‘I don’t teach English as a subject, I teach it as a lifeline’

From a Syrian refugee turned business graduate to a nursery worker who once lacked the confidence to try, FE Week revisits last year’s Mayor of London adult learning awards winners as nominations for the fifth edition close on Monday

When Hamzeh Moullem arrived in London from Syria in 2019, he spoke barely any English. Separated from his parents, he took on a paternal role when his younger brother joined him two years later while working full time in a restaurant to fund his studies at City of Westminster College. He rarely missed a class.

In November, he was announced in City Hall as the Mayor of London’s inspirational adult learner of the year, having completed a business HND with a distinction and secured a place at the University of West London to top it up to a degree.

“The learning has had a huge impact,” he said. “I now speak English with confidence, and I understand the UK business environment in a way that opens real opportunities for me.” His brother has since enrolled at college, which Moullem counts among the most rewarding parts of the journey.

Moullem (pictured, centre, above) was one of ten winners at the adult learning awards, the Mayor’s flagship celebration of the capital’s adult education sector, delivered with the support of Ascentis and FE Week as sponsors.

Nominations for this year’s awards have been extended to close on Monday, July 27 ahead of a City Hall ceremony in the autumn.

Over its first four years, the awards drew more than 1,000 nominations and recognised over 90 winners and finalists. Last year‘s round alone attracted 252 nominations across ten categories, whittled down to ten winners and ten highly commended runners-up.

Second chances

Judith Guarte Lee, who won the learning for professional progression award last year, moved to the UK from the Philippines five years ago after meeting her husband online in a support group for people with cerebral palsy. Attitudes to her disability had held her back from pursuing a careers at home. After ESOL classes and level 1 and 2 childcare qualifications at Redbridge Institute of Adult Education, she is now a childcare practitioner at an Ilford nursery with her sights on nursery management.

“I want to show my son that if you put your heart and soul into something, good things can happen,” she said.

Pictured left to right: David Coleman, assistant principal, Redbridge Institute of Adult Education, William Pickford, principal, Redbridge Institute of Adult Education, Judith Guarte-Lee, Maria Sotiriou, assistant principal, Redbridge Institute of Adult Education, Rachel Harris, tutor, Redbridge Institute of Adult Education and Judith’s husband

The category was so competitive that the judging panel took the unusual step of awarding all three remaining shortlisted nominees with highly commended status.

Among them was Shukria Wisa, denied schooling in Afghanistan, who taught herself how to read and write before joining Lewisham College’s entry level 1 functional skills English course. Another, 74 year old Rukiya Mukadam, a former GP living with dementia, rebuilt her digital confidence through Open Age courses ranging from touch typing to an introduction to AI.

Jennifer Flanigan, highly commended in the learner of the year category, took up British Sign Language in her fifties, despite eyesight problems and little confidence with technology, so she could hold meaninful conversations with her non-speaking son for the first time.

“Before I learned BSL, most of our communication was nods and pointing,” she said. “I felt shut out of his world.” She now sits as co-chair of governors at his Deaf school.

Keighly Luff took the learning for good work award after a facilities management apprenticeship at Chelsea FC, delivered by Capital City College, have her the confidence to speak up in meetings and mentor the club’s second apprentice. “This apprenticeship hasn’t just just changed my career,” she said. “It’s changed how I see myself.”

Teachers who’ve lived it

Several of the staff winners know their learners’ circumstances first hand. Iryna Hura arrived in London as a refugee from Ukraine and joined the ESOL teaching team at Hammersmith and Fulham’s adult learning and skills service. She researches trauma-informed teaching strategies in her own time and helps students with visa renewals and employability skills.

“I understand my students’ struggles, fear, loss, isolation, because I’ve lived them too,” she said. “I don’t teach English as a subject, I teach it as a lifeline.”

Darren Avery, strategic workforce development manager at London Ambulance Service, won the inspirational professional award for building apprenticeship pathways that have brought more than 2,500 apprentices into the service since 2017, including over 350 paramedics trained with a 90 per cent completion rate.

Employers and providers

Highways contractor Marlborough Highways took apprenticeship employer of the year for a programme targeting people not in education, employment or training, with all apprentices paid the London living wage.

West London College, where adults make up roughly 70 per cent of the student body, won the inclusive provider award, while Kundakala, a Camden charity teaching tailoring and sewing skills to women from ethnic minority and low-income backgrounds, won the outreach category.

More than 150 women have been through its co-designed programme, many launching businesses or returning to education.

What’s new for 2026

Higher education institutions are now eligible through the new participation and excellence in higher education award, recognising universities widening participation, strengthening progression pathways and supporting Londoners through higher education.

To make room, the two employer categories have been merged. The standalone apprenticeship employer of the year award, won by Marlborough Highways last year, has been folded into a single champion employer for skills and apprenticeships award covering training programmes, early careers engagement and apprenticeships.

The ten categories for 2026 are: inspirational adult learner of the year, learning for good work, learning for personal progression, the Ascentis award for distinguished provider of adult education, inclusive provider of adult education, inspirational tutor in adult education, inspirational professional in adult education, champion employer for skills and apprenticeships, participation and excellence in higher education, and the inclusive talent award for outreach and engagement into learning.

Nominations are made online at www.london.gov.uk/london-adult-learning-awards and close at 11.59pm on Monday 27 July. Winners, selected by a judging panel drawn from the capital’s adult learning sector, will be revealed at City Hall in the autumn.