Association of Colleges

Train to Gain improvements welcome but call for more action on funding

20 June 2008

Ministers have agreed a number of improvements to the Train to Gain scheme. David Lammy hinted at the changes on Wednesday  but full details were given today in a letter from the LSC to colleges. The key changes are:

• a 3% increase in funding rates for the each of the next 3 years
• specific plans to increase take-up in the public services and in engineering
• action to promote the scheme more widely to employers
• removal of the 50% fee for level 3 programmes taken by the under 25s
• extension of the programme to people who already have level 2 qualification who are training in priority areas
• three year contracts for colleges and training providers who secure work in the current tendering round

The government wants to double the number of people training through the programme to more than 600,000 next year compared to 320,000 in the current year.

AoC Chief Executive, Martin Doel said;

“We welcome these changes, which will help colleges deliver the government’s ambitious growth plans. The extension of the programme to second level twos and the introduction of longer-term contracts will be particularly helpful. While the 3% increase in funding rates is a positive step, we are still not fully convinced that the economics of the programme have been properly thought through. AoC is working with LSC on this issue and we will continue to press for further changes to funding rates to ensure that colleges aren’t forced to subsidise the programme from their other activities. We will also continue to press for more flexibility to use Train to Gain for jobseekers”

 
 

---

View all news