In December 2025, DfE communicated that tuition fees for AY26/27 and AY27/28 have been set. Tuition fee caps for full-time ITT courses (120 credits) in AY27/28 will be set at £10,050 and these fee limits also apply to all postgraduate ITT courses leading to QTS, which are specifically designated by DfE.
Under the LLE regulations, the fee limit directly relates to the amount of credits in the course, rather than the number of academic years that are studied. Postgraduate ITT courses should not exceed 120 credits.
The ways fees are calculated depends on what fee regulations were in place at the time the course started. For all courses that start before January 2027, fees will continue to be charged annually for the duration of the course.
Annual fee caps can be found here: Changes to tuition fees: 2026 to 2027 academic year and 2027 to 2028 academic year – GOV.UK.
For courses that start from January 2027, LLE will apply. Fee limits are published by the Office for Students in £ per 120 credits.
Below are some examples of how this may work:
Scenario 1: Trainee starts before the LLE is introduced
A trainee begins a two-year part-time course in September 2026, before the introduction of the LLE. Because they started under the current higher education student finance system, they remain in that system for the duration of their course. The provider continues to apply the fee limit rules that applied when the trainee started and does not switch to LLE fee limits part way through the programme. The provider’s ability to charge fees is determined by the existing fee limit rules for continuing students rather than by the credit-based LLE fee limit framework.
In this scenario, the trainee would pay up to £7,335 for their part time course in 2026/27 and £7,530 for their part-time course in 2027/28.
Scenario 2: Trainee starts after the LLE is introduced
A student begins a part-time course after the introduction of the LLE (from January 2027). The student is therefore funded under the LLE from the outset. Where the course spans more than one academic year, the provider applies the relevant LLE fee limits to the credits undertaken in each year. An example is an 18-month course starts in January 2027. The course is split into 30 credits in the first year and 90 in the second.
Providers may charge £2447.50 (30 credits worth of the maximum fee cap of £9,790 per 120 credits) in 2026/27 and £7,537.50 (90 credits worth of the maximum fee cap of £10,050 for 120 credits) in 2027/28.