The Advisory Council for Adult and Continuing Education was established in 1977 to advise generally on matters relevant to the provision of education for adults in England and Wales. Members divided into two main committees to address two issues: (1) to promote cooperation between various bodies in adult education and deploy available resources most effectively; and (2) to promote the development of future policies and priorities regarding continuing education. Areas of study have included adults' existing experience and needs, information and advisory services and the use of them, the nature of current adult participation, barriers to access, and educational alternatives. Four other interrelated questions have been studied to meet the needs of adult students, expressed as follows: "What kinds of structures and organization meet the needs of what kinds of students for what kinds of courses, at what level of costs?" An information survey was commissioned to provide information on estimates of expenditure on continuing education and fees for different types of courses and students. Other reports have focused on needs of priority groups. Indications of the Council's impact have been acceptance of the term "continuing education" and educators' raised awareness. (An annotated listing of the Council's publications is appended.) (YLB)