Adult participation in further education has plummeted to levels not seen since the aftermath of the Second World War, research reveals.
The Learning and Work Institute (L&W) estimated the proportion of adult learners in FE institutions peaked at around 15 per cent of 16 to 64 year olds in 2009, a total of more than five million students.
But the figure had halved to about 7.5 per cent by 2023 – just above two million students – which was a low last seen in 1940s and 50s.
During the last century adult learner numbers steadily grew from about one million students in 1911 to the 2009 peak, with a decade-long plateau following the Second World War.
The dramatic fall in learner numbers is unique in adult education history, according to L&W.
It comes as the Labour government plans to cut core adult education funding, now known as the adult skills fund, by 3.7 per cent in total in the next academic year.
Stephen Evans, chief executive of L&W, told FE Week the impact of ongoing cuts was “disastrous” for economic growth and warned England and the UK are “going backwards”.e
Reducing funding for adult learners is “harming social outcomes, health and wellbeing, economic growth and individual opportunity”, he said.
“This should be a clarion call for urgent action to change direction – for all of those reasons,” Evans added.
Learning the lessons
L&W’s report Learning the lessons: understanding the history of adult learning and skills, produced its figures by piecing together data from sources such as the former Department for Employment and Skills, the Office for National Statistics and government education and training statistics.
The most “significant decline” has been in adult learners studying at level 2 or below, researchers found.
However, the proportion of people participating in higher education has also significantly increased from around 15 per cent in the 1980s to 55 per cent in 2023.
The report traces two centuries of evolving skills and training policy and institutions in Britain, from early education acts in the 1800s, to community-led organisations such as the Workers’ Educational Association, and industrial training boards set up in the 1960s.
It points to a £1 billion real-terms cut to adult education funding since the 2010s, with the government choosing to invest more heavily in apprenticeships instead.
Key recent policy changes that align with learner numbers dropping since 2009 include the coalition government’s scrapping of work-based training scheme Train to Gain in 2010, and the introduction of advanced learner loans for qualifications at level 3 or above in 2013 which was followed by a 31 per cent fall in student numbers.
Learning and skills ‘held back’
The report argues that learning and skills have been held back by “too narrow a focus” on learning for work, alongside “increasing centralisation”, “constant chop and change” in policy and a lack of proper success measures.
There has also been a “significant decline” in employer investment in training, with investment per employee falling by 26 per cent in real terms since 2005.
Evans said: “We’ve got a lot of confusion and fragmentation of policy at the moment.
“You could probably achieve more with the same money if there was a more coherent approach.
“But ultimately, if you want to reverse the trend in that chart – you need more money.”
Higher education ‘offsets’ decline
Imran Tahir, senior research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the long-run decline in adult FE participation was “striking”, but pointed out that increased higher education participation may “offset” the decline in adult learning.
He added: “I’d emphasise that while the decline in adult learner numbers is clear, the economic impact depends not just on the number of people training but also on the quality and relevance of training.
“What kind of skills people are developing – and how well these align to labour market needs – is crucial for driving productivity and growth.”
David Hughes, chief executive at the Association of Colleges, said: “For more than a century, governments have felt compelled to make changes to this part of post-16 education, in isolation from the rest of the education system.
“Unless and until education, training and skills are viewed, post-16, as one system, we will suffer from weak policies which perpetuate a society in which lifelong learning is an empty hope, and in which the elite and middle classes mostly believe higher education is the only part of the system that really matters.”
The Department for Education said: “Skills are central to our mission to grow the economy under our Plan for Change.
“Despite the challenging fiscal environment we have inherited, we are spending over £1.4 billion next financial year on the adult skills fund.
“We demonstrated our commitment to skills through our recent investment in construction skills, where we are investing £600 million to train up to 60,000 more workers in the sector, helping to boost economic growth and break down barriers to opportunity for adults looking for skilled work in the sector.”
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