Tag Archives: lifelong learning entitlement

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Is there demand for fee loan backed short courses?

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Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

Over on Wonk corner, David Kernohan discusses the legacy of Keir Starmer on higher education.

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that Keir Starmer was a prime minister who had a substantial influence on higher education.

Though overing the Starmer legacy, also in the article David says

…there are still important questions about demand for fee loan backed short courses. I’m not convinced the LLE was a good idea…

I have been looking at the infrastructure (and the importance of interoperability) in relation other student mobility in Europe, one reason for this is the applicability of the European Higher Education Interoperability Framework to the concept of the LLE in England.

When discussing LLE with colleagues in Jisc and in the wider higher education sector, that question about demand does come up quite often. Are there people out there demanding short courses and are they looking for fee loan to cover those costs? We are not seeing people wanting to do such courses, so does that mean there is no demand?

I always think that this analysis is a bit chicken and egg, and that I mean by that, there appears to be no demand for fee loan backed short courses, so the sector does not offer fee loan backed short courses. However, could it be that because sector does not offer fee loan backed short courses, there is no demand as a result,

Going back to why we are going to have LLE, the government say this.

As set out in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, the government is committed to ensuring the country develops the skills needed to:

  • drive sustained economic growth
  • break down barriers to opportunity
  • improve the living standards of hardworking people

The LLE will deliver transformational change to the current student finance system by 

  • broadening access to high-quality, flexible education and training
  • supporting greater learner mobility between institutions

This will enable individuals to learn, upskill and retrain across their working lives. It will create opportunities for both young people and adults to develop the skills needed to succeed in life, contributing to growth across the entire country.

The implication is that there is an untapped demand for high-quality, flexible education and training. It is currently not been provided as there is no demand for it. However that demand is based on charging actual upfront fees for the education and training. Remove upfront fees with fees backed by loans, then there will be renewed demand. 

If this is the case then, how does the system ensure that once we have the demand, that there is a supply. Is the system agile enough to respond to changes in demand. The government believes that it is, the question is does the sector believe that too?

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Discovery and student mobility

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typing
Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

I have been looking at student mobility in the UK. What I mean by student mobility is how a student can choose when and where to study, at a time and place that is suitable for them. It’s about enabling students to take parts of courses from different institutions. This (in theory) is possible now, but was challenging for students from both a financial perspective and administratively.

One of the use cases of the European Higher Education Interoperability Framework is about discovery.

Enhancing the visibility and comparability of diverse learning and mobility opportunities across HEls, emphasising the importance of machine-readable metadata for easy comparison and discovery.

The discovery use case marks the beginning of the learner journey. This use case focuses on the concept of a course catalogue. 

coffee
Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay

Student story

Margo wants to study towards a degree but wants to combine different modules from different courses across Europe. She knows the subjects she is interested in; she also knows which countries where she would like to study. However, she doesn’t know which universities across Europe offer which modules. Discovery would allow Freya to access the course and module catalogues from across a range of universities, compare different offerings and would be able to refine her search based on specific criteria. She would also be sure that the information she finds is up to date.

When you start looking into discovery you start to realise that there are quite a few different doors into discovering what higher education is on offer.

Firstly every higher education institution offers a catalogue of courses, usually on their website, often they will also offer a print prospectus.

If you are looking at a three year undergraduate degree and you have just finished your A Levels then the UCAS website can tell what courses are out there and other can use it as well.

The government has a website, DiscoverUni, which uses HESA data to provide information on what higher education courses are been delivered.

The Student Loans Company also has a list of courses, not all courses, but all those that can be funded by a student loan.

However the data requirements for all these services are different. So, each institution has to provide the data to all the services using a different structure and format. This must add to the administrative burden for institutions. Also, at the moment this isn’t dynamic data, so regular updates need to be provided.

Of course from a student perspective, discovering and choosing a course is one thing, the next stage is application. Only one of these services, UCAS, providers an application route. With the other discovery services, the student will need to work out how to apply, whether that be through UCAS, or going direct to the providers’ website. Each higher education institution has a different process of application, virtually all will ask you to create an account on their application portal, and you will need to do this each time for different institutions.

LLE will add a huge level of complexity to the student experience in discovering courses as well as increasing the number of applications. At one stage a prospective student  may be looking on the provider’s website, then they will need to check the SLC website, then they will need to apply, which may be on the provider’s website or potentially through UCAS. They will then need to do this each time they want to complete a module of study.

In many ways, discovery is one of the more simple use cases, the data requirements are quite minimal. However, the reality is that there are multiple stakeholders with different needs and requirements, so getting consensus and agreement could be challenging.

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Stacking your qualifications

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stacked papers
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

I have been looking at student mobility in the UK. What I mean by student mobility is how a student can choose when and where to study, at a time and place that is suitable for them. It’s about enabling students to take parts of courses from different institutions. This (in theory) is possible now, but was challenging for students from both a financial perspective and administratively.

