Advanced Learner Loans 2016

Advanced Learner Loans
Guidance and Welfare Service
* For information purposes only. The Manchester College do not offer or endorse loans. Information source gov.uk

What are Advanced Learner Loans?
 Advanced Learner Loans are available
from the government to help you pay
the tuition fees for your level 3 to 4
course and 5 to 6 professional course
if you are 19+.
 If you are between the ages of 19-23
and have not yet achieved a First Full
Level 3 qualification you will be
funded and not have to apply for a
loan.

 From 16th May 2016 you can apply for an Advanced Learner Loan to help with the
costs of a course at a college or training provider if you’re 19 or older*.
 The course must be an eligible Level 3 to 6 course, eg A Levels*.
 You’ll have to pay your loan back when both the following apply:
 you’ve finished your course
 you earn more than £21,000 a year
 Loan eligibility doesn’t depend on your income and there are no credit checks.
You can get independent money advice from the Money Advice Service.
Overview
*Criteria is subject to change

How much you get depends on the:
 type of course
 course fees
 maximum loan available for your course (The
minimum loan is £300).
 You don’t have to borrow the full cost of your
course - you can pay for some of it yourself.
How the money is paid:
 The money is paid directly to your college or training
provider.
What you get

Number of loans you can get:
 You can apply for up to 4 loans but you can only get one loan at a time.
 New for September 2016, you can now receive a loan for another level 3 qualification in a
different subject area.
A Levels:
 You can apply for a loan to fund each course you take towards your A Levels - up to a
maximum of 4 A Levels.
 The courses must be in the same subject to qualify for a full A Level.
 You can get 3 more loans for non A Level courses either before or after your course of A
Levels.
Number of Loans

Eligibility
Whether you qualify for a 19+ Advanced
Learner Loan depends on your:
 course
 college or training provider
 age
 nationality or residency status

Eligibility II
Your course must be:
 An approved Level 3, 4, 5, or 6 qualification, eg A Levels *.
 at a college or training provider in England approved to offer loans by the Skills Funding Agency .
Your age:
 You must be 19 or older on the first day of your course.
Your nationality or residency status:
 You must usually be living in the UK on the first day of your course.
 have been living in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for 3 years before starting your course*.
 be a UK national or have ‘settled status’.
You may also qualify if you’re:
 a UK national, or someone with settled status, but you live somewhere else in the EEA.
 an EU national or a family member of one, a refugee, a migrant worker, the child of a Swiss
national, the child of a Turkish worker.
*Criteria subject to change

1. Check with your college or training provider that the course qualifies.
2. Ask for a ‘Learning and funding information’ letter - you need this to complete the
application. It contains the details about your course.
3. Apply online -you’ll need to register first. If you can’t apply online you can download the
forms at gov.uk/advanced-learning-loans/how-to-claim .
4. You’ll get a letter confirming your loan - usually within 2 weeks if you apply online
(postal applications take longer).
How to apply

 You can’t apply until you get a ‘learning and funding information letter’ from your
college or training provider.
 You can apply for a loan without a National Insurance number but you must have
one before the loan can be paid.
 If you can’t apply online, apply by post (see Guidance and Welfare).
 Include your UK passport details in your application as proof of identity.
 If you don’t have a UK passport (or it has expired), send your birth or adoption
certificate using the ‘Birth or adoption certificate form’.
 Use the ‘Evidence return form’ if you need to send extra information to support
your application, eg proof of residency status.
What you need to know

Repayments
 You pay back your loan (plus interest) when you finish your course and earn more than
£21,000 a year.
 HMRC contact the Student Loan Company with earnings and you will receive an annual
statement each August.
 Your annual repayment amount will be 9% of any income you earn over £21,000.
Example:
Your monthly repayments would be:
£7.50 a month - if you earned £22,000 a year, £30 a month - if you earned £25,000 a year
 Your repayments will stop if your income drops below £21,000 a year.
 Use the repayment calculator to estimate how much you’ll have to pay back.
 Contact the Student Loans Company if you want to start making voluntary repayments.
 You can get independent money advice from the Money Advice Service.

Repayments II
If you leave or change your course:
 You’ll have to pay back any money that’s been paid to your college or training
provider (plus interest) if you leave or change your course after 2 weeks or
more. The interest rate will be the rate of inflation.
 Speak to your college or training provider to see if they can transfer the loan to
another course.
Access to Higher Education (HE):
 Student Finance England will ‘write off’ any outstanding Advanced Learning
Loan balances you owe for an Access to HE course once you complete a higher
education course. This means you don’t have to repay it.
 The higher education course must be eligible for student finance.

Financial Support*
 You may apply for financial support from the college after you’ve received a letter
approving your Advanced Learner Loan.
 If your household income is less than £16,190 you may be entitled to financial
support for travel and childcare.
 Entitlement will depend on your age, hours of study and level of study.
 To apply you can collect an application from reception.
 You must provide evidence of household income.
 You must attend at least 87% otherwise your support will stop.
*Criteria subject to change

Get independent money advice.
You can get independent money advice from the
Money Advice Service.
Learner Journey

Where are we?
Please book an
appointment at
reception to see
the Guidance and
Welfare Team

Advanced Learner Loans 2016

More Related Content

What's hot (19)

Similar to Advanced Learner Loans 2016 (20)

More from Nicola Kassam (7)

Recently uploaded (20)

Advanced Learner Loans 2016