Yesterday (29th September 2020), Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the Government’s intention to fund a ‘Lifetime Skill Guarantee’, a scheme aimed at helping people ‘train and retrain at any stage in their life’.
Speaking at Exeter College, Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled a new scheme to support those who want to pursue technical skills and further their learning as an adult.
This “radical” change comes as the Prime Minister stated the shortages in skill-based professions including skilled construction workers, mechanics, engineers and IT experts. To rectify this, Mr. Johnson announced the Government’s plans to invest £1.5 billion into further education courses, to expand apprenticeships and to provide specific Further Education (FE) courses access to the main student finance system so that they are “better able to compete with universities”.
As part of this scheme, the Prime Minister also stated that from April 2021, the Government will fully fund technical courses for adult learners. Aimed at people who left school without A-Levels, these courses would be equivalent to an A-Level and would “teach skills that are highly in demand”.
Mr. Johnson stated his hope that these courses would “[help] people to change jobs and find work in the burgeoning new sectors that this country is creating” and provide people with “the qualifications they need when they need them”.
Andrew Fennell, director and founder of StandOut CV, a CV-writing company, said:
Most job hunters are currently facing the most volatile job market in their lives. For those that can afford to take time out to take advantage of these Government funded A-level courses, it’s going to be a useful career boost. Adult learners often have a better idea of where they want to take their careers compared to when they were 16 years old, so it could be a rare opportunity for some to finally take that different path. For those who can make the most of this scheme, it will boost their career chances, but naturally, it isn’t going to help them today, when many understandably need work to pay the bills this very second.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
