Adults will be able to gain skills on hundreds of free courses from April

The fully-funded courses, ranging from engineering to healthcare, will be available to adults without an A-level or equivalent qualification from April.

It is the first major development in Boris Johnson’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee (LSG) scheme, which was launched in September.

The qualifications on offer have been chosen to help adults improve their career prospects and meet the needs of the economy. They will be reviewed regularly to keep up with the economy.

Backed by £95 million from the National Skills Fund, thousands of adults should be able to gain new qualifications and access better job opportunities.

A proportion of the funding will also be used to support providers to scale up their provision to deliver the courses and meet the needs of learners.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Despite all our efforts, coronavirus is damaging the economy and putting people out of work. But I am determined to help everyone who has lost their job to retrain, develop new skills and find new opportunities.

“The Lifetime Skills Guarantee will give thousands of adults across the country the chance to do exactly that – as we build back better after the pandemic.”

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “As we recover from the pandemic, we are focused on making sure that individuals and businesses can build back better than before.

“Throughout our lives we may all need to boost our skills, or gain new ones. These free qualifications will help open doors to better employment opportunities for thousands of adults and support businesses to access the workforce they need to grow.

“Our new Lifetime Skills Guarantee promises to help you get the skills you need at every stage of your life. I’d urge all those eligible to see what course they can take from spring next year and start thinking about their next steps.”

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