Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people on Universal Credit have accessed Free Courses for Jobs skills provision in each of the last 12 months.

The free courses for jobs offer gives eligible adults the chance to access a high value Level 3 qualification for free, this includes those who are unemployed or claiming Universal Credit. The department is unable to identify Universal Credit claimants specifically but between April 2021 and January 2023 there were 39,430 enrolments on the offer, with 14,860 of those being from learners categorised as unemployed or claiming benefits. These figures are not available broken down for each of the past 12 months. The Department for Education will work closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure people on Universal Credit have access to the 400 courses available on the offer, with many available to study online or part-time, and learners may be eligible to help paying for childcare, travel and other costs.