Thousands of low-paid adults are set to benefit from a rule change towards fully-funded education courses.
A radical new change in the education budget is set to bring potentially very good news for thousands of adults on low wages.
But there may be a sting in the tail for apprentices.
Currently, adults need to be on benefits to receive full funding for most education courses.
From August this year, however, the adult education budget will be opened up to those who earn less than the Social Mobility Commission’s ‘low-pay threshold’ of £15,736.50 per year.
Low Wages
That will continued to be the case until at least July 2019.
This could benefit a huge number of adults on low wages by improving the skills of those in unstable or low-paid employment.
It shows Government support is there very much where it is needed and gives employers more support in developing skills in entry-level jobs.
But it could have a further detrimental effect on apprenticeship take up numbers, with smaller employers wanting to take this fully-funded route rather than the 10 pert cent contribution to an apprenticeship programme.
The money used to fund these courses will not come from other areas but from what was a huge underspend of the Adult Education Budget (AEB) last year.