More demand than the system can support

More adults want to learn than the system can support. That is the clear message from a new parliamentary inquiry into adult education, whose report, Skills for life, work and place, was launched on 21 October by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Further Education and Lifelong Learning at a parliamentary reception in Portcullis House.

The report draws on evidence from more than 150 contributors, and its findings are stark. Amid nationwide skills shortages, 56 percent of providers responding to the inquiry say they often or very often turn adult learners away because of inflexible funding rules or eligibility constraints. A further 83 percent identify funding as a major barrier to responding to skills shortages.

Why retraining matters now

That matters because the idea of a job for life has largely gone. Technological change, and artificial intelligence in particular, means many roles will keep evolving, and adults will need to retrain and upskill throughout their working lives. The inquiry argues that the education system must be funded and equipped to support that lifelong learning.

Jonathan Brash MP, chair of the parliamentary group, argues for a broader understanding of freedom for adult learners. He frames it not only as freedom from the state, but as the freedom to learn and the freedom to earn.

Teachers are part of the bottleneck

Realising that potential depends on the teachers and trainers who deliver adult education. Almost two-fifths, 39 percent, of respondents to the inquiry rated staff capacity as a major barrier. Providers reported severe shortages of industry-experienced tutors in digital, engineering, construction, health and social care, and English, maths and English for Speakers of Other Languages.