Back in 2019, before Covid and lockdown, the DfE noted that, ‘higher technical education uptake is low in England. Only 10% of adults aged 18-65 hold a Level 4-5 qualification as their highest, compared to around 20% of adults in Germany and as much as 34% in Canada.’
At the beginning of 2023, the Edge Foundation identified that:
- Skills shortages are numerous and have grown significantly
- The rate of skills investment is in decline
- Skills shortages are costly
- The skills employers are seeking are overwhelmingly technical and transferable
- The skills employers are seeking are not being prioritised within the education system
- Employer confidence in the future ability to meet skills requirements is low
- There has been significant change in the labour market, and this is set to continue
These messages are not new. What is new is that the UK is falling further behind other countries and has a government that focuses on a knowledge curriculum, university entrance and has scant respect for technology skills and apprenticeships.
Loans for learning
In September 2023, The Lifelong Learning Bill received Royal assent and became law. The Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) will give all adults from 2025 access to loans, worth up to £37,000 in today’s fees, that they can use flexibly over their working lives to upskill or retrain. It will mean that people will be able to take out a student loan to pay for university degrees or Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs), as well as for some individual modules. Alongside this there will be a £5 million fund for universities and colleges to develop individual modules in sectors such as digital and construction,
The Lifelong Learning Entitlement was formerly known as the Lifelong Loan Entitlement but this did not play well with the target group as it suggested a long term level of debt rather than focusing on the learning. Now there are discussions online about who should pay for upskilling the workforce. The student benefits if they get a job with a higher salary and greater opportunities for promotion; employers benefit because they have new skills coming into their company and it improves the economy too as higher earners pay more tax.