New adult education plans will bring fresh opportunities to people of Bassetlaw

Adults without an A-level or equivalent qualification (level three) will be offered a free, fully-funded college course – providing them with skills valued by employers, and the opportunity to study at a time and location that suits them.

This offer will be available from April in England and will be paid for through the National Skills Fund.

A full list of available courses will be set out shortly.

Higher education loans will also be made more flexible, allowing adults and young people to space out their study across their lifetimes, take more high-quality vocational courses in further education colleges and universities, and to support people to retrain for jobs.

The coronavirus pandemic and changing economy is why the Prime Minister is developing a long-term plan to ensure that, as work changes, people can retrain, upskill and find new well-paid jobs.

This new initiative is not just aimed at the unemployed – it is available for everyone.

According to the Annual Population Survey, in 2019 around 24,000 adults (16-64) in Bassetlaw had a qualification at level three or higher.

Conversely, around 36,000 adults in Bassetlaw had no qualifications or their highest qualification was below level three.

This means that the percentage of adults with a level three or higher qualification in Bassetlaw was 40 per cent.

This is in contrast to 58 per cent of adults (16-64) across the UK who had a qualification at level three or higher.

We can say then that the rate in Bassetlaw is significantly lower than the national rate and this is something that needs to be addressed.

Hopefully, this new initiative will help provide educational opportunities that were not available to many before.

This year marks 10 years of UK Parliament Week.

It is a great opportunity to be part of a thriving democracy and look ahead to the next 10 years, thinking about what issues are important to you and how you can work with UK Parliament to bring about change.

Last year, more than 1.2 million people took part across the UK, alongside countries all over the world.

To sign up, click here.

Brendan Clarke-Smith is MP for Bassetlaw.