David Willetts - » Press Release: Official figures show collapse in adult learning

Press Release: Official figures show collapse in adult learning

February 13, 2009 | Posted by Office

New official figures released today by the Conservatives show that the number of people studying on an adult education course has fallen by a quarter in the last four years. The Government has deliberately cut funding for adult education courses that don’t produce paper qualifications, but hundreds of thousands of adults are unable to re-skill and up-skill as a result.

1.3 million Learning and Skills Council (LSC) funded places on adult education courses have disappeared since 2003/4 - a reduction of a quarter - and the decline has been felt in every region.

· In the South East, there has been a reduction of 223,100 places.

· In the North West, there has been a reduction of 207,500 places.

· In the South West, there has been a reduction of 150,500 places.

· In the East Midlands, there has been a reduction of 143,700 places.

· In Yorkshire and the Humber, there has reduction a loss of 140,600 places.

· In the West Midlands, there has been a reduction of 130,600 places.

· In Greater London, there has been a reduction of 121,200 places.

· In the East of England, there has been a reduction of 109,100 places.

· In the North East, there has been a reduction of 79,900 places.

Shadow Innovation, Universities and Skills Secretary, David Willetts said:

“The Government failed to prepare Britain for the tough times whilst the economy was growing. Ministers’ obsession with paper-based qualifications has led to a reduction in the number of adults re-skilling and up-skilling, which has contributed to the skills shortage we now face.

“A better-skilled workforce is absolutely fundamental if we are to emerge from the recession in a competitive state. Learning also brings health and community benefits that can reduce the pressure on public spending in other areas.

“We are committed to refocusing £100 million from the Train to Gain budget on Adult and Community Learning and a further £100 million on young people not in employment, education or training. That will benefit people in every corner of the country and make amends for Labour’s cuts, which have hit those most in need the hardest.”

Notes to Editors

[Click on the graphic to see it clearly]

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many students funded by the Learning and Skills Council were resident in each English region in each year since 2003-04.

Mr. Simon: Table 1 shows the number of learners funded by the Learning and Skills Council resident in each region. Figures are presented from 2003/04 to 2006/07, the latest year for which fully audited data are available.

Table 1: Number of Learners funded by the Learning and Skills Council by region and funding stream, 2003/04 to 2006/07
Region	Adult and community learning	Further education colleges	University for industry	Work based learning	Train to gain	Grand total
2003/04
East of England	91,600	341,100	18,800	24,700	—	476,200
East Midlands	74,100	367,700	3,000	26,100	—	471,000
Greater London	139,100	501,700	71,800	19,900	—	732,500
North East	37,800	248,800	14,900	20,100	—	321,600
North West	116,600	531,300	72,000	48,400	—	768,300
South East	176,500	516,800	29,800	36,100	—	759,100
South West	85,500	417,100	5,800	28,600	—	536,900
West Midlands	65,800	467,900	23,000	34,600	—	591,200
Yorkshire and the Humber	66,700	420,500	26,700	35,900	—	549,800
Other	33,400	86,800	3,800	7,100	—	131,000
Total	887,000	3,899,700	269,400	281,500	—	5,337,500

2006-07
East of England	80,200	226,100	18,800	21,200	20,700	367,100
East Midlands	48,600	224,100	15,000	21,800	17,800	327,300
Greater London	132,300	407,700	32,800	16,800	21,700	611,300
North East	39,900	158,100	9,300	16,800	17,700	241,700
North West	105,900	354,800	22,900	41,700	35,400	560,800
South East	127,100	331,900	25,800	30,800	20,300	536,000
South West	63,900	265,500	16,300	24,300	16,400	386,400
West Midlands	57,600	325,900	20,800	26,500	29,700	460,600
Yorkshire and the Humber	52,100	287,200	16,300	30,800	22,900	409,200
Other	34,500	51,600	2,500	5,100	36,100	129,800
Total	742,100	2,633,000	180,500	235,800	238,700	4,030,000
Notes: 1. Figures are taken from the Individualised Learner Record final F05 data freezes. An earlier freeze of University for Industry data has been used due to data issues with the final freeze. 2. Region is based on home postcode of the learner. 3. The ‘other’ category includes incomplete records and learners not resident in England, but who are learning in England (for example, learners resident in Scotland or Wales). 4. For Train to Gain and Work Based Learning, participation is counted as the number of starters. 5. There will be an element of double counting in the figures as some learners will participate in more than one funding area. 6. Totals may not equal the sum of their components due to rounding. 7. Train to Gain was created in April 2006. Standard reporting practice is to include the months of April to July 2006 in the 2006/07 academic year. Source: Individualised Learner records

Hansard, 19th November 2008

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