degrees and integrated master’s degrees provided in Scotland

You can also get a ‘special additional entitlement’ if you take a foundation year, or if you go abroad or have a work placement as part of your degree.

Lifelong Learning Entitlement for a second degree

If you have £0 tuition fee loan balance left, you can still access a loan if you want to retrain in the future. You can do this if you take a full course in one of these priority subjects:

• Medicine
• Dentistry
• Nursing
• Midwifery
• Allied health profession subjects
• Initial teacher training (PGCE)
• Social work

For a second degree in Medicine and Dentistry, the tuition fees and maintenance support will be in line with the current arrangements, reducing during years when you get an NHS bursary. Read our article on NHS funded courses to find out more.

Lifelong Learning Entitlement maintenance loans

Maintenance loans will depend on your personal circumstances and also your course intensity – a bit like someone working part-time will be paid a proportion of a full-time wage.

You will be able to get a maintenance loan for in-person modules and courses, but not for distance or online learning (unless you are disabled). This is the same as with the current loans system.

Living cost support will still depend on where you live while you study, and on your household income. If you are eligible for an NHS bursary, you’ll get a reduced amount of maintenance loan. If you are on a sandwich course, you may get a reduced maintenance loan depending on your placement type. All these conditions are the same as in the current system.

The main difference is that it brings full-time and part-time learners together under the same system. If you study less than 120 credits in a year, the amount of maintenance loan you get will reduce in proportion.

If your course is longer than 30 weeks in the year (i.e. the year from the day you started your course), you may get extended maintenance support if your household income is below £45,000.

If you are studying full time, you may be able to get extra grants if you have children or another adult to support, or have travel costs to study or on a medical/dental degree. Disabled students will qualify for Disabled Students’ Allowance if they study 30 or more credits per course.

Once you have a tuition fee loan balance of zero, you will not be entitled to maintenance support unless you are studying specific longer courses or an eligible second degree.

LLE loan repayments

Lifelong Learning Entitlement loans are ‘Plan 5’ repayments, the same as the current student finance system in England. Read more about Repaying your student loan.