Students who might have trouble paying for books and childcare can now apply for up to £2.5 million in targeted bursary funding to enable them enrol in new higher education “short courses.”
In a three-year trial, 22 universities and colleges in England will start providing more than 100 short courses to students as part of the government’s commitment to provide tens of thousands of individuals the option to retrain in later life, acquire in-demand skills, and create new employment possibilities.
The courses, which were created with the assistance of companies, provide students the freedom to acquire an authorised certificate and useful skills that may be used in the workplace in important areas.
These courses, which could last as short as six weeks or as long as a year if taken on a part-time basis, include topics like STEM, healthcare, and education that are crucial for economic growth.
Learners may now apply for tuition fee loans, which were designed expressly for the short courses and are managed by the Student Loans Company, to facilitate this flexible learning.
Additionally, bursary grants will be offered to students who require additional funding to cover additional study-related expenses. Anyone who requests a loan for one of these “short courses” and has financial challenges to their education may be qualified for a bursary.
Included in this are the price tags for educational supplies like textbooks, childcare expenses, and learning help for students with disabilities.
James Cleverly, Secretary of State for Education, said:
“This bursary will break down barriers to learning and give everyone the ability to upskill and retrain at a pace which suits them. It doesn’t matter what their personal situation or background is.
“For too long, our education system has focussed on traditional three-year courses which lock students in and give little flexibility. We are now moving towards a more modern way of learning to provide students with the opportunity to reach their potential whilst meeting the needs of the economy.”
Paula Sussex, CEO of SLC, said:
“SLC is playing a fundamental role in the delivery of the Government’s HE reform agenda. To deliver lifelong learning, we will be building an entirely new system of student finance for England; providing tuition fee loans for these short courses is an important first step in that process. Along with DfE and sector representatives, we will use this experience to help us support the planned introduction of the government’s lifelong learning offers.”
The scheme will be used to collect data for the broader Higher Education Short Course Trial, which will aid in the creation of the government’s lifelong learning programme, which will be made available starting in 2025. The bursary is solely for the temporary experiment since more general decisions about lifelong learning maintenance support are still up for debate in respect of government policy.