One challenge this is often thrown out when discussing student mobility is about who awards the degree if a student is undertaking studies at a range of different institutions. The usual thinking is that the home institution would be responsible. However the aspirations of student mobility (whether that be within LLE or not) is that of lifelong learning. The concept of a home institution may not be practical or viable for a student who is studying over a longer time period.

This got me thinking about the necessity of having to stacking a student’s studies so a degree can be awarded. Is that absolutely essential?

This however isn’t something that students and institutions need to grapple with, employers and others would also need to be engaged in the process. So when a person makes an application for employment (or future study) the stack of qualifications they have, are recognised for what they are, without the need for some institution to combine them into a single qualification. 

If you have 360 credits, this is recognised as equivalent to a standard degree. Does the student need to have these credits validated so they can be awarded a degree? I am sure some individuals would want that, but is it a requirement, does it have to happen?

One of the challenges is who awards that degree? What if the home institution no longer exists? 

A question that I saw at a recent event was how long is a credit viable for, will it lose its validity over time, and does that matter, or if it does which subjects would need this.  What about validity of the credits earned. Is the 30 credit course I did ten years ago still able to be stacked into that degree.

Looking at some thoughts from the sector on this, the Open University does not consider study completed more than 16 years ago for credit transfer towards an Open University qualification.

It is common for other universities only to offer credit transfer for study completed in the last five years.

Is the validity of a qualification something we want to leave to individuals institutions? Who should be saying it is sixteen years, or five years, or something in-between.

I did my Economics degree back in the 1980s, and much of what I learnt then hasn’t changed much, to be honest it hadn’t changed much in the previous forty years, let alone the last forty years. Some units I did are probably out of date, thinking about that unit I did on the Economics of European Community for example. Whilst others, such as that module on Economic and Social History probably hasn’t aged. I suspect if I had done computer science, that the stuff I learnt back then was now out of date. However, the skills I gained by learning and studying (economics) have remained relevant to this day.

Does a credit from one institution now mean it is equivalent to a credit from another? Will that be accepted by all institutions. I can see the concept of equality between institutions not being accepted by all institutions.

If we are to really embrace student mobility and the opportunities that the LLE can bring to higher education, we do need to, as a sector, decide how and if we need to stack qualifications, and what is required if a student who has stacked their credentials and wants to be awarded a degree. 

weeknotes

Defining credit – Weeknote #377 – 22nd May 2026

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grass

One of the interesting things for me this week was the WonkHE analysis on the three draft statutory instruments which herald the end game of the biggest change in the student finance system since 2011.

The article notes that…

…arguably the most interesting point in these regulations is section 9(2)(b) which puts into English law for the first time the idea that a single academic credit is equivalent to ten notional learning hours. 

This equivalency is important for LLE as it means a student can stack credits for a qualification from different institutions and times. This in itself creates another headache. Does a credit from one institution now mean it is equivalent to a credit from another? Will that be accepted by all institutions. Another question that I saw at a recent event was how long is a credit viable for, will it lose its validity over time, and does that matter, or if it does which subjects would need this. 

I did my Economics degree back in the 1980s, and much of what I learnt then hasn’t changed much, to be honest it hadn’t changed much in the previous forty years, let alone the last forty years. Some units I did are probably out of date, thinking about that unit I did on the Economics of European Community. Whilst others, such as that module on Economic and Social History probably hasn’t aged.

fields

One of the other interesting things for me this week was the WonkHE analysis on who gets to offer LLE modules?

You might think that – given past failures to attract learners – that the government would want to spread the net as far as possible as regards lifelong learning entitlement (LLE) provision.

You would be wrong.

There are just 130 providers who have registered for LLE provision. Does this mean anything, will it result in a no one caring about LLE, or is this just the beginning.

Image by RitaE from Pixabay

I attended a webinar about open education early in the week. It reminded me of many discussions I have had about open over the years. Listening in to the conversations I did pitch in that we have to sometimes think open is the solution, not a problem in itself to be solved. Sometimes I think when we start talking about open, we are trying to solve the open problem, how do we ensure education is open, how do we publish open educational resources, etc… As with my recent post on bridge building, we have to remember that open is a solution. A solution to another problem. What we have to do sometimes is remind ourselves on what problem open is trying to solve.

weeknotes

Is unbookable a word? – Weeknote #376 – 15th May 2026

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A quiet week for me, though there were a few events running this week, including Jisc’s Connect More. I did get to the Bristol office for one day.

I finished writing my blog post on bookable and unbookable desks, PCs, and sun loungers following a couple of BBC News articles.

