#2026/497Higher Education Fee Limit Reforms Start in September 2026
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This regulation brings the UK’s 2023 higher education fee limit reforms into force for England. It lets the government start making the detailed rules from 12 May 2026, while the main legal changes take effect for most purposes on 1 September 2026. The practical effect is delayed for existing near-term courses. Higher education courses that begin before 1 January 2027 will continue under the old fee-limit rules, giving universities, colleges, students, and finance teams time to plan for the new Lifelong Learning framework.
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Key Changes
- Starts sections 1 and 2 of the Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Act 2023 for regulation-making purposes from 12 May 2026
- Brings those sections into force for all other purposes on 1 September 2026
- Keeps the old fee-limit rules for higher education courses that begin before 1 January 2027
Obligations
What this law requires
Higher education providers in England must continue applying the pre-amendment Higher Education and Research Act 2017 fee-limit rules to higher education courses that begin before 1 January 2027, as if sections 1 and 2 of the Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Act 2023 had not amended the 2017 Act.
Regulation-making authorities may use the amendments made by sections 1 and 2 of the Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Act 2023 only for the purpose of making regulations under the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 from the day after these Regulations were made; the amendments do not otherwise take effect until 1 September 2026.