Adrian Bailey
Main Page: Adrian Bailey (Labour (Co-op) - West Bromwich West)Department Debates - View all Adrian Bailey's debates with the Department for Education
(12 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Hayes
My hon. Friend is right that we need to allow people to access education at the point that is right for them. That is why continuing education is so important and why the apprenticeship programme is both for young people entering the labour market for the first time and for those who want to upskill and reskill. I strongly support, as he does, the expansion of that programme in both quantity and quality.
Mr Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Lab/Co-op)
The ability of mature students to access further education courses in order to access higher education courses is vital both for social mobility and for upgrading the nation’s skills. As things stand, anybody taking that route incurs debts at the FE course level and, potentially, at the higher education course level—in effect a double whammy. What is the Minister going to do about it?
Mr Hayes
The hon. Gentleman will know that loans in further education are restricted to older learners and those learning at higher levels precisely because of my determination that the people I have described are protected from additional cost. The information that we have garnered from our early research suggests that the overwhelming majority of people would not be deterred from engaging in the way that he describes.