More learners on priority courses

More learners than ever in Further Education are participating in longer, high priority courses, including literacy and numeracy, full Level 2 and Level 3, official statistics revealed. The increases are in line with the Government's funding priorities to drive up the nation's productivity and global competitiveness.

A Statistical First Release on learner enrolments for 2006/07 shows that the Government's strategy of focusing public funding on helping those who need it most to gain the essential skills and qualifications for employability is working, with more adults than ever undertaking courses in basic and Level 2 skills.

Today's figures relate to publicly funded programmes and do not include the growing level of provision that colleges are offering at full cost. Forthcoming research will indicate that in 2006/07 an additional 90,000 learners are undertaking provision for which they will pay themselves. This should be offset against the overall reduction in learner volumes.

Key points from the SFR are:

• The number of young learners (aged under 19) increased by 5.1% over 2005 to 688,000.
• Participation by young learners on full level 2 and full level 3 programmes was up by 10.2% and 7.6% respectively
• The number of adult learners participating in Skills for Life programmes in 2006 was up by 17.1% on 2005 to 155,700
• The number of adult learners on full level 2 programmes increased by 7.3%.

Welcoming the figures Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, Bill Rammell said:

"To meet the skills challenges we face and rise to the aspirations set in the Leitch report we must focus increasingly on the priorities we have set out to give people the skills they need for employability. The increases in adult full Level 2 provision (GCSE equivalent) and the fact that we have reached our interim target of 1 million adults achieving their first full Level 2 qualification is good news for the economy and the country.

"This achievement and the figures released today show that colleges and providers are responding positively to these priorities. To meet the aspirations set out in Leitch we need to make rapid progress and I would like to congratulate them on the work they are doing to meet these challenges.

"Investment in our new national employer programme, Train to Gain will increase by £300 million between 2005-06 and 2007-08, so that by 2007-08 we will be investing £460 million. This programme is key to improving the skills of our workforce and benefiting the UK economy and the numbers of employees gaining qualifications through Train to Gain will rise significantly.

"This Government has increased investment in FE by a massive 48% in real terms since 1997. Adult education funding will increase by 7% between 2005-06 and 2007-08, with funding for young people increasing by 13% over the same period.

"Our National Adult Learning Survey (NALS) shows that 80% of adults have participated in some form of learning over the last 3 years, up from 76% since 2002. We are steadily increasing the number of adults gaining their first qualification in literacy and numeracy and apprenticeship completions are rising. This country can and will raise its productivity to compete.

"Given the priority we are deliberately putting on helping more adults undertake longer, more expensive training, the overall number of adult learners on LSC funded courses has fallen as predicted. Our current estimate is for continued strong growth in numbers across Skills for Life and full level 2 provision - up by 17% and 7% respectively in 2006/07 compared to 2005/06. Over half the estimated reduction in adult numbers is in short courses of less than 20 hours, and most of those are less than 9 hours. And forthcoming research indicated that an additional 90,000 learners are undertaking provision which they will pay for themselves. This offsets against the reduction in learner volumes."

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