Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) explained

The LLE is a single student finance entitlement for people whose home is in England. For courses and modules starting on or after 1 January 2027, it replaces undergraduate student finance loans and Advanced Learner Loans for level 4, 5 and 6 qualifications. You can use it for a full degree, a shorter qualification such as a foundation degree or Higher Technical Qualification, or, in some subjects, a module worth at least 30 credits.

Unlike the current system, it lets you borrow for a course at the same level as, or a lower level than, one you've already studied, such as a second degree, as long as you have entitlement left. The entitlement is an amount of money rather than a number of years, and fees are charged by credit: one credit is about 10 hours of learning, and a full-time year of a bachelor's degree is usually 120 credits.

Three sets of regulations made in 2026 put the fee limits, student support and repayment rules into law: the Lifelong Learning (Fee Limits) Regulations 2026, the Lifelong Learning (Student Support) (Amendment of Fees and Awards etc.) Regulations 2026, and the Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) (Amendments for Lifelong Learning) Regulations 2026.

Yes, the application date has moved. DfE's LLE overview said applications would open in September 2026; on 24 September 2026 it changed this to late October 2026. GOV.UK's application guide, published on 30 July 2026, says applications open at the end of October 2026 for courses and modules starting on or after 1 January 2027, and from spring 2027 for courses starting from 1 August 2027. The 1 January 2027 start date for courses hasn't changed.

You'll need a new Student Finance England account for LLE funding even if you already have one, and you apply for each course or module separately. You don't need a confirmed offer. The deadline is the earlier of your course end date and the last day of the ninth month of your 12-month course year: for a course starting on 15 January 2027, that's 30 September 2027.

GOV.UK's applicant guide, first published on 30 January 2026, says you'll be able to see an estimate of your remaining tuition fee loan from September 2026 by creating an LLE account. With the later application date, check whether the account is open before relying on that.

New learners get a tuition fee entitlement of £39,160. DfE says this equals four years of full-time tuition at the maximum fee of £9,790 a year for 2026/27, and that it will be adjusted if the maximum fee changes. The standard maximum full-time fee is already set to rise to £10,050 in 2027/28, but DfE hasn't published a revised entitlement figure.

Fee loans are paid per credit, up to £9,790 for every 120 credits, so 30 credits cost at most £2,447.50. What you borrow depends on your provider's actual fee, which may be lower, and any entitlement left over stays available for later study. You can borrow for between 30 and 180 credits in a course year, across all your courses and modules combined.

Maintenance loans for living costs are available for courses and modules you attend in person, in proportion to the credits you study, up to £15,415 for a course year of up to 30 weeks depending on household income and where you live. You normally need at least £1,587.50 of tuition entitlement left to get one, and distance learning isn't covered unless you can't attend because of a disability. You must be under 60 on the first day of the course to get a tuition fee loan; if you're 60 or over you can apply for maintenance support only. If you're deciding what to study, CourseToJob's guide to choosing a degree* walks through comparing courses, careers and graduate earnings.

Previous government-funded study is deducted at today's fee values. DfE's own example is someone who started a 3-year degree in September 2018 and paid £9,250 a year with student finance. They're treated as having used 3 × £9,790 = £29,370, leaving £39,160 − £29,370 = £9,790.

If that graduate spends the £9,790 on four 30-credit modules charged at the maximum rate (4 × £2,447.50 = £9,790), their balance reaches £0. For a full course in a priority subject such as nursing, teaching or social work, priority additional entitlement would then pay the fees for the rest of the course. Special additional entitlement covers some longer courses, such as veterinary surgery, and extra periods such as a foundation year or a year abroad.

Study that started before September 2012, and study paid for by the Student Awards Agency Scotland, is deducted per year instead: £9,790 for each full-time year and £4,895 for each part-time year. Study since September 2012 that you paid for entirely yourself isn't deducted.

From January 2027 the LLE funds full courses at levels 4 to 6, such as bachelor's degrees, foundation degrees and Higher Technical Qualifications, and some level 7 courses currently funded as undergraduate study: postgraduate initial teacher training, PGCEs, integrated master's degrees and postgraduate healthcare courses. Foundation years count if they're part of a bachelor's degree. Some level 4 to 6 courses now funded by Advanced Learner Loans also move across, and DfE publishes a list of the approved qualifications.

Modules are more limited at first. You can borrow for modules of approved Higher Technical Qualifications, or for modules from level 6 qualifications in these subject groups: computing, engineering, architecture, building and planning, physics and astronomy, mathematical sciences, nursing and midwifery, allied health professions, chemistry, economics, and health and social care. A module must be worth at least 30 credits (or be a bundle from the same course adding up to 30), belong to a full course run by the same provider, and come from a provider DfE has approved. The first list of approved providers was published on 15 May 2026 for modules from January 2027, and a second approval round opens to providers in October 2026.

Your provider must be registered with the Office for Students. Master's and doctoral degrees outside the list above stay on the separate postgraduate loans, and level 3 courses stay with the Advanced Learner Loan.

If you already have funding for a course that started before 1 January 2027, you keep it for that course, including later years, on the current system. You can't hold undergraduate finance for a pre-2027 course and LLE funding at the same time, but you can combine LLE funding with a postgraduate loan or an Advanced Learner Loan.

LLE loans are repaid on Plan 5, the same plan as English undergraduates who started from August 2023. You repay 9% of your income above £25,000 a year (£2,083 a month), starting no earlier than the April after you finish or leave your course, and anything left is written off 40 years after the April you're first due to repay. Interest is set at RPI inflation: 4.1% from 1 September 2026, charged from the first payment.

If you already have a student loan, you won't pay two lots of 9%. Under GOV.UK's rules for people on more than one plan, you pay a single 9% of income above the lowest threshold, split between the loans. Take a Plan 2 graduate earning £35,000. In 2026/27 they repay 9% × (£35,000 − £29,385) = £505.35 a year. Once they're due to repay an LLE loan, they'd repay 9% × (£35,000 − £25,000) = £900 a year: £394.65 (9% of the £4,385 gap between the two thresholds) towards the Plan 5 loan and £505.35 towards Plan 2.

So borrowing again would raise this graduate's deductions by about £395 a year, or £33 a month, at today's thresholds. The gap will change: DfE's forecasts say the Plan 2 threshold is frozen at £29,385 until April 2030, while the Plan 5 threshold rises with RPI from April 2027. Our guide to whether you'll pay off your student loan shows repayments at other salaries.

The core of the scheme is confirmed on GOV.UK and in regulations. Some details, including the size of the entitlement after 2026/27 and how modules will expand, are still to be set out.