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<p>The government understands the importance of lifelong learning, adult education
and the need for adults to be able to train, re-train and upskill throughout their
lives.</p><p> </p><p>The department recognises that clear information and guidance
is essential for learners, education providers and employers alike to navigate the
government’s skills and adult education offer.</p><p> </p><p>The department has launched
the Skills for Life strategy and website, which is designed to support people to access
the education and training they need and signposts them to the appropriate programmes.
It targets adult learners in priority sectors to help them to access the skills they
need to get the job they want, whatever their stage in life. The site showcases hundreds
of government-funded skills opportunities to raise awareness and boost understanding
among adults and help maximise uptake across the country.</p><p> </p><p>The National
Careers Service provides free, up-to-date, impartial information, advice and guidance
on careers, skills, and the labour market in England. It offers intensive support
for low-skilled adults without a qualification at Level 3, as one of six priority
groups for the service. Professionally qualified careers advisers can support customers
to explore the range of learning routes to determine the best route for them and to
develop a careers action plan.</p><p> </p><p>The government is committed to investing
£2.5 billion across the financial years from 2022 to 2025 (£3 billion when including
Barnett funding for devolved administrations) as a part of the department’s skills
reforms to help adults learn valuable skills and prepare for the economy of the future.</p><p>
</p><p>The Adult Education Budget (AEB) provides £1.34 billon in the 2022/23 financial
year to fund skills provision for adults to help them gain the skills they need for
work, an apprenticeship or further learning. The department’s ‘essential skills’ legal
entitlements, funded through the AEB, provide the opportunity of free study for adults
who do not have essential literacy and numeracy skills up to and including Level 2
and digital skills up to and including Level 1.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Community Learning
plays a vital role within AEB provision of supporting those furthest from the workplace,
and in improving the health and well-being of learners. It is an important stepping-stone
for learners who are not ready for formal accredited learning, or who would benefit
from learning in a more informal way, particularly for (post-19) disadvantaged learners.
It is a flexible and wide-ranging offer, responding to local needs and is delivered
in nearly every local authority area across England through adult education services,
further education colleges, Institutes of Adult Learning and Community Learning.</p><p>
</p><p>The Free Courses for Jobs offer gives eligible adults the chance to access
high value Level 3 qualification for free, which can support them to gain higher wages
or a better job. There has been strong uptake of over 45,000 cumulative enrolments
between April 2021 and April 2023.</p><p> </p><p>Skills Bootcamps offer free, flexible
courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific
skills with a job interview upon completion. The department delivered 40,040 Skills
Bootcamps starts in the 2022/23 financial year and has invested £550 million across
the financial years from 2022 to2025 to significantly expand Skills Bootcamps further
with a target of 64,000 learner starts a year in the2024/25 financial year so that
more adults can get the skills they need for good jobs.</p><p> </p><p>Apprenticeships
are available for everyone over the age of 16 and provide a unique opportunity for
people to develop the knowledge and skills needed to start, enhance, or change careers.
There are high-quality apprenticeship routes into more than 680 occupations and the
department is providing £2.7 billion of funding by the 2024/25 financial year to support
employers to take up these opportunities. The Autumn 2023 Statement also announced
a £50 million investment in a two-year apprenticeships pilot to explore ways to increase
apprenticeship opportunities in growth sectors, and address barriers to entry in high-value
apprenticeships.</p><p> </p><p>From the 2025/26 academic year, the department will
introduce the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE). This is a transformation of the
student finance system which will provide individuals with a loan entitlement equivalent
to four years of post-18 education to use over their working lives (£37,000 in today’s
fees). The LLE will be available for both full years of study at Levels 4-6 as well
as, for the first time, modules of high-value courses, regardless of whether they
are provided in colleges or universities. Under this flexible system, people will
be able to space out their studies and learn at a pace that is right for them, including
choosing to build up their qualifications over time, within both further education
and higher education providers.</p>
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