High on the new government’s priority list is supporting the people who feel “left-behind” in regional economies, and spreading economic growth across the UK. UK universities can play a central role in meeting this ambition: by developing people’s skills. This is vital to build the nation’s prosperity, meet the needs of public services and businesses, and to support people in finding good jobs and fulfilling employment.

The problem is that the current university funding system is not set up to encourage learners from all walks of life. That’s why universities and colleges need to work with the government on a new, more flexible system capable of encouraging more adults to develop higher level skills and retrain.

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The current system is built around the traditional full-time, three-year degree course. Yet this is not the best option – or an option at all – for everyone. Joint research by Universities UK and the CBI shows a generation of “lost learners” who cannot easily balance studies with their other life commitments. Participation in adult learning is at a 20-year low according to the Learning and Work Institute, while the Social Mobility Commission found that half of the poorest adults have received no training since leaving school, compared to one-in-five of the richest.

To make access to education truly equal, we must enable people from every background across the UK to learn in a way that works for them. This means providing better support for studying short courses and a more bite-sized approach to funding.

Currently, students are only eligible for fee and maintenance support if they commit to a qualification and take on at least 25% of the work of a full-time student. If you’re an adult learner thinking of returning to education - potentially after many years outside it – making that commitment upfront is a potentially a significant disincentive. A more “bitesize” approach, with qualifications gradually built up over time, would better suit lots of adult learners – but only if they can access equivalent loans to those who study full-time.

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Universities UK has written to ministers to to ask that the upcoming budget include funding to target priority areas with skills shortages. We would also like the government to explore how greater financial support for studying on a module-by-module basis would work in practice. We could use this to find out what works for adult students, students with disabilities, those with caring responsibilities, and commuter students. This could lead to radical longer-term change, which would give “lost learners” a second chance, boost productivity across the UK and fill local skills gaps.

The economy needs more highly skilled workers. There is increasing employer demand for highly skilled employees, coupled with the risk of lower skilled jobs being made obsolete by automation. The UK population offers a wealth of untapped potential, but we will only be able to take advantage of this if we take a new approach to higher education.

Economically, socially and culturally, universities can support the government in creating opportunities and growth across the UK – but we need government help to trial new funding and regulatory approaches. Together we can drive social mobility and productivity, and give everyone a fair chance to succeed.