Learning is crucial for life, work and society. It can help people find work, progress in or change careers, support health and wellbeing, promote social integration, and many more benefits besides. Lifelong learning will only grow in importance as the UK’s population ages, people have longer working lives, and our economy and society changes.
Since 1996, Learning and Work Institute has been undertaking the Adult Participation in Learning Survey on an almost annual basis. The survey provides a unique overview of the level of participation in learning by adults, with a detailed breakdown of who participates and who does not.
Year-on-year the survey finds stark and persistent inequalities, with some groups more likely to learn as an adult than others. The 2023 survey also indicated that differences between geographical regions may be widening. With devolution of learning and skills policy and funding, it is important to better understand patterns of participation at a national and regional level.
Geographical differences in adult participation in learning can be explained by demographical differences, in other words, who lives in the nation or region concerned. But other factors, such as policy interventions, can also result in these differences. This report provides insights on adult participation in learning in Wales.
In Wales, around two in five adults (41 per cent) said they had learned over the past three years, which is significantly lower than the England average. Wales has the lowest participation in learning rate of the UK nations and regions. However, the proportion of current or recent learners was only statistically significantly lower than six of the other regions: Greater London (64 per cent), North West (52 per cent), East Midlands (52 per cent), West Midlands (51 per cent), South East (48 per cent) and South West (48 per cent).
