Whether you can qualify for an Advanced Learner Loan depends on your:
- course
- age
- nationality and residency status
- previous study
Course information
You must be 19 or older on the first day of your course.
The course must be:
- a Level 3, 4, 5 or 6 qualification, for example, an A level or graduate certificate
- at an approved college or training provider in England
If you’re studying a level 4 or 5 course with Higher Technical Qualification (HTQ) approval, you may be eligible for undergraduate funding unless you’re a direct entrant.
Course length
The course must last at least 2 weeks to be eligible for funding, but there’s no maximum time limit in which you must complete your course. However, there are maximum limits on how long we can pay a loan for. The maximum time periods of eligibility are determined by the type of FE course.
The following table shows the maximum amount of time we can pay a loan for depending on the course.
| Course | Maximum time limit |
|
Programme of A levels (AS or A Levels) |
2 years (for each AS or A Level) |
|
Access to Higher Education Diploma |
2 years |
| Any other eligible Level 3, 4, 5 or 6 course |
3 years |
Nationality or residency status
You must usually:
- be living in the UK on the first day of your course
- have been ordinarily resident in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 years before starting your course
- be a UK national or have ‘settled status’
(have no restrictions on how long you can stay in the UK)
You may be eligible for a loan to study at a learning provider in England if you are a UK national or have settled status in the UK and you have been living in the following for the three years before starting your course:
- the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Ireland (with at least part of the time spent in Ireland), or
- the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the specified British Overseas Territories (with at least part of the time spent in the specified British Overseas Territories).
You may be eligible for a loan to study at a learning provider in England if you are a family member of a person with settled status in the UK and you have been living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the past three years.
You can also apply if you’ve been living in the UK, Overseas Territories, the EEA or Switzerland for the past three years and are:
- an EU national, the family member of an EU national or the family member of a Person of Northern Ireland and you have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or you are in the process of applying for it (studying at learning providers in England only)
- an EEA or Swiss worker, or the family member of an EEA or Swiss Worker, and you and your family member have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or you are in the process of applying for it
- the child of a Swiss national and you and your Swiss parent have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or you are in the process of applying for it
- an EU national or family member of an EU national and you have resident status in Gibraltar (studying at learning providers in England only)
- the child of a Turkish worker (residence in Turkey is included in the three-year period)
- a person of direct Chagossian descent and have British citizenship
You can also apply if you’ve been living in the UK, Gibraltar, the EEA or Switzerland for the past three years and are:
- a UK national, the family member of a UK national or an Irish citizen, and were living in the EEA or Switzerland on 31 December 2020, or living in the UK on 31 December 2020 after returning from the EEA or Switzerland on or after 1 January 2018 (studying at learning providers in England only if you are an Irish citizen)
- a UK national or family member of a UK national and you have resident status in Gibraltar (studying at learning providers in England only)
You can also apply if you have one of the following Home Office statuses:
- Humanitarian protection or the family member of someone with this status
- Stateless status or the family member of someone with this status
- Refugee status or the family member of someone with this status
- Calais leave and dependent child granted ‘leave in line’
- Leave to remain under section 67 of the Immigration Act or the dependent child of someone with this status
- You, your parent or step-parent have been granted indefinite leave to enter or remain in the UK as a victim of domestic violence or abuse
- You, your parent or step-parent have been granted indefinite leave to remain as a person who has been a bereaved partner
- You or your family member have been granted limited or indefinite leave to enter or remain under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or the Afghan Citizens Relocation Scheme (ACRS)
- You or your family member have been granted leave to enter or remain in the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme, the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme or the Ukraine Extension Scheme
You could also be eligible if you’re not a UK national and have been living in the UK for at least half your life or at least 20 years. You must have limited leave to remain (including discretionary leave to remain) and have lived in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for three years before the first day of your course. You must also live in England on the first day of your course.
Students whose courses start before 1 August 2021 will continue to get student finance for the rest of their course. Find out more on GOV.UK
We’ve created an eligibility tool to use if you’re considering an Advanced Learner Loan.
Previous study
You can usually only get a maximum of 4 Advanced Learner Loans.
The exception to this is if you’re studying an AS or A level, where you can apply for up to a maximum of 8 loans for the programme of A Level study, and can still get a further 3 loans for other designated further education courses that are not AS or A Levels. Previous study won’t affect your entitlement to your first loan.
You’ll be able to get up to 4 loans for the same type of vocational qualification. However, you’ll still only be entitled to one loan for a programme of A Levels or an Access to HE Diploma.
Watch our Advanced Learner Loans film to find out more.
