In the person of John Hayes, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, the coalition government has someone no less committed than was Labour's David Blunkett to the value of expansive and inclusive lifelong learning, as has been attested to by his various speeches and articles since first being appointed. Not…

The Foundation Learning Tier (FLT) Progression Pathways will be implemented in 2009/10 and fully rolled out in 2010. The FLT has come a long way, and whilst it's acknowledged that it is still a work in hand, there are a number of unresolved and pressing issues which are especially relevant to learners with learning difficulties and/or…

A research industry is growing fast around the aim of improving teaching and learning for adults. Millions of pounds of public money are being spent on the inspection of adult learning in colleges and adult and community education, and on development projects run by the Learning and Skills Development Agency and the National Institute of Adult and…

Drawing on her experience with County Durham Learning and subsequently as a Recognising and Recording Progress and Achievement in Non-Accredited Learning (RARPA) Champion for the Learning and Skills Council and as a trainer for the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) and the Learning and Skills Network, the author outlines the…

The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) is the UK national coordinator for the European Agenda for Adult Learning, with the challenge of creating a coherent message across the four countries to inform European cooperation on adult learning. To start the debate, the journal staff asked Sue Waddington, Alan Tuckett, and Fiona…

The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) Adult Participation in Learning Survey 10 years ago showed that two-fifths of the adult population said that they had taken part in learning in the last three years. A decade later, the 2012 survey shows that little has changed--active participation in learning remains a minority…

In the second article in a series marking 90 years of NIACE support for adult learning, the author charts the changing shape of adult education in the decades following the Second World War, and the Institute's emergence as a "major non-governmental force" in the development of adult education. In 1983 the NIAE changed its name to the…

The seventies and eighties saw the adult education movement renew and reexamine its commitment to opening up learning opportunities to "disadvantaged" groups. The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) was now part of the mainstream of public policy making in lifelong learning and had a significant role in delivering…

Since early 2011, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) has been involved in supporting learning providers to prepare for and, more recently, to deliver provision through the Skills Funding Agency unit offer for the unemployed. The primary purpose of the provision is to equip learners with skills that will facilitate their…

On January 19, 1921, Albert Mansbridge, founder of the Workers' Educational Association and a member of the Ministry of Reconstruction's Adult Education Committee, chaired a meeting at 20 Tavistock Square, London, to consider the formation of a British Institute of Adult Education. The Institute was to be a branch of the grandly--and somewhat…

A new Labour government was elected in May 1997 and wasted no time in signalling its enthusiasm for the education of adults. Secretary of State for Education and Employment David Blunkett gave his first speech in office at the launch of Adult Learners' Week 1997 and announced the creation of a National Advisory Group for Continuing Education and…

Over the past year lifelong learning in universities has come under the spotlight of politicians, educationalists, journalists and adult learners. For some, the concern has been about countering the fall-out from changes in public funding and challenging the reduction in provision--and even closure--of university departments. A number of…

National policy stresses the key role of adult learning and skills in securing economic recovery. This close linking of adult learning policy to the recession agenda raises important questions. How has the recession impacted on the implementation of adult learning policy? What has it meant for service delivery? And what have been the consequences…

The infamous equivalent or lower qualifications (ELQs) regulation--the withdrawal of funding from students who have previously gained a higher education qualification--has cast a long shadow over adult continuing education in English higher education since its introduction in 2007. Together with the attack on funded adult provision in local…

In September 2007 the Government withdrew HEFCE funding for students studying for a second higher qualification at a level equal to or lower than their first--the so-called equivalent or lower qualification (or ELQ) rule. This policy hit students and universities in England, though not those in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. In a recent…