Now is the right time to ensure workers can boost their skills and gain new qualifications 21 January 2021 Commenting on the Department for Education’s Further Education white paper published this morning, Kathleen Henehan, Senior Research and Policy Analyst, said: “With unemployment rising, particularly among young people and those in lower-paid roles, now is the right time to ensure workers can boost their skills and gain new qualifications – and today’s announcement is a welcome step in the right direction. “By reinforcing plans to allow all adults free access to their first entry-level 2 and 3 qualifications, and permitting people to sign up for just one course at a time, the new initiative will allow workers in the sectors that have been hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic, such as hospitality, leisure and non-food retail, to retrain and grow their skillset in a gradual, workable manner. Developing a flexible loan guarantee, allowing easier access towards a range of higher-level courses, will also help enable this. “Raising college capital funding, and putting forward advanced plans to link colleges to local employers, will also help the skills system adapt to economic change and provide up-to-date training in key growth sectors, like the green economy, and health and social care. “Going forwards, the Government must ensure that these courses are truly accessible to all, providing living cost support for those who need it. To encourage workers to retrain, it should also remove the restrictive eligibility rules that prevent people from undertaking a course that offers a similar-level qualification to one they already hold, even if the new qualification is in a completely different field.”
