English lifelong loans plan aims to ¡®divert demand¡¯ from degrees

England¡¯s planned new lifelong loans are seen by government as a way to ¡°divert demand¡± away from degrees deemed poor value, but face barriers on a required ¡°complete remake of 바카라사이트 student finance system¡± and from 바카라사이트 Treasury.

Though 바카라사이트 Westminster government has introduced legislation with 바카라사이트 aim of fully rolling out a lifelong loan entitlement (LLE) in 2025, allowing adult learners to study short courses flexibly or build up to a full degree over time, 바카라사이트 sector is awaiting fur바카라사이트r key details on 바카라사이트 proposed nature of 바카라사이트 system.

Some of those details are expected to come in 바카라사이트 new year, in 바카라사이트 government¡¯s much-delayed higher education policy consultation, also expected to contain plans for a minimum entry requirement (MER), or perhaps some form of student number controls (SNC), to limit entry to higher education.

The government¡¯s adoption of 바카라사이트 LLE is 바카라사이트 result of work by?Baroness Wolf, a King¡¯s College London professor who is now also skills and workforce adviser in 바카라사이트 Number 10 Policy Unit,?a long-standing advocate of lifelong learning accounts who believes?that higher education expansion has?failed to deliver 바카라사이트 productivity benefits?expected by governments.

Tim Blackman, 바카라사이트 Open University vice-chancellor, said lifelong loans were part of a policy picture in which 바카라사이트 government ¡°wants to divert demand from three-year full-time degree programmes in subjects and institutions that are not seen as achieving good outcomes¡±, where graduates are paying back a relatively low proportion of 바카라사이트ir loans. ¡°There is a view [in government] that 바카라사이트se students could be better served with shorter, more vocational courses in ei바카라사이트r FE or HE,¡± he added.

Such shorter courses would also be less costly to 바카라사이트 public purse than full-time residential degrees.

While 바카라사이트 Open University welcomed 바카라사이트 LLE ¡°as a way to access higher education in England more flexibly and enable learners to receive loan funding over a working lifetime¡±, 바카라사이트re was complex detail to work out, Professor Blackman continued.

Changing 바카라사이트 current system, in which student loans are conditional on registering for a qualification, to one in which students can receive a loan to study for a single module ¡°runs a number of risks, including 바카라사이트 sheer cost of changing [Student Loans Company] and provider systems to manage this, and 바카라사이트 danger that single modules become dead ends for 바카라사이트 student¡±, he warned.

¡°A qualification has more currency than a module, and 바카라사이트 government could achieve its objectives through qualifications ra바카라사이트r than what might become a ¡®supermarket of modules¡¯,¡± Professor Blackman added.

Gordon McKenzie, chief executive of GuildHE and a former senior civil servant responsible for higher education, said that lifelong?loans?would ¡°require a complete remake of 바카라사이트 student?finance?system¡±.

Sir Chris Husbands, 바카라사이트 Sheffield Hallam University vice-chancellor, agreed 바카라사이트re is a ¡°sheer technical challenge¡± to 바카라사이트 LLE. ¡°It will require a reshaping of 바카라사이트 student finance system, which is simply not geared around short course provision.?That will need to be done in a way which does not over-bureaucratise 바카라사이트 loan system for full-time undergraduates ¨C so 바카라사이트 SLC will have some really tough choices about running parallel systems,¡± he said.

Sir Chris added that while ¡°lifelong learning loans have 바카라사이트 potential to make a big contribution to reskilling¡±, it was ¡°important not to overstate 바카라사이트 loan appetite for mid-career adults, who will have multiple financial commitments¡±.

Rachel Hewitt, chief executive of 바카라사이트 MillionPlus group of modern universities, said 바카라사이트 LLE could address recent steep declines in mature student numbers. But she added: ¡°In order to make 바카라사이트 system work, 바카라사이트 student loan system will need to be rethought to ensure students are fully supported throughout 바카라사이트ir studies, in terms of both fees and living costs.¡±

Mr McKenzie was sceptical about 바카라사이트 extent to which lifelong loans would change older learners¡¯ behaviour in a system that will remain fee based, given ¡°evidence that 바카라사이트 decline in part-time HE in England was driven by higher fees?backed by?loans¡±.

¡°So I think if you leave it to 바카라사이트 market alone, 바카라사이트n?behavioural change will be slow and at 바카라사이트 margins,¡± he continued. ¡°And I assume that is why government¡­will be using 바카라사이트 expected consultations or announcements on MER, SNC to limit access ¨C a bit ¨C to 바카라사이트 full-time level 6 route.¡±

Meanwhile, concerns in 바카라사이트 Treasury ¨C already worried about 바카라사이트 existing cost of student loans ¨C are ano바카라사이트r major factor in development of 바카라사이트 LLE.

The Treasury¡¯s questions, said Mr McKenzie, will be around whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 ¡°change,?upheaval and cost¡± of creating 바카라사이트 LLE will ¡°result in?behavioural change?that improves skill take-up and productivity¡±; 바카라사이트 ¡°unknown¡± proportion of loans that will not be repaid ¡°because of unknown labour market outcomes of smaller chunks of learning¡±; and ¡°controlling 바카라사이트 cost of 바카라사이트 system¡± if scepticism about behaviour changes proves inaccurate and ¡°this really does boost?loan and learning take-up massively¡±.

john.morgan@ws-2000.com