Adult Education

(asked on 21st April 2016) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to increase take-up of government-funded adult learning courses; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
 Portrait
Nick Boles
This question was answered on 29th April 2016

We have maintained funding for the core adult skills participation budgets in cash terms at £1.5bn and are increasing opportunities in technical and professional education by doubling the level of spending on apprenticeships by 2019-20 in 2010-11 cash terms, including income from the new apprenticeship levy.

The new Adult Education Budget (AEB), which replaces three separate funding lines will engage adults and provide the skills and learning they need to equip them for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. It will enable more tailored programmes of learning to be made available, to help those furthest from learning or the workplace.

The combination of the levy, the protection of the AEB, the extension of loans, and the introduction of the youth obligation means that by the end of the Parliament, the cash value of core adult FE funding to support participation will be at its highest ever. By 2019-20, spending on apprenticeships in England will be £2.5 billion and the total spending power of the FE sector to support participation will be £3.41bn, a cash terms increase of 40% compared with 2015-16 (real terms 30%).

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