Learner Area

Whether you are in work or studying a vocational course, attaining a Level 4 qualification will boost your employability, chances of promotion and earnings.  Increasing your career prospects also means you are more likely to gain your job of choice.  From degrees, cContiniuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities or Apprenticeships, HE has something for everyone.

What Higher Education can do for you?

  •  Help you gain current industry knowledge
  • Devleop your technical skills
  • Give you greater choice about your own future
  • Develop your professional acumen
  • Increase your earning potential
  • Lead to a new career
  • Offer learning that is interesting and fulfilling
  • Open the door to further study and work opportunities

Experience does count

A lack of qualifications will not prevent you from entering Higher Education.  Your work experience can count towards your degree.  Higher Education institutions refer this as Accreditataion of Prior (Experiential) Learning.

Benefits to learners of becoming involved with the work of the LLLN

  • Improve and increase their career prospects,
  • Realise their aspirations and increase their chance of promotion and earning potential.
  • Job market success, more flexible learning methods
  • Less need for time away from the workplace
  • Recognition of work-based experiential and vocational learning
  • Providing new progression routes and agreements
  • Provision of information , advice and guidance to enable them to make informed decisions regarding education and career pathways.

Qualifications

National Qualifications Framework (NQF): The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) has been devised by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) to recognise more precisely the academic levels of qualifications at the higher levels of the framework; it applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The UCAS Tariff is a points system used to report achievement for entry to higher education (HE) in a numerical format. It establishes agreed comparability between different types of qualifications and provides comparisons between applicants with different types and volumes of achievement. 

APEL

Accreditation of Prior and Experiential Learning (APEL) is a process that enables people of all ages, backgrounds and experience to receive formal recognition for skills and knowledge they already possess. A persons learning and experience can be formally recognised and taken into account to:

  • Gain entry to further or higher education courses
  • Give exemption from certain parts of a new course of study
  • Qualify for an award in an appropriate subject in further or higher education

APEL takes into account

  • Organised prior-learning where the learning has been assessed and where certificates are awarded on completion.
  • Learning gained through unstructured experiences and short courses, arising through leisure pursuits, family experiences and work.

APEL is of particular value to:

  • Mature students returning to education who lack the formal qualifications required for entry to a course of study. APEL can be used to gain access to a course of further or higher education.
  • Students of all ages who wish to study overseas, and whose domestic qualifications are not automatically accepted for entry to the overseas course of study. Here, APEL can be used to gain access to the course of study
  • Past students who have previous further and higher educational qualifications but who now seek to add to those qualifications in order to broaden their expertise or change careers. APEL can be used to avoid repeating specific modules of learning by providing evidence that prior learning has already taken place.
  • Students who wish to return to courses of study that have been interrupted by work or family commitments. Again, APEL can provide evidence that prior learning has occurred.
  • Those who are seeking the award of professional qualifications and need to provide evidence of specific training and practical work experience. APEL provides the framework for collecting and presenting the evidence that is required.
  • Students on full or part-time courses who wish to gain recognition for informal learning that has taken place through work or leisure-related activities.

The benefit of applying for APEL is that you receive credit for skills and knowledge you already possess therefore making it easier for you to gain your HE qualification.
Contact your chosen institution for further information.

If you think that APEL will be of benefit to you:

You should have a preliminary discussion with the institution to which you are applying. It would be helpful if, when attending this initial meeting, you take with you information about yourself and your background (for example a current curriculum vitae).

Benefits of Higher Education

Why go to university?

Higher education could benefit you in a number of ways. University or colleges lets you experience a rich cultural and social scene, meeting a variety of people while studying something you are interested in. A higher education qualification can also lead to increased earning potential, a wider range of opportunities and a more rewarding career. Many employers target graduates in their recruitment campaigns.
And on average, graduates tend to earn substantially more than people with A levels who did not go to university. Projected over a working lifetime, the difference can be as significant as £100,000.

What can you study?

Higher education courses range from familiar academic subjects such as English or history, less familiar ones such as philosophy, and a host of work-related (vocational) courses such as accountancy, leisure and tourism and creative and media.
Higher education doesn't necessarily mean getting an honours degree - you could study for a Foundation Degree, a Higher National Certificate (HNC) or Higher National Diploma (HND), or a Diploma of Higher Education.
Many courses are based on units of study or ‘modules’. Each module lets you earn credits towards your qualification, while giving you a degree of flexibility over the focus of your studies.

How much will it cost?

The costs of being a student vary between different parts of the UK - and so can the length of courses. Financial support is available, so money needn’t be a barrier. The help you can get depends on your family situation and the type of course you’re doing.

For further information go to:

Student finance
 
Options after 16: getting into university and higher education
 
Getting into higher education as a mature student.

Progression Agreements

The LLLN’s aim is to help people with vocational qualifications continue on to university study. One way to accomplish this has been to negotiate special arrangements – called ‘progression agreements’ – between our partner colleges and universities.
 
If you’re currently studying at a LLLN partner college, you will be able to take advantage of a progression agreement your college has made with one or more of our partner universities.

Depending on the agreement, you may be able to benefit from:

  • Additional help with your UCAS application
  • Special events at LLLN partner universities
  • Help to top up your academic skills
  • A guaranteed interview
  • Conditional offer of a place on a HE accredited course

Find out what a Progression Agreement is and how it can help you access Higher Education contact your local institution.


Fees and Finance

Adult Learning Grant: If you’re going back to college to study for your first full Level 2 or first full Level 3 qualification, the Adult Learning Grant (ALG) could pay you up to £30 per week.

Advice-resources: A fully searchable database of over 2000 funding opportunities from non-charitable sources (such as adult learning grants and career developmentloans). It includes a deadline prompt and news updates to keep you informed and to make sure your clients get their funding applications in on time.

Aimhigher aims to widen participation in higher education (HE) by raising the awareness, aspirations and attainment of young people from under-represented groups. The programme particularly focuses on young people from disadvantaged social and economic backgrounds, some minority ethnic groups and people with disabilities.

http://aimhigher.ac.uk/lancashire

Career Development Loans: A Career Development Loan is a bank loan designed to help you pay for work-related learning. You don't have to start paying your loan back until one month after you stop training.

HERO: This link will help you find out how much your course will cost you, what other expenses you may have, and also details sources of financial help enabling you to fund your study.

Careers Advice: Information about funding for study from learndirect careers advice.

National Union of Students: Funding information from NUS.

NHS student grants: Information about bursaries to students on pre-registration health professional training courses.

Skill- National Bureau for Students with Disabilities: A national charity promoting opportunities for young people and adults with any kind of impairment in post-16 education, training and employment.

Student Finance Direct: This site provides services and information for those in England who are interested in financial support for students in Higher Education.

Student Loans Company: The Student Loans Company (SLC) is a UK public sector organisation established to provide financial services, in terms of loans and grants, to over one million students annually, in colleges and universities across the four education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

UCAS: Information from UCAS about student finance and applications to HE.

Uniaid: Information giving students and their sponsors practical financial coping skills for higher education.