Shortened and compressed academic year

Where you have a compressed or shortened academic year, students will only be entitled to tuition and living cost support for the next year after a full 12-month period has passed.

A compressed academic year is not the same as an accelerated, compressed or fast-track course. These are defined separately in the Education (Student Support) Regulations.

If you're charging £6,000 for the first year of a full-time course starting in January, you can charge students a full £6,000. This applies whether they're taking this first year over the full academic year (January to December) or in a compressed or shortened mode (for example, January to August). However, you cannot receive a further tuition fee loan for the second year of that course until 1 January the following year.

Students starting full-time or part-time courses where the first year is compressed or shortened can apply for the same up front tuition fee loans as students completing a full academic year. However, they will not be able to access a second year of tuition fee or living costs support until after the end of the full academic year period. This is as defined by regulations.

For example, unless a student is transferring to a new course or has withdrawn from one course to begin another, their academic year start will remain the same throughout their studies.

If you enter term dates for a compressed or shortened academic year, you'll need to confirm this before you can save the course details. CMS will show a confirmation check box that says, 'This course includes a compressed year'.