The system will allow people of any age to get up to four years of student finance – but comes after the Tories tripled tuition fees to more than ?9,000 a year
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Student loans are set to be opened up to adults of all ages to use any time in life under plans in today’s Queen’s Speech.
The student finance system will be converted into a Lifelong Loan Entitlement’, giving all adults access to up to four years of student loans
The government said the loans will be available to be used flexibly across their lifetime, full- or part-time, for university or technical skills.
Higher education has been left unaffordable for many after tuition fees tripled under the Tories to more than ?9,000 a year.
That has left graduates with tens of thousands of pounds of loans, many of which will never be paid back in full
Instead they are forced to pay a percentage of their salary above a certain threshold until the loans are written off decades later.
The government has not set out exactly when the new system will be introduced, how much it will cost or exactly what it will look like.
But Boris Johnson claimed new laws will be “rocket fuel” for his levelling-up agenda, which has had a slow start almost two years after he entered No10.
No 10 said new laws will create a post-16 and adult education and training system that is “fit for the future”.
Other proposals include giving employers a statutory role in planning publicly funded training programmes through a ” skills accelerator” programme.
Ahead of the speech, Mr Johnson said: “These new laws are the rocket fuel that we need to level up this country and ensure equal opportunities for all. We know that having the right skills and training is the route to better, well-paid jobs.
“I’m revolutionising the system so we can move past the outdated notion that there is only one route up the career ladder, and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to retrain or upskill at any point in their lives.”
But Labour called for “action, not more rhetoric” as the opposition urged the Government to set out a a “clear plan to get Britain working for working people”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer MP said: “We must seize this moment to create a brighter future for the whole country.
“We must also see detail on long-promised plans to fix the broken social care system, reduce the shocking levels of violent crime and narrow the gap between different parts of the country.
“For 11 years we have had lots of rhetoric and the endless promise of jam tomorrow: that must now be turned to action.”
Ministers have suggested the speech will feature a long-anticipated overhaul of the social care sector. But it’s believed there will be no firm plans yet, despite Boris Johnson claiming a plan was ready in 2019.
Sir Andrew Dilnot, who led a review into the future of funding social care which recommended a cap on costs in 2011, warned the Government that failing to act on the issue “can no longer be an option”.
He wrote in the Daily Mail: “For all the Government’s boasts about its dynamic legislative programme, there’s a risk that there will be only the briefest mention of social care in the Queen’s Speech, based on a promise to bring forward a plan later in the year, though without any specifics.
“As life expectancy lengthens and the population ages, the demand for social care is growing rapidly. Moreover, the Covid crisis shone a harsh spotlight on the residential care sector, exposing poor levels of provision, lack of basic resources and a beleaguered workforce.
