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New vocational education student loans may be offered to employees aiming for career-building qualifications, including the foundation degree, writes Tony Tysome. Ministers and employers' representatives are behind proposals for portable deferred payment loans worth up to Pounds 5,000, which could be provided by commercial banks.

Twelve National Training Organisations will attend a meeting next month organised by the NTO national council to consider the idea. The loans have been proposed to encourage small and medium-sized firms while avoiding the need for a new training levy.