Discover all our work
6 September 2024
Participation in learning in Wales
Welsh Government has a welcome aspiration to make Wales a nation of second chances; with a policy landscape that supports lifelong learning and in particular adults returning to education. However, translating such a laudable ambition into practical action is no mean feat. We’re all accustomed to an entitlement to education into our early adulthood, but the same entitlement is less apparent as we age.
1 August 2024
Adult Participation in Learning Survey 2023: Wales
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.
3 July 2024
New Futures Wales pilot
Our flagship programme, New Futures, supported workers who were looking to change career and reskill as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. This work was funded by the Covid-19 Support Fund.
3 June 2024
Place-based collaboration: an update from Newport
Building on the VocTech Challenge green and white papers, Ufi VocTech Trust (Ufi) and Learning and Work Institute (L&W) have developed a programme of place-based partnerships.
14 May 2024
146,000 reasons to get employment support right in Wales
New research on the UK’s near one million young people aged 16 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) reveals that in Wales nearly seven in ten (69%) are economically inactive – meaning they are not currently looking or available for work.
21 February 2024
Which way now for employment support in Wales?
New research from Learning and Work Institute examines the future of employment support policy in Wales and identifies areas where the existing system can be improved to better assist people to find good quality work.
3 January 2024
Review of the Skills System in Wales
Learning and Work Institute was commissioned by Welsh Government in February 2023, to undertake a review of the skills system in Wales. This research was designed to be a thought piece to explore different visions for vocational education and training in Wales.
3 January 2024
It’s time for all of us to get involved in VET
For much of modern history vocational education and training (VET) was seen as the sole responsibility of employers. In fact it’s quite a recent phenomenon for governments to get involved in VET at all.
20 September 2023
John Gates: From coal seams to French seams
They talk of miners now being a dying breed of men as memories of pit life fades with every passing year. Next year will see the fortieth anniversary of the last big Miner’s Strike (1984-85) that was a seminal moment in British history and sounded the death knell for so many mining communities in South Wales.
18 September 2023
Citizens’ Curriculum
During 2023 and 2024, Learning and Work Institute is working with Welsh Government and a range of partners on an exciting project to pilot a Citizens’ Curriculum for Wales. This follows a public commitment to a Second Chance Nation made by the Minister for Education Jeremy Miles MS at the 2022 Adult Learning Conference.
