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This report presents the findings of the 2003 National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) adult learning survey. Findings show that in spite of progress in recent years, adult participation has fallen back to levels of the mid-1990s. The 2003 participation rate is the lowest recorded by NIACE since 1996 with the fall being the greatest among the unemployed and those in full-time employment. The survey also shows that: socioeconomic class remains a key determinant of adult participation; the older the people, the less likely they are to participate in learning; there are considerable differences in participation across the nations and regions of the UK; there has been no change in the proportion of adults who say they are likely to learn in the next three years; 60% of current and recent learners started to learn for personal development reasons; and just 23% of people with no Internet access reported current or recent participation compared to 54% of those with Internet access. The report includes tables which contain survey outcomes for: participation in learning in relation to gender, socioeconomic class, employment status, age and nations and regions of the UK; future intentions to learn in relation to gender and learning status, socioeconomic class, employment status and age; motivations for learning; and access to the Internet. Show less

In January, the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills launched a major consultation on the role of informal learning in public life. To help to inform the consultation, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) added questions to its annual survey on adult participation in learning to find out how adults like to learn new things. The questions draw on the distinction between learning as 'participation' and learning as 'acquisition' - between learning gained informally, through discussion and reflection, and learning gained through structured activities where the learning goal, is explicit. The study confirms that, for learning outside of work, informal modes of learning are very importnat, and that learners prefer learning as participation to learning as acquisition, though they do find a wider variety of strategies useful than do learners at work. It highlights the importance and timeliness of the policy focus on informal learning, but also makes clear that learning through attendance at courses is still important for most adults. This is an important conclusion for the informal learning consultation: a blend of publicly offered classes and informal provision is the right mix for community based learning.

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The research data in this book indicate that, collectively, adults from Britain's black and minority ethnic communities participate in learning in similar proportions to the general adult population. However, this conceals significant differences between different minority ethnic groups, with some exhibiting extremely low levels of particpation in adult learning. It is clear that the challenge is most extreme for adults identifying themselves with the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities. For women, the rate is lower still. That said, it is comforting to note that the decline in levels of participation amongst Pakistani adults is less marked than for other groups. These findings are a challenge to the government's commitment to ensuring social cohesion and access to the labour market to all communities in the UK through lifelong learning.

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This report presents the findings of a United Kingdom-wide (UK) survey on adult participation in education and learning that was funded by the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) and was carried out for the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE). While the UK may aspire to transform itself into a learning society in which all participate, the experience on the ground is that the learning divide is as marked today as it has ever been. Age, class, previous educational experience and where you live all affect access to learning and the confidence to join in. The survey confirmed that the UK still faces an enormous task in involving all its people in the learning society and that the learning divide between the learning-rich and the learning-poor is growing. Show less

This survey continues the series documenting adult participation in learning in the UK. Using responses of around 5,000 adults in the UK, it offers key findings, breaking down participation, trends in participation and future intentions to learn by gender, socio-economic class, age, employment and the regions. It provides up-to-date data as well as a valuable means for comparison over time.

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This year's [National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (England and Wales)] NIACE adult participation survey shows a sea change. After years of falling numbers, and an ever-widening gulf between the learning-rich and the learning-poor, there has been an upturn in the proportion of adults engaged in learning and in the number expecting to take part in the future. Current or recent adult participation in learning has risen to the highest level for a decade. Whilst this survey maps the continuing divide between people who have enjoyed the benefits of a good initial education and those who left education with little to show, there is evidence of a significant shift, most strikingly for working-class adults, and those who have had least benefit from learning to date. Is this the beginning of the Learning Revolution heralded in the government White Paper of last year? At the very least there has been a statistically significant shift in participation in learning of some kind, formal or informal, online or in the classroom or the workbench; there has also been a shift in people's plans to take up learning. As long as the learning divide persists this cannot be the Revolution; but it is definitely a change for the better. This survey continues the series documenting adult participation in learning in the UK. Using responses of around 5,000 adults, it offers key findings, breaking down trends in participation and future intentions to learn by gender, socio-economic class, age, employment and the regions. It provides up-to-date data as well as a valuable means for comparison over time. For the first time it includes a section on attitudes to learning.

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This NIACE report shows that the government's strategy to stimulate learning in the workplace, based solidly on improving the qualifications of the UK workforce, has so far failed to change workers' learning preferences. When seeking to improve their job performance, all groups, but particularly working-class and low-skilled adults, and those who have had little opportunity to participate in structured learning, still favour informal learning. The learning divide only narrows for learning as participation - learning by doing the job, or by observation and engagement with peers and supervisors at work. A complementary point was made in NIACE's 2006 analysis of learning participation by ethnic minority adults: the groups with the lowest levels of participation - Pakistani and Bangladeshi adults - strongly preferred informal and self-taught learning. 'Skilling me softly' also reports that the youngest and oldest adult learners are less enthusiastic about training courses than people in their thirties and forties, though it does seem that women are more open to almost all the forms of learning analysed than men. All in all it strongly suggests that informal learning has more to offer the country than our current policies adequately recognise.

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Related NIACE surveys on adult participation in learning are indexed from TD/TNC 86.387 to TD/TNC 86.389. Show less

This document outlines strategies to increase participation in adult learning and vocational learning in Britain. The author gives an overview of participation and cites startling examples of the impact of guidance on learning opportunities, employer's financial support for freely chosen study in the worker's own time, construction of effective pathways between general and certificated and vocational education, and use of broadcast media to stimulate readiness to learn. Each example supports the case for an 'inclusive learner centred strategy' that recognises the 'untidiness' of adults' learning careers. Systems must enable adults to move between general and vocational education, as their complex aspirations unfold. Show less

The 2004 survey on adult participation in learning interviewed a sample of 4,902 adults aged 17 and over in the UK about their participation in learning, media literacy and learning at work. This report focuses on the findings from two questions on participation in learning relating to respondents’ past, present and future participation in learning. Findings show that 19% were currently learning (the lowest of any year since 1996), with 38% having participated in some learning activity during the last three years and 42% of adults reporting they were likely to take up learning in the next three years. The survey also indicates that participation by older learners went down from 19% in 1996 to 14% in 2004 for 65-74 year-olds, and from 15% to 10% for the over 75s. The contents are: Introduction (technical notes); Participation in learning (in relation to gender, socioeconomic class, employment status, age, terminal age of employment, and nations and regions of the UK); Future intentions to learn (in relation to gender and learning status, socioeconomic class, employment status and age). Show less

The key message of the annual [National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (England and Wales)] NIACE survey on adult participation in learning for 2011 is that recession is bad for lifelong learning for anyone over the age of 25. The survey highlights the central importance of workplaces as sites of adult learning, and of the challenges posed to a learning society when opportunities to learn reduce. This survey continues the series documenting adult participation in learning in the UK. Using responses of around 5,000 adults in the UK, it offers key findings, breaking down participation, trends in participation and future intentions to learn by gender, socio-economic class, age, employment and the regions. It provides up-to-date data as well as a valuable means for comparison over time.

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