Former Universities Minister Rt Hon Chris Skidmore MP launched the Lifelong Education Commission under his Chairmanship at ResPublica, with a vision to achieve whole-system reform.

The commission will seek to recommend how the multiple and varied barriers to lifelong learning can be removed, what future investment is needed to support this, and what regulatory change is needed to ensure the maximum possible flexibility that will benefit learners and deliver on the promise of a whole system change for education post-18.

The commission will focus on how post-18 education and skills ought to be designed so that both Higher and Further Education institutions are valued, but also how the individual learner can be better empowered to make decisions and undertake their learning. Lessons can be learnt from abroad, as well as from mistakes made in the past, but post-Covid, the need to act differently for different outcomes will be essential.

This one day in-person event will feature speakers:
• The Rt Hon Chris Skidmore MP
• Dame Ann Limb, Chair, Lifelong Education Institute.

Keynote addresses will be given by:
• The Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP, SoS for Education
• Bridget Phillipson MP, Shadow SoS for Education.

Discussions will include:
• Empowering and integrating educational institutions
• Funding the lifelong learning promise
• Developing local skills
• Evolving the apprenticeship system.

The event will be followed by a drinks reception.