Advanced Learner Loans – a guide for academic staff

Advanced Learner Loans are available to learners aged 19 or above. They can help with the cost of fees for approved further education courses at level 3, 4, 5 or 6.

The Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) allocates a loan facility to approved learning providers each year. This determines how many learners you can have funded with the loan. ESFA also sets out your responsibilities of learning providers in their Funding and Performance Rules each year.

We then pay out Advanced Learner Loans to you on behalf of individual learners. We pay these in instalments each month.

To receive the payments for learners, you must confirm their ongoing attendance. It is very important that you do this accurately and on time.

You must follow our set of service standards. These are underpinned by ESFA’s Funding and Performance Rules. You must tell us as soon as possible if learners

• suspend their studies
• resume their studies
• withdraw from courses

If any information you give us is late or wrong, this can mean that:

• you receive an incorrect fee payment amount (and we may need to claw back funding)
• learners owe an incorrect fee amount (this can mean they're liable for more loan than they should be, and are also charged additional interest)
• you risk breaching your obligation to adhere to the service standards

Your academic staff must give Advanced Learner Loans administrators the information they need to manage loans in line with our service standards. This will include register marks and any changes to a learner’s enrolment status.

We track your performance on attendance confirmations and notifications of suspensions and withdrawals.

If you consistently fail to meet the service standards, this can limit or even jeopardise the amount of Advanced Learner Loan funding available to you.