Advanced Learner Loan bulletin - September 2025

Last updated: 16 Sep 2025

Academic year (AY) 2025/26 housekeeping

Many of your learners have started or are soon to be starting their loan funded courses. We've created a checklist to help you prepare for the timely release of loan payments:

  1. Are all learning aim details, including start and end date, correct?
  2. Has the learner entered the correct fee amount and applied for the correct loan amount?
  3. If not, have you submitted the correct Change of Circumstance (CoC) notification?
  4. Have you added Unique Learner Numbers (ULNs) to allow us to make payments?
  5. Have you confirmed attendances for new and returning learners?

It's important that the information held for each learner is correct before you submit the initial attendance confirmation.

You must enter this within 6 weeks of the learning aim start date. When we approve an application more than 4 weeks after the learning aim start date, you must provide the attendance confirmation within 2 weeks of the approval date.

We cannot make a payment until we've validated the learner's National Insurance number with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). This can take up to 2 weeks.

October performance management review point

We're approaching the first Advanced Learner Loan performance management review point for AY 2025/26. This is on 16 October 2025.

You'll need to have used 75% or more of your loan facility to be in scope for a growth award.

If you do not meet the criteria set out in the funding rules but need growth, you should contact your DfE Case Manager. You should also complete the exceptional case template which will be available from 1 October. You should return completed forms by 8 October.

You can track your facility usage with the Loan Facility Details report. This is available in the Financials Home section of the Learning Provider Portal.

Level 3 entitlement

You must check the full funding eligibility of learners undertaking level 3 qualifications before they make their loan application.

For learners who mistakenly make a loan application where full funding is available, if you've already confirmed attendance, you should submit a Fee Charged CoC notification on the Learning Provider Portal.

This reduces the learner's fee liability to zero and leaves their application in an approved status. Please do not withdraw the application.

Learning Provider Portal enhancements

We’ve recently made a system enhancement on the Learning Provider Portal:

We've added a new ‘Number’ column to the left-hand side of the Payment Instalment Report and export. This shows the total amount of applications included in each row. We've removed  'Submitted and Progressing Applications' from the top of the report.

You can check the latest system updates on the LP Services website.

Suspension period

We'd like to remind you that any learner suspended on or after 1 August 2023 will have a maximum suspension period of 12 months.

Any learner suspended for 12 months or more will be automatically withdrawn.​

You can read more about the suspension period in the ALL factsheet on the LP Services website.

Account Manager services

If you'd like to arrange an account review, get an update on how your organisation is performing against the service standards or would benefit from a training session, please get in touch with me to discuss your requirements.

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.