Post-16 education in Wales is going through a period of innovation and change.
Medr’s summary of its strategic priorities talks about the need ‘to maximise adult participation rates whilst balancing the social and economic benefits of that provision’.
Central to this concern is why adults—particularly those with the lowest level of formal qualifications—do not participate (or intend to participate) in further learning.
For almost thirty years, Learning and Work Institute has surveyed learners about their intentions and the barriers that they face to access learning. One consistent finding is that learners who already participate in learning are more likely to participate in future.
For some ‘non-learners’ this means addressing practical barriers, such as the cost of learning, the availability of childcare, or public transport. For others, the barriers can be motivational (such as not seeing the value or relevance of learning) or emotional linked to issues of anxiety, self-esteem, and confidence.
Such issues have been raised in Estyn’s thematic report on adult community learning (ACL), which focused on the contemporary challenges facing ACL and essential skills for adults. Honing in on barriers to engagement, Estyn recognised the central role confidence plays in adult re-engagement in learning, alongside digital access issues, financial constraints, mental health, learning difficulties, and language barriers. The report also argues difficult website navigation and inaccessible information about courses hinder ‘second chances’ in education.
Once engaged in learning, adults face further challenges in terms of the way provision is organised and delivered. Estyn highlights such aspects as having an appropriate pedagogy for adult returners, including the importance of enabling those adults to self-assess and progress. Clear learner pathways aid both engagement and progression. Estyn also recognises that tutors need support in working in with hard-to-reach adults.
Finally, the report focuses on bilingual and Welsh-medium provision. It argues that delivery through Welsh is limited, with most learners preferring English for literacy but showing greater interest in Welsh for numeracy. Successful Welsh-medium provision relies on collaboration with local organisations and is often more in demand for older learners and family learning programmes.
How the Citizens Curriculum can address these challenges
The Citizens’ Curriculum approach was first developed in 2009 and piloted extensively in England from 2015-18. From 2019, transnational work led to the Lifeskills for Europe Framework developed by practitioners across six countries.
In 2023/24 the approach was piloted in Wales with over 400 learners and focused on six themes: Global citizenship; Community focused schools; Health and wellbeing; Participatory Pedagogy in ESOL; place-based learning for housing association residents; and economically inactive older adults.
Engaging learners
The Citizens’ Curriculum approach starts from asking learners what they want to learn and even what they want to call the course. For example, a financial literacy course was called ‘Money Matters to Me’. The pilots highlighted five key points:
• The need to start from where the learner is and build on the capabilities that they already have.
• To design the learning programme around adults’ aspirations rather than ‘match’ these against pre-existing courses.
• To take the learning to the learner by organising engagement events and courses in venues adults are comfortable with (such as community centres or the primary school their children attend)
• Engagement requires a whole organisation approach where senior leaders, curriculum managers, and tutors understand the Citizens’ Curriculum and invest in it.
• The importance of partnership working to enable promotion, referral, ongoing support for adults, and progression opportunities.
Provision and Progress
Across all the Citizen Curriculum pilots in Wales, tutors regularly personalised their pedagogic approaches, adapting delivery styles, materials, and session content based on learner feedback and needs. Co-design was central, with tutors starting individual sessions by asking what participants wanted to learn that day.
Data was collected at multiple points (start, mid-point, end), including management information and surveys. Some pilots used baseline questionnaires and wellbeing scales. Learners were involved in self-assessment through surveys, learning journals, and ‘I can’ statements.
Teaching and Professional Learning
One of the key findings of the pilots in Wales was the need to support staff to deliver it effectively. In this context, ‘staff’ refers to tutors, managers, and senior leaders. One of the pilots led by Oasis, Cardiff and University of South Wales, focused on professional development in ‘participatory pedagogy’.
A key aspect of participatory pedagogy is to design the learning around the individual aspirations and needs of learners. In this way, it is highly personalised, even in large group settings.
The issue of ‘relevance’ was also stressed by Oasis, Cardiff:
The Citizens’ Curriculum offers an alternative approach that engages learners in the language that they need immediately. This stems across language around housing, finance, accessing healthcare services, and could include employment support. Learners’ feel engaged with these discussions as they have practical use for the language they are learning.
Bilingual and Welsh-medium provision
During the pilots, Welsh-medium and bilingual needs were addressed through partnership with local organisations. Welsh language family learning provision was delivered, and the alignment with Curriculum for Wales was a focus. However, the evaluation also noted that further development is needed to fully integrate bilingual provision across all themes.
Because, provision was planned collaboratively, with stakeholder meetings identifying needs and preferences, Welsh language needs were considered systematically. Some assessment was carried out in Welsh, particularly in family learning and community-focused school provision.
Conclusion
The Citizens’ Curriculum pilots in Wales demonstrate that when learning begins with adults’ real lives, aspirations, and existing capabilities, engagement deepens and confidence grows.
By embracing co design, personalised pedagogy, and strong partnerships, providers have shown that barriers to participation can be reduced and progression meaningfully supported. The emerging evidence from Welsh medium provision, participatory ESOL, health and wellbeing, and community based learning reinforces the potential for a truly responsive, inclusive model of adult education.
As Wales continues to transform its post 16 landscape, the Citizens’ Curriculum and the developing LifeSkills for Wales framework offer a coherent, empowering way to ensure every adult has access to learning that is relevant, motivating, and rooted in their everyday lives.
Next Steps
Over the coming months, the focus will shift toward preparing providers across Wales to engage with the LifeSkills for Wales framework
From early to mid 2026, two providers will pilot the framework and ICAT within their existing adult learning provision. This phase will offer valuable insight into how effectively the tools operate in real world settings and where refinements may be required before broader implementation.
Towards the end of 2026, the learning from this work—including feedback, case studies, and implementation evidence—will be shared widely with the adult learning sector and with Welsh Government stakeholders. This dissemination will help inform decisions about mainstreaming the LifeSkills for Wales model across the post 16 landscape.
