Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department has made on providing fiscal support to encourage people to (a) upskill and (b) change career paths.

At the recent Spending Review we announced that we are investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills to ensure people can access high-quality training and education that leads to good jobs, addresses skills gaps, boosts productivity and supports levelling up.

We are continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) (£1.34 billion in academic year 2021/22). The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to support adults in gaining the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning.

The National Skills Fund will help adults learn valuable skills and prepare for the economy of the future and we are investing £1.6 billion through the fund in the next three years, on top of the £375 million already committed in financial year 2021/22. This will include extending the eligibility for Free Courses for Jobs to more adults and further expanding Skills Bootcamps. More details will be announced in due course.

Since 1 April this year, the National Skills Fund (NSF) is supporting any adult who does not have A level equivalent or higher qualifications, to access over 400 fully funded level 3 courses, with Free Courses for Jobs. This offer is a long-term commitment, backed by £95 million from the NSF in year one.

Complementing this support for adults, Skills Bootcamps offer 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 a local employer.

As part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, from 2025 we will introduce a Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) equivalent to four years of post-18 education. It will be available for both modules and full years of study 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 learners’ life, with the opportunity to train, retrain and upskill as needed in response to changing skills needs and employment patterns. Under this flexible skills system, people can space out their studies and learn at a pace that is right for them. We will consult on the scope and policy of the LLE in due course, as part of our planned pathway to delivery from 2025.