Adult education needs a broad, England-wide vision serving learners of all ages, not just young adults or narrow job outcomes
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/editorial. "The Guardian view on adult education: learning should be for all ages | Editorial | The Guardian." October 25, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The Guardian argues that England has let adult education wither over two decades, and that current reforms focus too much on young people. Learning matters for people at every age, for their wellbeing and relationships as well as their jobs, so the government should adopt a broad vision that supports older learners too.
Conclusion
Government education and skills policy in England should champion the freedom to learn at any age by developing a broad vision for adult education that supports older learners as well as young adults and values more than narrow economic outcomes.
Premises
- Spending on classroom-based adult learning in England has fallen from over £5bn in 2003-04 to under £2bn last year, and David Blunkett regards neglect of adults as his biggest education regret.
- Forthcoming reforms (the Milburn report on young people not in education, employment or training, boosts for colleges, apprenticeship changes) focus mainly on young adults and risk leaving older learners out.
- Adult education has broader purposes than employment outcomes: it helps people imagine different futures, supports health and wellbeing, builds social relationships, and develops the people skills employers want.
- Many older adults have unmet needs: mid-career workers facing redundancy, people coming off benefits, people leaving manual work due to ill health, up to 8 million with low literacy, English-language learners, and prisoners.
- The system is hampered by complicated administrative and funding arrangements split between DWP, the Department for Education, and regional mayors, plus weak employer incentives to train, uncompetitive instructor pay, and inadequate careers advice.
- The all-party MPs' report makes a persuasive case that an overall vision for adult education has been missing for a long time and proposes an England-wide minimum standard that local partnerships can develop.
Assumptions
- Public funding and policy attention are a major determinant of adult education provision and outcomes.
- The decline in spending has caused unmet need rather than merely reflecting reduced demand or a shift to other provision.
- The non-economic benefits of adult education (wellbeing, social connection, imagination of new futures) are real and justify public investment even if hard to measure.
- Young-adult-focused reforms will not automatically benefit older learners.
- A coherent national vision and minimum standard would improve outcomes rather than add bureaucracy.
- Government has the capacity and fiscal room to increase adult education investment.