Advanced Loans affecting Undergraduate funding.

Hi!
For background, I did about 8 months of an undergraduate degree before withdrawing from it. I have decided that I am going to do an Access to HE science course at a college this September and then go on to do a podiatry degree at university. I have gotten to the stage where I want to apply for an Advanced Learner Loan to cover the cost of the course.
Is it true that while I have lost my 'gift year' for undergraduate study, I can get an ALL and then go on to get student loans for university afterward for the full undergraduate course? or will the ALL mean that I won't be covered for a year of university?
I am getting pretty neurotic over this, I even called Student Finance who were lovely and confirmed that I would be covered for the access course and further undergraduate study, but I need to see it in writing to internalise it unfortunately, as I keep seeing confusing information- such as that you can only get 4 loans in a lifetime, but then that different rules apply for access courses. In that case though, if someone were to do a 3 year course, for example, would that count as 3 separate loans, or one loan covering the 3 years?
I'm sorry I'm almost definitely overthinking it, but further clarification would be really appreciated! Thankyou in advance!