The Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Act 2023 is an important milestone in the government’s reforms to higher and further education in England. The act, which received royal assent last month, provides for significant changes to the student finance system, enabling fee limits to be set for modules and shorter courses, as well as full courses such as degrees. This is part of the wider reform programme to introduce the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE). From 2025, the LLE will provide learners with a loan entitlement to the equivalent of four years of post-18 education that can be used over the course of their working lives.
The overarching aim of these changes is to support a more flexible approach to learning. The government expects the new system will provide new opportunities for all learners – school leavers, people already in the workforce, and others – to be funded to study in different ways (through short courses and modular study, for example) at a time that suits them. This has the potential to make it easier for them to train, retrain and upskill to advance their careers. This in turn should help to meet the needs of the economy, as workplace skills and employment patterns change.
From the 2025-26 academic year onwards, an LLE loan will be available for:
- full courses at Level 4 to level 6 (such as degrees or technical qualifications)
- modules of higher technical qualifications (HTQs) and some other technical courses at Level 4 to level 5 determined by government.
Eligible learners will be able to access:
- a tuition fees loan equal to four years of study in today’s fees (up to £37,000)
- a maintenance loan, and targeted support grants, to help with living costs.
