The government should establish a new system of personal learning accounts to give students more control over their learning, the Association of Colleges (AoC) has urged. The organisation’s general election manifesto, published yesterday, says individuals should be given a single budget at age 18 and allowed to spend it on the form of education of their choice. This would give them flexibility over courses, levels, modes and length of learning, as well as more choice over the qualifications they can achieve.

The AoC says this would encourage a new culture of people having more control over the learning they carry over their lifetime. “Learning accounts can be a significant impetus to increasing participation, which has stayed stubbornly low for too long,” states the document, adding that accounts should then also be used to target additional support.

New kind of account

The next government should work with the Student Loans Company scheme to develop a new account where people could make payments into the scheme that are separate from loan repayments and which allows employers to invest as well. It should also reform the National Careers Service to support young people and adults to make informed choices about the learning and training they access through their accounts.

According to the AoC manifesto, the government should also ensure that young people of the same age in different institutions are funded on the same basis - for example, by funding 14 to 16-year-olds in colleges via the school funding formula.

Apprenticeship reform needs time

In its manifesto, the AoC manifesto also states:

• The apprenticeship reforms need time to work, and more flexibility must be built in, with a new focus on outcomes for apprentices and employers.
• The new GCSE and A level qualifications need to be evaluated and refined, but the focus should be on stability.
• Skills devolution must be introduced carefully in a way that supports long-term investment and finds a new balance between national and local priorities.
• The technical education reforms started in 2016 and the £500 million of additional funding announced in March 2017 need to be implemented in partnership with colleges over a sensible timespan.
• The government must be clear about how it will invest in colleges as anchor institutions in a more ambitious skills and education system, which supports all young people and adults throughout their lives.

David Hughes, chief executive of the AoC, said: “After years of under-investment the next government needs to support colleges to develop a culture of lifelong learning in which every young person and adult has opportunities to learn throughout their lives.”

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