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The LLE is coming

From September 2026, admissions enquiries stop having a season.

Rolling, module by module, on top of every cycle you already run. Whether that's a full admissions team or one person in MIS. KIRA reads, answers and completes enquiries across email, WhatsApp and webchat. Your team handles the cases that actually need a person.

Sept 2026
Learners can apply for LLE funding
93%
Of enquiries resolved automatically by KIRA

"Resolved" means answered and actioned in your student record system. No ticket raised. No human follow-up needed.

The pain

Your admissions team is about to lose whatever predictable windows it has left.

The DfE's modular funding expression of interest, run via the OfS, closed its first round in October 2025. This isn't a finance policy update. It's a structural shift in how, and how often, people apply to study with you.

May 2026

First 130 providers approved to deliver LLE modular provision.

Sept 2026

Learners can apply for LLE funding for courses and modules starting on or after 1 January 2027.

Oct 2026

Second DfE modular funding expression of interest round, run via the OfS.

Jan 2027

LLE funding goes live. Modular, credit-based study becomes fundable alongside full degrees.

Ongoing

Rolling enquiries and applications, module by module, stack on top of whatever cycles you already run, for good.

"After successive rounds of staffing cuts and efficiency programmes, current teams are already stretched managing UCAS cycles. The prospect of rolling recruitment for individual modules, with no additional resource, is simply unrealistic." HEPI, on institutional readiness for the LLE
For colleges, the pressure looks different. It's the wind-down of Advanced Learner Loans, HTQs, and levels 4 and 5, often landing on one person in MIS rather than a full admissions team.
What KIRA resolves

Every enquiry type the LLE will bring, already handled.

Module & course enquiries
Deferrals
Extension requests
Transcripts
Confirmation of study
Change of course
Interview scheduling
References
HTQ & level 4/5 queries
Advanced Learner Loan transition

Lands in your inbox first. Extends to webchat and WhatsApp when you're ready, on the same channels students will use to ask about LLE modules, all year round.

Two fixes have already failed

Ticketing and chatbots were built for predictable admissions cycles, not rolling ones.

Ticketing systems

Doing exactly what it's built for

Ticketing systems organise the queue beautifully, and most admissions teams already run one. It was never built to close the loop, so a person still has to work every ticket by hand.

Chatbots

Same inbox, more frustration

Fast answers, until a student needs something actually done, like a deferral or an interview slot. Then the bot points them back to an email address.

Both manage enquiries. Neither resolves them. The LLE will multiply the enquiries, not the resolutions.

The solution

KIRA resolves them. Reads. Answers. Completes. End to end.

Built for exactly this moment: rolling module enquiries, on every channel, all year round. Your team gets time back for complex cases, conversion calls and widening participation outreach.

01 · Reads

Understands every enquiry

Whatever the volume, whatever the module, whatever the start date.

02 · Answers

Replies in your voice

Instantly and accurately, across email, WhatsApp and webchat.

03 · Completes

Writes it into your systems

Writes the update straight into SITS, Banner, Tribal or your CRM. Not a ticket. Done.

Accuracy and oversight

KIRA doesn't guess. It knows what it doesn't know.

Get a student's entitlement wrong and it's a consumer protection issue. It lands on your desk. Here's how KIRA prevents that.

What KIRA answers alone

Enquiries matched to your published policies, where the answer is unambiguous and confidence is high.

What it escalates

Anything outside policy, anything ambiguous, and anything KIRA isn't confident about. It goes to a named person on your team, not a queue.

Who sets the rules

You do. Your admissions and compliance leads define what KIRA can answer, in your own policy language, before anything goes live.

Confidence and audit trail

Every response carries a confidence score against your rules. Every action is logged and reviewable, so you can see exactly what KIRA did and why.

Case study · Anglia Ruskin University

700 emails a day into the admissions inbox. 50 a day after KIRA.

The rest answered and actioned automatically. Not deflected. Not ticketed. Resolved.

Resolution rate, not deflection rate.

700
Emails a day, before KIRA
50
Emails a day, after KIRA
See it in action

Watch KIRA read, answer and complete a real LLE-style enquiry.

A live look at KIRA monitoring an admissions inbox and resolving an enquiry end to end. No ticket. No hand-off.

In this clip, KIRA reads an incoming enquiry about LLE-funded modules, matches it to policy, replies to the student directly, and logs the resolution. No ticket is raised.

Built for your stack

It plugs into what you already run.

No rip and replace. KIRA sits alongside your existing systems and writes back into them directly.

SITS Banner Tribal Salesforce Dynamics HubSpot Microsoft 365

UK data residency

Your data stays hosted in the UK, in line with sector expectations for student records.

ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus

Certified to both standards, with evidence available for your IT and security review.

DPIA support

We work directly with your data protection team to complete your DPIA before go live.

EU AI Act position

KIRA is built around human oversight, clear escalation rules and a full audit trail by design. Ask us for our current EU AI Act position paper on your walkthrough call.

Resolve, Automate and Improve

Live in six weeks. Here's what that looks like.

01

Connect your inbox

We plug into your admissions mailbox and read the last twelve months of enquiries. No change to how your team works. Two days of your time.

02

Set the rules

You decide what KIRA answers on its own, what it escalates, and how it sounds. Your team signs off before anything goes live. Roughly a day a week for three weeks.

03

Go live

Starts on a single enquiry type, then widens as your confidence grows. Live in six weeks from kick off.

Why Niico

Every enquiry resolved. Every process automated. Without changing your systems.

Built by a team with years of experience inside UK higher and further education, working alongside admissions and student services teams across the sector.

Trusted by kcl eeg hull surrey soas lsbu westsuffolk hruc manchester

Not ready to talk yet?

Get the Admissions 2030 whitepaper: how UK admissions teams are preparing for rolling, year-round enquiries, and what to put in place before September 2026.

Niico

LLE timelines are set. Your enquiry volumes are about to change with them.

See how KIRA would handle your admissions inbox before applications open in September 2026.

Book a walkthrough