One of the supposed benefits of Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) is that it is meant to give individuals who may otherwise face barriers to higher education an “in”.
But is getting in all there is? The Department for Education’s (DfE) response to the LLE consultation came with a corresponding equality analysis. I dived into this to see if there would be any efforts to improve adult career education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG). Differential access to careers advice is a known equalities issue – something I’ve discussed elsewhere in the context of care-experienced students.
CEIAG in England has been in pretty poor condition since the Connexions budget was slashed two decades ago by £200m per year – and responsibility for careers advice was put on schools. While Scotland and Wales have a true all-age careers system, CEIAG in England is left to schools, and all-age support is left fragmented.
So my first concern is that if modular learning enabled by the LLE is meant for non-traditional students, who are unlikely to be school leavers or school leaver age, then where exactly will prospective students go for their CEIAG on this new modular learning pathway?