Reminds me why I never used PC booking software when running my libraries. Students would reserve PCs with their “towels” and then never turn up. The PC was unused and unavailable for others to use.

sun loungers by a pool
Photo by Andres Siimon on Unsplash

News of another higher education merger hit the headlines, with KCL and Cranfield planning to merge next year. I suspect we will hear about more mergers over the next couple of years. I also suspect we might see some higher education institutions close after the OfS and HESA published financial information about the sector, and in some cases the optimism of the sector, which if doesn’t come to pass may see places close. The Office for Students says that there is widespread and persistent over-optimism about sector finances. What this means is that if plans don’t come to fruition then the only choice might be closure (or forced merger).

The WonkHE analysis (as usual) was excellent.

David Kernohan digests this year’s OfS summary of annual financial returns, and the parallel release of HESA finance data

The priority will be the students.

In LLE news we saw 130 providers approved for LLE provision.

These providers will be able to offer short courses with a January 2027 start date that are fundable (pro rata to academic credit) via the LLE.

So not quite the broad range of providers that the promise of LLE said would happen.

I was doing some planning for TNC 26 even though I am not attending the conference.

I was editing a post on the blog from May 2019 (there was an issue with one of the images) when I read this.

…it was an earlier start than normal as I had a meeting with some European colleagues about a workshop we’re running at TNC in June in Tallinn in Estonia.

Now I know I didn’t attend TNC 19 in Estonia, so when I did some digging into my email archive and saw that there was quite a bit of chat and conversations. The core of which was the creation of GÉANT’s TF-EDU (Task Force Education) including a draft proposal for the group. I didn’t realise (well didn’t remember) that I was involved back then. Getting old!

weeknotes

“O, the month of May, the merry month of May” – Weeknote #374 – 1st May 2026

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I headed to the office on Monday. The rest of the week I was working from home, in the main as I had number of online meetings and as I have mentioned before I don’t really see the value of heading off to Bristol, spending time (and money) commuting, to then frantically book meeting rooms for various online meetings, moving around during the day. If I have a lot of online meetings then I prefer to work from home and take them there. Having said that, I did have a couple of short calls on Monday, one was a team update, the other was a workshop planning session.

This week I was part of a panel session looking at LLE. My focus was on the importance of the student experience, the data journey, and the  necessity of the sector to adhere to standards and enable interoperability. Without this then there will be an administrative burden on both the students and the institutions. I did note some thoughts about the financial viability of LLE.

Had a planning meeting about a workshop at TNC 26 in Helsinki, unfortunately I am unable to attend TNC this year.

I have been doing some quality assurance for one of our consultancy projects. It has been interesting to undertake this and makes a nice change from my usual routine.

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“The LLE model is not financially viable”

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Zoom
Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

This week I was part of a panel session looking at LLE. My focus was on the importance of the student experience, the data journey, and the  necessity of the sector to adhere to standards and enable interoperability. 

One delegate in the event spoke about the financially viability of LLE, indicating in their opinion that the proposed LLE model is not financially viable. That did get me thinking that what this does imply is not that LLE is not financially viable in itself, but the income derived from LLE will not cover the costs of LLE. You could also argue that the current spending model of higher education is not financially viable when delivering LLE.

So, do you raise the fees for LLE, and increase the student loans for the student, or do you change the business model of delivering higher education so that it is financially viable. It’s not too much of a surprise to see that a model designed for delivering a three year degree programme isn’t really fit for purposes in delving modular programmes.

One factor that traditional higher education institutions may want to reflect on, is that non-traditional higher education providers and new entrants may be more agile and able to change to deliver modular programmes in a cost effective manner. Just because you can’t see how to make LLE financially viable doesn’t mean that others won’t see opportunities.

weeknotes

Strategically focused – Weeknote #372 – 17th April 2026

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This was may first full week for what feels like ages. I worked from home all week, partly as I was expecting deliveries (one of the advantages of working from home) and also I had a lot of online meetings in the diary. I don’t really see the value of heading off to Bristol, spending time (and money) commuting, to then frantically book meeting rooms for various online meetings, moving around during the day. If I have a lot of online meetings then I prefer to work from home and take them there.

Some of my meetings were in relation to student mobility, including an interesting session on stakeholder mapping. The reality of the student mobility agenda is that there are multiple stakeholders, including students (obviously) higher education institutions, national agencies, government departments, and others.

coffee
Image by David Schwarzenberg from Pixabay

I did attend one meeting, it made me realise that the concept of strategy is one that still seems to confuse people. If you decide what you want to do, and then use that to inform the strategy, then that is not a strategy. At a simple level if you choose what you want to do, then it doesn’t really matter if you then write a strategy based on that or not. I did buy and read Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters by Richard Rumelt a few years back on the recommendation of a colleague, it certainly is an interesting read and reflects that a lot of people don’t know what strategy is and how to develop and deliver strategy.

