A pilot scheme for new short higher education courses should be reviewed if numbers do not significantly pick up, an MP has said, after just 12 applications for student loans have been received to date.
The Department for Education last year announced 22 providers – all but one being universities – would design and deliver the £2 million Higher Education Short Course Trial for level 4 to 6 courses, with delivery beginning in the 2022/23 academic year.
In response to a parliamentary question by Labour MP Emma Hardy this week, the DfE said that it expected most courses to launch in January next year, but confirmed that just a dozen requests had been made to the Student Loans Company for tuition fee loans so far.
