Posted 21 April 2026

With significant reforms to student funding on the horizon, there is especially positive news for care‑experienced students. Changes linked to Student Finance England (SFE) and the introduction of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) will improve both eligibility and financial support for care leavers. Within Go Higher West Yorkshire’s (GHWY) Care-Experienced and Estranged Students Network, we are interested to see how this helps reduce the financial barrier for our target students in gaining access to Higher Education (HE). 

The Lifelong Learning Entitlement

LLE will launch in September 2026 for courses starting from January 2027. It will provide learners with the equivalent of four years of tuition fee funding – covering modules, short courses and full qualifications at Levels 4-6 – that can be used flexibly across their lifetime.  

As it will allow students to study full‑time or part‑time, with equal access to maintenance support for both modes of study, this flexibility could better support learners whose education pathways may be non‑linear, including many care‑experienced students. 

A significant change for care leavers 

The most important change for care‑experienced students is a clearer and more responsive approach to how SFE defines and supports care leavers. 

From 2027, students who meet the SFE definition of a care leaver will: 

• Automatically be entitled to the maximum Maintenance Loan each year of their course (if they choose to take it). 
• No longer have their household income assessed to calculate their Maintenance Loan. 
• Be treated as financially independent, removing a long‑standing barrier to accessing full support. 

Although household income may still be checked for eligibility for other forms of funding, it will not reduce the Maintenance Loan available to care leavers. 

Updated SFE definition of a care leaver 

SFE defines a care leaver as someone who meets all the following criteria – which will better take account of the more complex circumstances in which our students can find themselves: 

• They have been in the care of, or provided accommodation by, their local authority 
• Their time in care lasted at least 13 weeks 
• Their care ended after they turned 16 
• In most cases, they did not return to the care of their parent(s) before the first day of the first academic year of their course 

It is important to note that being physically at home does not always mean a student is considered to be in parental care. For example: 

• Some young people remain legally in care while living at home during a living‑together trial period 
• If a student stays in the care of the local authority for at least three months after turning 16, and this is before the first day of the first academic year of their course, they will not be considered under parental care 
• In these circumstances, the student will be treated as a care leaver and an independent student for student finance purposes 

If a care leaver lives in their parent’s home: 

• Their student finance will be assessed based on their own income only 
• They will be eligible for the parental‑home rate of the Maintenance Loan, while still receiving the maximum support available 

Why this matters 

These changes are important because for the first time, they take into account the often more complex realities faced by care-experienced students. The SFE approach removes some uncertainty and inconsistency around financial assessments for care leavers, helping to create a fairer and more supportive funding system. 

 

Chelsea Redfern and Helen Sykes, Co-Chairs of GHWY’s Care-Experienced and Estranged Students Network