Want to train as a plumber? It’ll cost you £9,000
Date published: 17 November 2010
FREE training for adults at colleges across Oldham will be scrapped — leaving students facing a bill of up to £9,000.
Ministers have drawn up plans that mean everyone under the age of 24 will continue to study at no cost because “everyone deserves a second chance”. But those over that age who have yet to embark on top-level vocational training courses, such as plumbing and software engineering, will be put on to a similar payment scheme as those at university.
This means that, from 2013-14, students will have to repay the costs, at preferential interest rates, once they start earning above a certain salary level. The debt would be written off if unpaid after 30 years.
Skills Minister John Hayes insists the cost, which he indicated would be capped at £9,000 for a full high-level course, should be put in perspective of the expected £100,000 extra those who complete the courses are predicted to earn over a lifetime. The Government currently pays “the majority” of the costs, though some colleges can charge some students a small fee, officials said.
Mr Hayes insists that limited resources must be focused on the young and most in need and under-24s would be solely funded by Government.
“After that time it will depend on what you study, where you study it and who you are employed by,” he added.
He refused to rule out the possibility of courses closing down as a result of the package of changes, claiming it would people having to consider carefully the choices they made.
Under a major shake-up of skills learning the Government is also reviving a plan that Labour came up with, then shelved, to create learning accounts — funding pots that follow the student. That will include cash from Government, business, as well as the money the students will have to pay.
The Government also announced that it is increasing the number of apprenticeships by an extra 75,000 by 2015. Full funding will still be given for basic skills courses for individuals who left school without basic reading, writing and mathematics.
