Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the proposed lifelong loan entitlement will be launched.

In the consultation on the lifelong loan entitlement (LLE), which concluded on 6 May 2022, the department publicly committed to its delivery.

As part of the pathway towards the LLE, the department will stimulate the provision of high-quality higher technical education at levels 4 and 5. We have already introduced pilots to inform future flexible and modular provision.

As of the start of the 2022/23 academic year, the department is trialling loan-funded access to tuition fees for over 100 short courses at levels 4 to 6 at 22 providers across England. This will help the department to build and test towards the LLE and will allow students to study and develop the skills they need in a more flexible way.