With many of us working for longer, we need a system that supports people to learn, upskill and change careers across their lives. However we also know that very little of our current learning and skills provision is targeted at people at mid-life and older.

We think that there is huge potential in better promoting and opening up lifelong learning, and welcome new policy developments in this area. Today we have responded to the Department for Education’s consultation on the Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE).

If workers are able to successfully upskill or reskill later in their life, they can secure more fruitful employment, helping them live happier, longer and more fulfilled lives. We want to work with government, policymakers, education & training providers, and employers to ensure that the lifelong learning agenda, and the LLE specifically, is tailored as effectively as possible to support workers of all ages.

To inform our response to this consultation we commissioned research agency Public First to conduct a representative online poll of 2,012 UK adults as well as four focus groups with people aged 40 and over who may be looking to take up this policy offer. We targeted the focus groups at people who may want or need to retrain because they were in a declining sector, or people who had already made a career move.

Our research demonstrates substantial public support for lifelong learning. 79% of participants in our poll agreed that offering formal training beyond the basic functions of a job has a positive effect on people’s performance at work, and 81% agreed that getting formal training can greatly increase the chances of finding a job for those who are unemployed or at risk of redundancy

We believe that the most effective policies are those which are designed with their end users in mind - so it is our hope that the government will use our findings to develop an LLE which is more likely to meet the needs people in mid and late careers and therefore more likely to have a positive impact on them and wider society.

To make lifelong learning and the LLE a success we need to:

• Consider how to effectively target messaging at people of different ages, particularly those in mid-life and older.
• Communicate early with employers and ensure they can support individuals to use the LLE.
• Keep flexibility, quality and practicality at the heart of the proposals as they move towards implementation.  

We look forward to continuing to work with and learn from government, employers, learning providers and individuals to make this a policy that works for everyone.