Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she will take to increase re-skilling opportunities for adults.

The government is investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over the Parliament, to ensure people have access to skills to build a fulfilling career in jobs the economy needs.

The department has transformed apprenticeships by, driving up quality, better meeting the skill’s needs of employers through more flexible training models and offering opportunities to individuals to start and progress in their careers. The department is also increasing investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024/25.

The department is also investing in re-skilling and up-skilling opportunities to make sure adults, at any age, can upskill to reach their potential, transforming lives and delivering on the National Skills Fund commitment. As part of this investment, we have introduced the Free Courses for Jobs scheme, which enables learners without a level 3 qualification, or learners with any qualification level but earning below the National Living Wage, to gain a qualification for free.

In addition, learners who want to upskill in their role, are looking for work, or are changing career can take part in Skills Bootcamps. These are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with an employer.

As part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, the government has previously committed to introducing the Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) from 2025. The LLE will provide individuals with a loan entitlement to the equivalent of four years of post-18 education (£37,000 in today’s fees) to use over their lifetime. This will be available for both modules and full courses at higher technical and degree levels (levels 4 to 6), regardless of whether they are provided in colleges or universities. The LLE will support study throughout a learner’s life, with the opportunity to train, retrain and upskill as needed in response to changing skills needs and employment patterns.

The department is promoting and increasing awareness of our skills provision to learners and employers through the Skills for Life campaign, which targets employers, young people, and adults. Our campaign toolkits provide more information and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/skills-campaign-toolkits.

The department continues to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB). £1.34 billion was invested in the 2021/22 academic year. The AEB fully funds, or co-funds, skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3. This is to help them gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning.

Currently, approximately 60% of the AEB is devolved to nine Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and the Mayor of London, acting where appropriate through the Greater London Authority (GLA). Devolution of the AEB gives MCAs and the GLA direct control over adult education provision for their residents and provides local areas the opportunity to meet local needs.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency is responsible for the remaining AEB in non-devolved areas where colleges, local authorities and other providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their AEB funding, to best meet the needs of their communities.