Did preparation for the panel session I am on next week at the AUDE conference. Though the primary focus of the session is on digital, the current university sector climate will be looked at, in terms of collaboration and sharing. I worked on some notes and briefing points for the session.

I also did some work on what LLE could mean for the university sector and for Jisc. Of course the only real focus of Lifelong Learning Entitlement is on the entitlement part, in other words the funding side. Reading about that on the various stakeholder, such as the Office for Students and the Student Loans Company, their focus is on ensuring that the cash side is sorted. 

Of course, the full potential of LLE is in the lifelong learning with people being able to draw down funding (loans) to pay for part time learning at a time and place of their choosing. However without some kind of infrastructure and ecosystem in place, then the administrative burden on students and institutions will be huge (and costly). Thinking about every time a student applies for a programme of study, they will need to prove who they are each time, their current qualifications and these will then need to be verified as a true account from accredited institutions. This is why I have been looking at the European Higher Education Interoperability Framework as a potential solution for the student journey in an LLE world.

I will be speaking at a couple of (online) events over the next few months, including one on LLE. I was also invited to speak about digital at an online event on estates.

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Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen – Weeknote #368 – 20th March 2026

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Nyhavn, Copenhagen

This week was a slightly shorter week, as I took a day off and did another crazy extreme day out, this time to Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. I have been there before back in July 2004 staying with family. I am anticipating that future extreme day trips will be curtailed, as they become more expensive due to the spike in jet fuel prices. Though I recently did see one to Palma for £40. Hmmm…

laptop and headphones
Image by Regina Störk from Pixabay

So, what about work then?

Well at one point I was planning to attend a meeting in Helsinki in Finland, but this was cancelled last week. I also didn’t attend the UCISA Leadership Summit that was taking place in Liverpool this week. Mainly, as it clashed with the potential visit to Helsinki, but also as I found two years ago in Edinburgh that the sessions in the conference had less applicability and reference to the work I am doing.

I did a presentation to my team on my work and how it was coming together. It was useful to actually build a slide deck that told the story of the different forks of my work and how they have now come together. I always thought they would at some point, but wasn’t planning for it to be this year.

I also did some preparation for next week where I am presenting at the HESCA (Higher Education Smart Campus Association) conference in Oxford, looking at collaboration and what this means for the future.

I had an excellent discussion with a colleague who works in the part of Jisc that does HEDD and Prospects and how the work I am doing on the EHEIF (European Higher Education Interoperability Framework) is aligned. The process of qualification verification is something that HEDD has been doing for years, whilst Prospects provides a discovery services for post graduate courses, core aspects of the student journey in the EHEIF. This discussion is one of many I am having as start to understand where the UK is currently standing in the EHEFI landscape, where Jisc is in that same landscape, what this could mean for LLE (Lifelong Learning Entitlement), the data requirements, and where are the gaps and what are the potential opportunities.

online meeting
Image by Lynette Coulston from Pixabay

I did write a post about conference connections.

One of the nice things about attending any in person conference is connecting and reconnecting with people and friends.

I discuss how sometimes you lose that connection in an online space that you find in a physical in-person conference.

It had been a draft for a while, but I did get around to finishing it. I have been attempting to write more blog posts for this blog, as I was finding that though I was good at getting my weekly work notes out, I was writing less and less other kinds of posts. 

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Reflecting on podcasting – Weeknote #324 – 16th May 2025

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microphone
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

This week I chaired two session at Jisc’s Connect More event, one on emerging technologies and the other on podcasting.

The podcasting session was delivered by Mark Childs from Durham with support with a recorded segment by Puiyin Wong from Birmingham.

The initial discussion before the presentation made me go back and look at when I started publishing my elearning stuff podcast. This was back in March 2008. I discovered podcasting when a webpage I had created about wireless zero configuration was discussed as part of an US radio tech podcast. The host of that show had a range of podcasts, and I started listening to them. Reminded me of the complexity of my original podcast workflow from 2011.

The other session I chaired at Connect More was about emerging technologies. I was reminded that emerging technologies are always emerging. The challenge that the sector faces isn’t necessarily about understanding which technologies are emerging, but how institutions can set the foundations to more quickly and easily take advantages of the affordances of emerging technologies.

Radio
Image by fancycrave1 from Pixabay

Did some quick and dirty research into the LLE for an internal colleague in Jisc. The Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) will transform the post-18 student finance system to create a single funding system. An overview of LLE from UK Government.

This has implications for student mobility across the UK as students will be able to move and transfer between institutions. Also students will be able to take a single module or part of a course. In addition the government are expecting new and smaller providers to deliver a range of level 4 and 5 programmes.

Spent time working on the UUK Collaboration project, in the main researching, developing writing business case 3.

I was in Bristol for our Lead at Jisc Celebration, a leadership programme I completed this year.

Had an internal meeting to discuss future plans for the collaboration work.