Older workers who take courses to keep their skills up to date will be more likely to keep their jobs, claims David Willetts, the higher education minister.

 

Mr Willetts said the age limit on student loans to cover tuition fees had been lifted, making a degree course "great value" for older people. This would help them cope with the pressure they would face to keep up to date as they worked well into their sixties, he suggested.

 

His comments followed a government report which found that the country's future economic success would depend on the skills and contributions of older workers.

 

Campaigners for the elderly voiced doubts that prospective² pensioners³ would be willing to commit to challenging degree courses and increased levels of debt to continue working.

 

One in four people will be older than 65 by 2033 and economists⁴ have warned that the ageing population will place an unsustainable burden on taxpayers⁵ unless more people work for longer.

 

The state pension age is to rise to 67 by 2028. Ministers have warned that they have no idea when younger workers in their thirties will be able to retire.

 

Mr Willetts, who is accompanying David Cameron in India, urged workers older than 60 to give further education serious consideration. "There is certainly a pressure for continuing to get retrained and upskilled," he said. "Higher education has an economic benefit in that if you stay up to date with knowledge and skills you are more employable."

 

Mr Willetts said a university course had "wider" benefits, making people more likely to lead healthy lives.

 

"Education is such a good thing it is not reserved for younger people," he said. "There will be people of all ages who will want to study. There is great value in lifelong learning."

 

Under previous rules, students in England were eligible⁶ for a loan to cover tuition fees only if they were younger than 54.

 

Latest figures showed that only 1,940 undergraduates starting courses last year were older than 60, out of a total of 552,240 students in Britain. Some 6,455 were aged⁷ between 50 and 60, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

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