The government’s new post-16 education and skills white paper could have been the defining moment for a genuine lifelong learning revolution. Instead, it risks being remembered as the ‘pre-19 paper’ – a document that narrows opportunity to youth and higher education while overlooking the millions of adults who also need, and deserve, access to learning.
Although the white paper consolidates the government’s technical and organisational reforms, it’s vision remains narrow. It treats adult education primarily as an engine for productivity – a valid goal, but one that misses its full social and economic potential. Without participation and confidence, the productivity it promises will remain out of reach.
Adults missing from the story
In a 38,000+ word document, adult learners like those at WM College barely get a mention. Yet the government says it wants to “level up” skills, drive growth and “leave no one behind.” That ambition cannot be realised while community education remains an afterthought.
As chair and CEO of HOLEX – representing local authority and community adult education providers across England – we both welcome the ambition to strengthen skills. But economic growth will stall if education policy continues to focus on institutions rather than people. A system that prioritises young people, colleges and universities but neglects adults, communities and lifelong learning cannot deliver inclusive growth.
Adult learners are not a niche group. They are parents, carers, jobseekers, mid-career workers and older people rebuilding confidence through learning. Providers have the infrastructure and trust to engage adults who are economically inactive or furthest from work. Yet their funding has been eroded for a decade, and the white paper offers little reassurance this will change.
Essential skills review: the test of intent
The proposed essential skills review is welcome, but it must not become another consultation that drifts. The consultation will focus on improving outcomes for learners who did not achieve expected standards in GCSE English and maths. It needs to be wider than English and maths, and look at core language, literacy digital and numeracy skills which will not only boost employability prospects, but support lifelong learning and reduce barriers to those who struggle with traditional academic formats.
The review must fund these routes properly, set a clear timetable, and give community providers a formal voice in shaping delivery. Without that, the review risks diagnosing a problem without backing the solution.
Skills passport: make it genuinely lifelong
The proposed skills passport as part of the UK’s ‘plan for change’ is an interesting innovation, but it is focussed exclusively on the energy sector now.
It is designed to help learners transition between roles and to recognise transferable skills, but it must then record all learning, in all sectors; it would be good to have more details on what the learning has been to enable it to expand from energy into other sectors.
Equally, if it only tracks accredited or employment-linked qualifications, it will ignore the vital informal and community-based learning that underpins many adult journeys.
For thousands of adults returning to study after years away, the first step is a short course that rebuilds confidence or language skills. Those experiences must count. A genuinely lifelong skills passport should recognise every stage of learning – accredited or not – so that adults can see, and show, their progression.
Investment and inclusion must go hand in hand
Funding remains the core issue. Investment is still weighted toward higher education and Level 4 + courses, yet the greatest economic and social return often comes from supporting adults with the lowest starting points. HOLEX is calling for a £5 billion increase in the adult skills budget this Parliament and for funding to be distributed locally, through authorities that understand community and employer needs.
A fair, locally driven model would empower the networks already proven to engage and upskill adults who are economically inactive or furthest from work.
A people’s skills solution
The white paper’s emphasis on employment outcomes is understandable, but employment alone does not define success. Adult learning improves mental health, civic participation and family stability – outcomes that are measurable, proven and economically valuable, yet absent from the government’s metrics.
If ministers truly want a skills revolution, they must recognise that people – not just institutions – are its driving force. A people’s skills solution would put learning power in citizens’ hands, value practical and vocational skills alongside academic ones, and build a system that works for everyone, everywhere.
HOLEX and its members stand ready to help design and deliver that system. We urge government to embed community adult education in the essential skills review, make the skills passport genuinely lifelong and inclusive, and deliver fair funding so that adult learning can play its full part in growth, wellbeing and community renewal.
Because adult learning isn’t an optional extra – it’s the backbone of an inclusive, productive and healthy society.
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