This post first published: 02 May 2017
The following guide was originally created for the launch of the Advanced Learner Loans and contains some handy information for employees considering their funding options
Different options for how advanced and higher level training can be funded for individuals aged 19 and over.
You may choose to pay for the course yourself using savings that will cover the cost of the course, or you could choose to use a government-backed loan, such as an Advanced Learner Loan or a Professional and Career Development Loan. It's up to you to decide the best way to fund your learning.
If you are 19 to 23 and are studying your first full Level 3 qualification you might be able to get a grant to help pay for your course. You can choose to fund your Level 3 qualification with either a grant or an Advanced Learner Loan, but you choose to fund it with an Advanced Learner Loan, you lose your entitlement to grant funding.
If your Learning Provider does not offer a grant-funded course, you’ll need to find a Learning Provider that does. The National Careers Service [include contact details] will be able to advise you which Learning Providers in your local area offer the course you want to do with grant funding.
As an employee, you may be eligible for an Advanced Learner Loan. Repayments for the Advanced Learner Loan are linked to earnings, and you only need to repay it when you have finished your course and earn over £21,000 a year. You then repay 9% of anything you earn over £21,000. Additional voluntary repayments can be made by anyone at any time.
More information on Advanced Learner Loans is available below.
Your employer may be willing to pay for all or part of your course costs, including paying for the course upfront, and make an agreement with you about how this money is repaid.
Professional and Career Development Loans are bank loans to pay for courses and training that help with your career or help get you into work. You may be able to borrow up to £10,000 to meet your fees and associated learning costs. The government pays the interest while you’re studying. For more information, go to www.gov.uk/career-development-loans/overview.
You can get impartial advice from the Money Advice Service (www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk).
The facts
The Advanced Learner Loan is administered by Student Finance England, the same organisation that provides loans for higher education students.
How much you can get depends on the type of course, the course fee and the maximum amount available for your course.
- The minimum amount of loan you can get is £300.
- You don’t have to borrow the full cost of your course – you can pay for some of it yourself.
- The loan is not means-tested or subject to any credit checks.
To be eligible for one of these loans you must:
- be aged 19 or over at the start of your course.
- be undertaking an eligible course at Level 3 to 6 (Level 3 to 4 only if your course begins before 1 August 2016) at an approved college or training organisation in England.
- be living in the UK on the first day of your course.
- have been living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 years immediately before starting your course.
- be a UK national or have ‘settled status’ (this means there’s no restrictions on how long you can stay).
In terms of repayment of the loan:
- you will not have to repay the loan until you have finished the course and are earning over £21,000 a year. You then pay back 9% of the money you earn over £21,000.
- if you are earning over £21,000 a year, you will begin to repay your loan through the tax system from the April after you have completed your course. Voluntary repayments can be made at any time.
- if you never earn more than £21,000 a year, you won’t have to pay the loan back. Any outstanding balance on a loan will be written off after 30 years, if you become permanently unfit for work or on the death of the person taking out the loan.
- as soon as the loan payment is made to the college or training organisation, interest will be charged at the Retail Price Index (RPI) + 3%, up until the April after you finish your course. From this point, the interest on the loan is linked to how much you earn, but the interest will never be more than RPI +3% and if you are earning less than £21,000 it will reduce to RPI.
- if you complete an Access to HE Diploma course, funded with an Advanced Learner Loan, and go on to complete an HE qualification, any outstanding balance on your Advanced Learner Loan will be written off.
Further information
Those interested can also visit Unionlearn at unionlearn.org.uk
