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23 April 2026

Author: FE Week Reporter

Fall in unemployed adults learning

The chief executive of NIACE has said some of the results of the 2012 Adult Participation in Learning Survey “paint a very worrying picture”. The survey showed the proportion of unemployed adults learning had fallen by six percentage points from 41 to 35 per cent since last year (highlighted below), the lowest level since the […]

X-traordinary achievements honoured at City Lit

This year’s City Lit awards saw more than 30 adult learners receive recognition for their accomplishments. Chris Henwood went along to find out more Dozens of adult learners enjoyed a touch of Hollywood glamour as they collected prizes at an annual awards bash in London. Gillian Anderson, who played FBI special agent Dana Scully in […]

The NIACE adult participation in learning survey 2013

Adult Learners’ Week offers much to celebrate, explains Fiona Aldridge, but the results of a national survey also provide a sober reminder of the ongoing need to make the classroom an attractive proposition Adult Learners’ Week has two main highlights for me. Firstly, the compelling stories we hear from award winners about how learning has […]

Building a career through education

Paul Cano-Lopez won an individual learner award in 2001, and since then has completed two masters’ degrees and now runs his own successful training company. At 28 Paul, from Essex, was diagnosed with arthritis in his hands and arms, making it difficult for him to continue in his job as a plasterer, so in 1990 […]

Overcoming adversity through adult learning

A beauty apprentice from Somerset has battled against dyslexia, won a national skills contest, started her own business, looked after a young child – and won this year’s Apprentice of the Year award. Twenty-year-old Emma Rogers struggled at school but began to thrive when she enrolled on an NVQ level two beauty apprenticeship at Weston […]

Taking the holistic view

Adult education is about more than employability skills; it impacts the economy in all sorts of ways, says Ruth Spellman While Adult Learners’ Week celebrates the achievements of students whose lives have been changed by adult education, providers need to reflect on whether the FE sector is achieving its goals. These are tough economic times. […]

‘I’m just a normal guy with a passion for the film industry’

A former soldier who left the army to pursue a career in film and is now working for Pinewood Studios has won the Learning through Arts, Craft Skills and Culture Individual Award. Dean Short, 24 and from Manchester, left school with one GCSE but later returned from the army to start a film and television […]

Bringing policy, action and outcomes together

Adult Learners’ Week is both a national celebration and a living showcase of how adult learning changes lives, says Nick Stuart There is nothing like the power of anecdote to bring alive a policy discussion and give colour to the drab array of statistics that usually substitute for debate. Adult Learners’ Week reminds those who […]