Further education maintenance loans (technical and professional)

We’re proposing maintenance loans for higher-level learners in technical and professional education. This includes the new National Colleges and learning at the emerging Institutes of Technology. We want to remove the up-front cost and increase the uptake of technical and professional learning in sectors that are important to the economy.

We’ll use evidence gathered through this consultation to make decisions on:

• whether introducing the loans would increase take up
• scope of the loans
• eligibility to receive the loans

We would like views from colleges and independent providers in the further education sector, including National Colleges, higher education institutions and other interested bodies.