As the leader of a university established to promote flexible lifelong learning for the past 20 years, I’ve long argued the case for better support for it.
I’ve met many education secretaries, university ministers and party leaders who have agreed how important it is for the individuals who chose to continue to learn, for social mobility, and for the economy.
Yet over those 20 years, very few if any government policies have supported lifelong learning. Indeed many, such as the failure to extend fee loans to cover part-time learning until 2018 and the ELQ rule (which prevents someone from obtaining a loan to cover the cost of tuition that is at the equivalent level or lower than their existing qualifications), have made it far harder for universities to deliver lifelong learning and for mature students to re-enter education.
This is why I think we should celebrate the fact that the lifelong loan entitlement finally brings lifelong learning to the centre of the university funding system and enables people to study both full degrees and short courses, throughout their adult life.
