The Open University welcomes once-in-a-generation reforms to open up lifelong learning

Posted on 15 May 2026 • University news

The Open University has welcomed today’s Department for Education announcement confirming the first universities and colleges, including the OU, approved to offer new flexible modular provision through the Lifelong Learning Entitlement. 

The reforms will allow eligible adults in England to access student finance in more flexible ways, supporting shorter courses and modules as well as traditional full qualifications. Applications for student finance will open in September 2026 for learners starting courses or modules from January 2027. 

The government has confirmed the first universities and colleges approved to offer new modular provision through the LLE, with the aim of helping more people fit learning around work, childcare and other life commitments. 

The Open University, which applied to be part of the first wave of providers earlier this year, will offer its first modules funded through the LLE from January 2027. 

The University said the announcement represents an important milestone in the development of a post-18 education system designed around the needs of flexible learners. While the introduction of funding for individual modules is significant, the OU believes the wider flexibilities within the LLE could be just as important in supporting lifelong learning. 

These include changes designed to make it easier for adults to return to learning later in life, retrain in priority subject areas, use any remaining student finance entitlement, access funding on a more flexible basis, and build learning over time. The move towards per-credit fee limits and a more personalised student account also marks a shift away from a system designed primarily around full-time, three-year degrees. 

Professor Dave Phoenix, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University, said: 

“As pioneers of flexible learning, The Open University has long focused on reaching learners where and how they need to study. The Lifelong Learning Entitlement provides a real opportunity to deliver a post-18 education system for the 21st Century, one that better reflects how people, live learn and work today. 

“It has the potential to truly stimulate lifelong learning, by enabling institutions to build more flexible, modular pathways both into and through higher education, enabling people to train, retrain and upskill throughout their lives. 

“Realising that potential will depend on ensuring the system works in practice for learners, employers, and further and higher education providers alike and require providers to challenge themselves as to what the future could look like.” 

The Open University has long championed flexible learning and has decades of experience delivering high-quality distance education to learners across the UK. Its model enables people to study where they are, at a pace that works for them, often alongside employment, childcare or caring responsibilities. 

The University believes the LLE has the potential to be transformational because it recognises that learners’ needs vary over the course of their lives. For some, that may mean studying a full qualification. For others, it may mean accessing funding for a shorter module, returning to education after many years away, or using remaining entitlement to develop new skills in response to changes in work or personal circumstances.