Is the LLE really a ‘worklong learning entitlement’?

Not too long ago, Sir Alan Tuckett warned that England was “overwhelmingly obsessed with initial education”: a clockwork model that begins with early years and ends with labour-market entry.

At first glance, the lifelong learning entitlement (LLE) looks like a serious attempt to break that model – unless, that is, one considers that ‘lifelong learning’ has never been a settled concept. Its definitions encompass economic purposes, certainly, but also personal development, democratic participation, social connection and learning valued for its own sake.

The LLE adopts a narrower interpretation. It connects learning to employment, retraining, skills needs and future economic return. In that sense, it might more honestly be called a worklong learning entitlement. That is not to diminish the importance of learning for work in an ageing economy, but worklong and lifelong are not synonymous. That distinction has consequences, especially for older workers, and is precisely why the policy deserves scrutiny.