HEP bulletin - January 2026

Last updated: 27 Jan 2026

Registration and attendance confirmations

Please check your worklists to identify any outstanding registration and attendance confirmations. This includes those relating to previous academic years. Clearing these worklists is essential to make sure that student records remain accurate and up to date.

Please submit attendance confirmations as soon as possible. You must submit all confirmations by close of business on Thursday 29 January to ensure payment on Wednesday 4 February.

You should submit confirmations when students start to attend the course and become liable for tuition fees. This means after any cooling-off period. Please check your student terms and conditions for details of any cooling‑off period.

You should also submit non‑attendance and Change of Circumstance notifications as soon as you're aware. This helps us to maintain accurate information on student accounts. It will also help us to minimise and recover any tuition fee overpayments.

It is also important to review and clear your registration worklist. You must submit any outstanding registration confirmations for new students on winter‑start courses. For students who have not enrolled, you should submit an ‘N’ (not registered) or another appropriate code.

Further guidance on submitting attendance and registration confirmations is available in the Student Information Service (SIS) user guide.

Course collection academic year (AY) 2026/27

In December we hosted a CMS webinar. A full set of supporting resources are now available to help you complete your course submissions. This includes a recording, presentation slides, script and answers to common questions. The materials contain important guidance to support alignment with policy and CMS processes. We recommend viewing these ahead of submission.

You can now submit your AY 2026/27 full‑time undergraduate courses in CMS. Open full‑time courses from AY 2025/26 have been rolled forward into the AY 2026/27 tab. You can also submit postgraduate master’s courses for Scottish‑domiciled students.

You must complete all course submissions by 20 February. You're responsible for making sure that you only submit designated courses. Further guidance is available in the CMS user guide.

Please take care to make sure that all course information is complete and accurate. It must also be compliant with published policy and guidance. The CMS validation team may contact you to clarify course details, and we ask that you respond to these queries as soon as you can.

Franchised courses for Welsh students

If a course is franchised to a provider that is not registered with the Office for Students and currently has Welsh designation selected, it must remain unsaved for the new academic year.

If you have students who you expect to continue into AY 2026/27, you should create a new version of the course. Please remove Wales from the designation to enable their continuation.

If you're unsure how to proceed or would like clarification on a specific course, please speak to your Account Manager for further support.

Tuition fee updates

Maximum full‑time undergraduate tuition fees have increased from £9,535 to £9,790, subject to provider category. This applies to both new and returning students.
More information on tuition fees is available on GOV.UK.

Foundation year tuition fees

For classroom‑based foundation year courses, the maximum full‑time undergraduate tuition fee remains capped at £5,760. This is dependant on provider category and the HECoS codes assigned to the course.

Full‑time undergraduate service launch dates

Full‑time undergraduate applications for Student Finance England, Student Finance Northern Ireland and Student Finance Wales will open on Monday 23 March. This is based on the current delivery timetable and subject to completion of system testing.

Applications for SAAS‑funded students across all courses will open on Wednesday 1 April.

Please do not promote or encourage applications for any course that you have not submitted, validated, or corrected in CMS ahead of the relevant launch date. This may result in delays or disruption for students.

Weekend only courses and funding eligibility

Courses delivered at weekends only are classified as distance learning. As such, weekend‑only courses are not eligible for full‑time maintenance funding.

If you have any courses that fall into this category that you've listed incorrectly, please share the details with your Account Manager. Please include:

  • course title
  • SLC course code

Please make sure your review includes any franchised provision.

Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) lead contact

If you haven’t already, please nominate an LLE lead or champion for your organisation. This contact will help us coordinate communication, engagement and feedback as we move toward implementing LLE for new English students from January 2027.

If you still need to submit your nomination, please email the name and contact details to LLE_enquiries@slc.co.uk.

Thank you for your continued support as we prepare for the introduction of the LLE.