'Lifelong loans' to be made available for those wanting to retrain later in life
Adult learners up to the age of 60 will have access to student loans as well as maintenance loans from the 2025 academic year.
This will be the first time that maintenance support will be available for adults studying part time and on modular courses, the Department for Education (DfE) said.
The new higher education loan scheme, dubbed the Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE), was first announced in 2022 as part of a whole package of reforms to the student finance system.
In its release, the Government said the new loans would "empower more people to study in a way that works for them".
This could be something like balancing training or studies along with childcare or work.
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Under the plans published by the Government, loans will be available for those studying in England.
From September you'll be able to access loans worth four years of post-18 education which is equivalent to £37,000 in today's tuition fees.
You will then be able to use this amount flexibly over your working life to suit your specific circumstances.
The Loans will be available to those who study full or part time, and will include both degrees and Higher Technical Qualifications, as well as individual modules.
The Government has said that the scheme will work like a "bank account" so you will be able to keep track of how much funding you have left in your account.
An online portal will also let you access information about the courses and modules you can spend it on.
The maintenance loans are to be offered across all eligible technical and part-time courses covered by the lifelong loan scheme.
The exact level of support has not yet been confirmed, however, the Government says it will be "on a par with the traditional full-time study".
The amount available will also be based on the amount of any student loans you've already taken out.
So if you previously studied for a three-year degree, you should be entitled to one year's worth of funding under the new scheme.
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Under the current rules shared by the Government, repayments will be based on the new "Plan 5" terms.
This means you would pay back 9% of everything you earn above a certain threshold, which is currently £25,000, and any remaining amount owed will be wiped after 40 years.
This new student loan system, at this current moment, looks like it won't be available to those in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: "I know first-hand the benefits of lifelong learning, having retrained and upskilled numerous times in my journey from apprentice to Education Secretary.
"Lifelong learning is critical to career progression, helping to fill skills gaps and boost the economy, which is why this overhaul to our student finance system is so important.
"The Lifelong Loan Entitlement will give people flexibility to study, train and upskill throughout their working life, in recognition that careers aren’t linear. In doing so, it will facilitate a complete culture shift in the way further and higher education is viewed and who it is available to."
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