Lifelong Education: Learning Disability

(asked on 5th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional measures they intend to take to ensure life-long learning is available for those with severe learning difficulties.


Answered by
Baroness Berridge Portrait
Baroness Berridge
This question was answered on 19th July 2021

The government believes that students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) must get the support that they need to benefit from the Lifetime Skills Guarantee (LSG).

Preparing all young people with SEND for adulthood is a key part of the SEND system and should begin from the earliest point. Colleges have a duty to use their best endeavours to secure the special educational provision that the young person needs, regardless of whether students have an education, health and care plan.

We believe that our measures in the Skills for Jobs Bill will support those with SEND. The cross-government SEND review, which is currently underway, will consider how children and young people with SEND can be supported effectively. We will continue to work closely with the SEND sector and system leaders at pace over the coming months, to ensure we are in a strong position to publish proposals for public consultation as soon as possible.

The adult education budget supports the delivery of flexible tailored provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3 qualifications. The provision is either fully or co-funded, depending on the learner’s age, prior attainment, and circumstances, and helps learners to gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. Under the LSG, the government is now supporting any adult (aged 19 and above) who does not have A levels or equivalent qualifications, to access around 400 fully funded level 3 courses, with free courses for jobs. Complementing this, 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. Both offers are funded through the National Skills Fund. We will be launching a consultation on the fund in due course to ensure that we use this investment to help adults, including those with protected characteristics, to gain the valuable skills they need to improve their job prospects.

Finally, the Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE), will be introduced from 2025, providing individuals with a loan entitlement to the equivalent of four years of post-18 education to use over their lifetime. We believe students with SEND must get the support that they need to benefit from the LLE. The government has not yet determined what form this support will take, and plan to use our consultation this year to build our evidence base on how people with protected characteristics might access or benefit from the LLE offer. We do not want to prejudge the information we receive and outcome of the consultation.

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