Government pledges lifetime skills loan for every adult

The United Kingdom government has pledged to introduce a Skills and Post-16 Education Bill to support a ‘lifetime skills guarantee’ to enable flexible access to high-quality education and training throughout people’s lives.

The pledge was a central part of the Queen’s Speech on 11 May announcing the government’s programme for the next session of parliament, with the lifetime skills guarantee legislation expected to be introduced as early as Tuesday.

A Downing Street statement said after the challenges of the past year, there is a need to “rethink and rebuild, bringing our skills and education system closer to the employer market and widening the opportunities that are available for all as we build back better from the pandemic”.

The legislative measures include:

• Changing the student finance system to give every adult access to a flexible loan for higher-level education and training at university or college, useable at any point in their lives.

• Employers will have a statutory role in planning publicly funded training programmes with education providers, through a ‘Skills Accelerator’ programme.

• The secretary of state for education will be given more powers to intervene in colleges that fail to meet local needs, and to direct structural change where needed to ensure the provider improves.

These build on the action already underway to ‘revolutionise the skills and training offer’ across the country, including the introduction of new T Level courses – which are equivalent to three A-levels – and access to free, job-relevant ‘bootcamp’ courses.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is hoping to address the issue that the 50% of young people who do not go to university have been historically deprived of the chance to find their vocation and develop a fulfilling, well-paid career.

He said: “These new laws are the rocket fuel that we need to level up this country and ensure equal opportunities for all. We know that having the right skills and training is the route to better, well-paid jobs.

“I’m revolutionising the system so we can move past the outdated notion that there is only one route up the career ladder, and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to retrain or upskill at any point in their lives.”

As set out by the prime minister last year, the loan will give all individuals access to the equivalent of four years of student loans for higher-level study. The loans can be used flexibly across their lifetime, full time or part time, for modules or full qualifications, for high-quality technical qualifications and academic education.

‘Landmark’ moment

Rajay Naik, chairman of the Independent Commission on Lifelong Learning, described the plan for lifelong learning as a “landmark and vital moment” giving people the opportunity to retrain and reskill, which is “essential given the unstoppable forces of automation and globalisation” that have “only [been] accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic”.

Universities have long called for a more flexible approach to student finance to better support part-time, flexible learning and mature students and will be keen to ensure many of the loans are used to reskill via universities.

Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, said: “This bill is a step in the right direction and welcome recognition that adults should have access to education throughout their lives.

“As the nation looks to recover and rebuild from the impact of COVID-19, we need fresh thinking, policy change and government support to help people of all ages and backgrounds to reskill and retrain.”

However, although the Downing Street statement mentioned that the loans were for ‘higher-level study’ or ‘higher-level education’, the emphasis was on restructuring the skills system to put local employers at the centre of skills provision, through a ‘Skills Accelerator programme’.

The programme will build stronger partnerships between employers and their local further education colleges or other local training providers, ensuring that provision meets local needs in sectors including construction, digital, clean energy and manufacturing.

However, Jarvis for Universities UK stressed that many universities are ready to scale up their alternatives to the traditional three-year degree, giving more people the chance to study accredited modules flexibly, including ‘bitesize’ courses that can be accumulated, he said.

“This will allow more people to develop skills at university, which will benefit the UK’s recovery and boost local economies.”

He said: “We know that this is what the public want too, with a recent poll highlighting that 82% of prospective students in England who are either unemployed, at risk of unemployment or looking to learn new skills would be keen to study individual modules of a university degree.”

University Alliance CEO Vanessa Wilson, while welcoming the introduction of the Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) to enable learners to “truly gain skills throughout their life”, also warned that it is vital that the role of universities in delivering technical skills is not forgotten, saying the divide between academic and technical education “can be overstated”.

She said the bill provided an opportunity to build a more integrated tertiary education system that “further incentivises higher education and further education to work in partnership to deliver flexibility, choice and clear career pathways between providers for all learners over a lifetime”.

Her point was echoed by Dr Greg Walker, chief executive of MillionPlus, the Association for Modern Universities in the UK, who said that universities, as the “backbone” of local economic growth in UK towns and cities boosting social mobility by providing quality higher education, including higher technical education, will be “key players in helping the government build back better in a post-COVID landscape”.

Building on commission’s plans

According to Naik, the plans to empower individuals with funding and loans build on the Independent Commission on Lifelong Learning’s proposals for a ‘Personal Education and Skills Account’ for all adults and it is “vital that ministers are ambitious and swift in implementing these plans. Our economic and global competitiveness depends on it.”

The Independent Commission on Lifelong Learning in 2019 proposed the introduction of Personal Education and Skills Accounts (PESAs) that would be opened for every adult resident in England at the age of 18, to encourage saving towards the costs of education and training throughout life.

Under the commission’s proposals, the government would make three contributions, each worth £3,000 (US$4,200), to the accounts when the account holder turns 25, 40 and 55.

Account holders and their employers would also be able to make payments into the accounts, incentivised by the government offering tax relief and-or match-funding on contributions made by account holders.

Government would also be able to choose to make additional payments into accounts. These could be triggered by specific events such as redundancy or a period of long-term unemployment, or targeted to reduce social and economic inequality, such as by being given to workers on low incomes or with a low level of qualifications.

The idea proposed was that from the age of 25 onwards, account holders would be able to use money saved in the accounts to pay for education and training courses which are delivered through accredited providers.

When using money from their accounts, account holders would be given career guidance sessions to support them in choosing a course or qualification that would help them achieve their personal or career development aims. The accounts would remain open and available to account holders throughout their life.

The higher education sector should find out next week how many of these ideas are being incorporated into the draft legislation.