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Adult education has been deeply influenced by the growth in the women's community education initiative which has occurred in Ireland over the past ten to 15 years. The learning from this has been applied to other situations, particularly with men and women who have experienced educational disadvantage. The research reported in this paper centres on the difficulties experienced by a group of people who participated in an adult education course which was designed specifically for them. The group comprised people who had left school early after very difficult experiences in the classroom. The effect of the educational disadvantage was not simply a deficit in reading and writing skills, but also in attention, comprehension and cognitive engagement with the educational materials. However, all of them were extremely proficient in their work and possessed a deep understanding of their environment. This paper explores the issues in the provision of education for inner city groups especially for those who are engaged in community development work.