The lifelong loan entitlement (LLE) consultation response added further weight to the government’s commitment to lifelong learning.
While there remains a sizeable question mark around demand – we’re still to hear how the government plans to strike up interest from all parties, the broad sentiment across the sector remains that this is a worthy policy direction that has the potential to widen access and participation.
One of the areas of contention, however, surrounded eligibility of modules for funding. Flagged in the summary of the sector responses, it was argued that ignoring standalone provision that wasn’t “stackable” to a formal qualification
could remove some of the flexibility of the LLE, particularly as not all learning might be undertaken to achieve a specific qualification – some should be undertaken simply to upskill in a given area.
It was surprising then, that five pages later the Department for Education confirmed that any LLE module capable of drawing down funding must be
part of a designated full course (“parent course”) so that modules can be stacked towards full qualifications.
