Access to free Level 3 courses under the Government’s Free Courses for Jobs scheme will be restricted to adults earning less than £25,000 for the year 2024/2025.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency has introduced an earnings threshold to the scheme, which was launched in 2021 as part of the government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee. The scheme has enabled adults to study one of more than 500 level 3 courses for free if they do not already hold one.
However, there are concerns that retention to the courses has been low, on account of learners without a Level 2 qualification in English or maths being encouraged to enrol and subsequently struggling with the literacy and numeracy skills required to complete them. Sue Pember, Director of Policy at adult education provider network Holex, has said: “We would prefer students to be offered a vocational Level 2 with maths and literacy confidence courses before they start the Level 3.”
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