Just under 60 English universities will be able to offer short courses that qualify for student loans when the new lifelong learning entitlement (LLE) is introduced later this year.
The Department for Education has announced the first institutions approved through the new system, with those on the list able to offer single modules for study in several priority areas.
Ministers have billed the move as a “radical” change to the student finance system, intended to allow people to return to education in later life or stagger their learning over a longer period.
But critics have argued there is little appetite for the change, with questions over whether universities will see it as worth the effort of unpackaging entire degree courses, and learners being seen as unwilling to take on more debt.
Of the 130 institutions approved in the first stage, 58 are members of Universities UK, meaning less than half of the umbrella body’s membership is taking part.
