The government has retracted on its “free courses for jobs” offer by restricting access to adults who are paid less than £25,000 – in a move branded as “short-sighted policy control”. Education and Skills Funding Agency rules for the incoming adult skills fund in 2024/25 introduce an “earnings threshold” to the flagship post-pandemic offer that aims to help people retrain and get into work. The scheme, launched in 2021 as part of then-prime minister’s “lifetime skills guarantee”, has enabled adults to study one of more than 500 level 3 courses (equivalent to two full A-levels) for free if they do not already hold one regardless of what they are paid. A DfE spokesperson said the eligibility criteria has been restricted so that funding is “better targeted to support those further down the earnings spectrum or who are unemployed to gain the skills they need to get a good job”. Click here for more.
