Responding to the announcement, Alex Proudfoot, Chief Executive of Independent Higher Education (IHE), said:
"The LLE represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the ways in which students learn and access financial support for this learning. No one likes to see delays, but it is essential that we get this right, and that students and providers experience a smooth transition to a new funding system which commands confidence from day one.
"IHE has called for a system of funding by credit since 2015, so that more students across the country and from every background can access the high-quality short and modular courses that independent providers offer to industry in different specialist disciplines. A decade on, we can wait a few more months for the future to arrive.
"The impact of LLE goes far beyond enabling modular delivery. The expansion of funding to a wider array of vocational programmes at Levels 4 and 5 will be equally significant, and many IHE Members are champing at the bit to offer professional training through such programmes to a whole new generation of students. We see no reason why these programmes can't be approved and added to the existing system on the timetable that was promised. Providers have worked hard to get these ready for September 2025 and this effort shouldn't go to waste.
"The LLE also promises to fix the shortfall in funding for accelerated courses entrenched in the current system, so it is disappointing that students for whom this higher-intensity learning appeals will be forced to choose between accepting this disadvantage or delaying until the next intake in 2026."