Advanced Learner Loan bulletin - February 2025

Important - January performance management review point

You'll now have received notification of the outcome of the January review point. This outcome is in line with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) funding rules.

If your outcome is an increase to your loan facility, you'll receive an updated contract. You must digitally sign and return this to ESFA so they can tell us about the increase. If you return this by 4 March, you’ll see the increase on the LP Portal on 12 March.

You can find further information in the funding rules.

Advanced Learner Loans – Learning Provider Service Review Forums

We'll be running a series of face-to-face discussion forums in March 2025. Here, we'll reflect on the current academic year and look towards academic year 2025/26. We’ll consider how the FE sector is evolving and cover the latest policy and process updates.

You’ll also be able to feed back on all areas of the Learning Provider and the SLC partnership, and network with other providers. We'll gather insight to feedback to DfE, ESFA and other partners and share best practice.

Dates and locations:

A further London forum has now been added on 3 April. Space remains available for some other sessions.

• 18 March – Solihull College & University Centre
• 19 March – City of Bristol College (South Bristol Skills Academy)
• 19 March – York College
• 20 March – Department for Education, London (session full)
• 21 March – Department for Education, London (session full)
• 25 March – Walsall College (Wisemore Campus)
• 25 March – St Helens College
• 26 March – Department for Education, London (session full)
• 26 March – The Manchester College (Openshaw Campus)
• 27 March – Student Loans Company, Darlington (session full)
• 3 April – Department for Education, London (new date added)

You can find further information and register on the events section of the LP Services website.

Withdrawals and zero fee submissions

Once a learner attends past the initial two weeks of their course, we class them as post liability. If you've confirmed their attendance, and the learner later withdraws, the loan will count as one of their loan entitlements. Learners have four loan entitlements, unless they're on an A Level or Access to HE course.

If you decide to reduce or remove the loan liability for a withdrawing learner, we'll still count the loan. This is because it's the effective date of withdrawal rather than the liability that determines previous study.

Access to HE Learners will not be able to apply for repeat funding if they attend past the initial two weeks and you confirm attendance. This is unless they have evidence of compelling personal reasons (CPR).

Primary and Secondary Contacts

Please make sure you regularly review your contacts list on the Profile section in the Learning Provider Details tab of the LP Portal. You can add, amend or make contacts inactive by selecting the Edit button. 

If your colleagues would like to receive our bulletins and updates, assign them as a primary or secondary business contact.

Further guidance on how to do this is available in the guidance section of the LP Services website.

LP Portal user access

Any portal user with LP User Admin role can create and maintain other accounts. If you have this access, please regularly review your list of portal users.

It's your job to expire user access for any colleagues who have left their role or the organisation. Failure to do so means they can still access the portal.

Further guidance on how to do this is available in the guidance section of the LP Services website.

Partners Support Desk

Our Partners Support Desk is here to help you with any day to day operational questions about individual learners, application processing, payments and system issues.

You can contact the support desk on 0300 100 0643 or by emailing lpservices@slc.co.uk