HEP bulletin - July 2025

End of year cleardown

Please continue to prioritise any outstanding registration or attendance confirmations for academic year (AY) 2024/25 courses. In particular, there are concerns around the number of students registered with us as starting courses in autumn, winter or spring of AY 2024/25 and for prior years, for which we have outstanding attendance confirmations. These could potentially generate a higher level of maintenance support overpayments or represent a shortfall in your fee loan income.

You should follow up all registrations with an appropriate attendance confirmation. You should also clear your Change of Circumstance (CoC) worklists.

Please check your worklists for any outstanding confirmations from previous years. If reassessment details are correct, you should reconfirm attendance in acceptance of the changes. If the details are not correct, please contact our Partners Support Desk to have these changed. It’s important for student accounts to be as up to date as possible.

Student information

You can view AY 2025/26 approved applications in SIS using the View Student Information option.

It’s good practice to check this before the start of the academic year. Then you can make amendments to applications before the first day of term. You can use the appropriate pre-liability CoC options to change the tuition fee amount or receiving provider.

Please compare SIS to your own student management system records and prompt students to apply for support if they’ve not already done so. This will also help us to process applications before the start of term. We do this to minimise any shortfall on our initial tuition fee payment instalments.

Self-service for Student Finance England (SFE) and Student Finance Wales (SFW)

Please encourage students to use their student finance account. This is available to all SFE and SFW undergraduate students.

When applicants sign in, they'll select the application they want to view.

Our phone lines are very busy during peak times. Please remind your students they do not need to call us to track the progress of their application. It’s quicker and easier to use their student finance account. They can also make changes to their course choice, requested fee amount or their personal information using this system.

Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE)

Updated LLE policy details are now available on the LLE overview page of GOV.UK.

Along with new DfE guidance on tuition fee limits and maintenance loans, this information will:

• support HE providers in their preparations for introduction of the LLE
• shape LLE focused student facing engagement and recruitment activities

The new LLE guidance on GOV.UK will help to drive full and clear understanding of the main principles of the programme, including:

Modules

• clarification on the expansion of modular study routes on offer for launch of the LLE
• the approval process for providers interested in offering modular study options from January 2027

Maintenance support

• how the LLE will reform the maintenance system and how it will work under the programme to support flexible and shorter learning options

Priority additional entitlement

• support for the introduction of additional funding for priority subjects, which DfE has worked with Skills England to develop

Regulation

• how provider regulation will work under the LLE
• confirmation that DfE is no longer asking the Office for Students (OfS) to develop a third category of provider registration

Welsh course designation

From 1 August 2017, the automatic designation of full-time higher education courses applies only to courses provided by 'recognised educational institutions'.

If a higher education course is not automatically designated, the Welsh Ministers will need to designate it. Once this happens, students can apply for financial support from the Welsh Government. Please verify the designation status of your courses and withhold promotion to new Welsh intakes for AY 25/26. You must do this until you resolve the issue with designation.

Franchising rules for Welsh students are different from those for English students. For franchise arrangements with a non-OfS registered provider, you must also seek specific designation from MEDR. You must do this before advertising the course to Welsh students.

Awarding body registrations

When validating your own courses or if they're validated by another awarding body, you must make sure students register correctly with the awarding body. You must do this before you confirm attendance on the Student Information Service (SIS).

In preparation for AY 25/26, please review internal processes to make sure you remain compliant with this process.

You must check that all details are correct on SIS and the awarding body before you confirm attendance. This includes:

• student details
• the level of qualification
• making sure the student's application is against the correct course and the course names match

Editing course information

Editing course details after students have submitted applications can affect their assessment.

If you need to edit a course after we've assessed students, you must contact ssin_queries@slc.co.uk. You can find guidance on the HEP Services website.

We'll then ask you to fill in a course change form before you make the change on CMS.

Bursary Administration Service (BAS)

As you continue to update awards for AY 2025/26, please use the opportunity to rationalise them. You can also delete old awards that no longer generate eligible students.

New BAS subscribers are welcome at any time. There’s no minimum number of students. Please contact your HEP Account Manager for more information.

Service Review Forums

We're running a programme of Service Review Forums throughout July and August.

These events will focus on a standard review of the service and policy and process changes that will impact the forthcoming academic year. 

We'll also examine provider performance and compliance with our service standard measures.

Dates and locations

• Wednesday 30 July — Regent Hill House, 153 Great Titchfield Street, London W1W 5BD
• Wednesday 30 July — Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford Campus, Bishop Hall Ln, Chelmsford CM1 1SQ
• Thursday 31 July — Regent Hill House, 153 Great Titchfield Street, London W1W 5BD
• Tuesday 5 August — Nottingham University Business School North, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham NG8 1BB
• Thursday 7 August — Winchester University, Sparkford Road, Winchester SO22 4NR
• Monday 11 August — Curve Room number 10c, Teesside University, Middlesbrough TS1 3BX
• Wednesday 27 August — LSME, Cambrian House, 509-511 Cranbrook Road, Gants Hill, Essex IG2 6EY
• Thursday 28 August — Playfair Library, Old College, University of Edinburgh, South Bridge, Edinburgh EH8 9YL

Account Managers have sent invitations to their regional events, but if you wish to join any of the remaining sessions as an alternative, you can register by emailing Paul_Roache@slc.co.uk.

Please include the details of your chosen session and any dietary requirements.

Your Account Manager will be happy to discuss any of the topics highlighted in this bulletin, so please get in touch if you have any questions or if you need any additional training support