Should Adult Learners Pay More Towards ELQ Courses ?

The Background:
In September, the Government announced that, from 2008, £100m of funding for students who are studying for a higher education qualification that is equivalent to, or lower than, a qualification that they have already been awarded will be withdrawn. The decision will mainly impact part time adult learners who are in work and the Colleges and Universities which focus on this group of learners.

For instance, the Open University says it will have to replace funding for around 25% of its 140,000 students within 3 years and says it could lead to the most radical reduction in student numbers and funding suffered by any university since the early 1980s.

Across the part-time learner sector as a whole, the Higher Education Funding Council For England (HEFCE), estimates that 20% of part-time students will be affected next year – as opposed to just 2% in the full-time sector.

The Government say that the £100million it is looking to save is better spent on the 70% of adults in the working age population who do not even have first degree.

Critics of the Government’s decision ask how it squares with their commitment to lifelong learning and question how hitting people who are in work but who need or want to upskill, and the institutions which deliver such learning, is going to help achieve he Government’s skills policy aspirations for a world class skilled workforce.