Hand writing facts on paperThe Facts

Adult learning extends beyond education and influences many public policy agendas in the areas of health, social mobility, equalities, ageing demographics, employability and sustainability.  The facts below highlight the difference adult learning can have and links to other NIACE projects in these subject areas.

Education and Health

The facts:

  • Learning is one of five ways to wellbeing[1]
  • Participation in adult learning has positive effects in terms of smoking cessation, taking exercise and improvements in self rated health and well being[2].
  • Participation in learning prolongs active life, delays dependency, and sustains independent living[3].
  • The act of joining and being involved regularly in organised groups, such as learning groups, has a significant impact on health and well being[4].
  • Learning activities for older people in care homes can increase quality of life, as well as reduce health and social care costs[5].
  • Learning appears to slow the development of two brain lesions that are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease[6].

The sources:

  1. Foresight Report October; 2008; Government Office for Science
  2. Hammond, C. and Feinstein, L.; 2006; Research Report 17, London, Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning
  3. Gladdish L; May 2006; The benefits of learning on the health and well-being of older people: evaluation report, NIACE
  4. Putnam; 2000; Bowling Alone
  5. Fiona Aldridge; 2009; Enhancing Informal Adult Learning for Older People in Care Settings: Interim Report and Consultation Document; NIACE
  6. Journal of Neuroscience; 24th January 2007

Education and Care Settings

The Facts:

  • By 2026, the number of people aged 85+ will have doubled. 1
  • In 20 years time over 1.7 million more adults will have a need for some form of care or support. 2
  • Older people in care homes spend almost 50% of their time asleep, socially withdrawn or inactive and only 3% on constructive activity. 3
  • Up to 50% of older people in residential and nursing care have clinically severe depression. 4
  • Taking part in learning can help increase older people's quality of life and reduce health and social care costs. 5

See more on Care Settings

The Sources:

  1. Government Actuary's Department, 2007
  2. HM Government (2009) Shaping the Future of Care Together. TSO
  3. Help the Aged (2006) My Home Life: Quality of life in care home, p.43
  4. Department of Health (2009) New Horizons: Towards a Shared Vision for Mental Health, p.88-89
  5. Aldridge, F. (2009) Enhancing informal adult learning for older people in care settings: interim report and consultation document, Leicester: NIACE

Education and Family Learning

The Facts:

  • 4 million children are living in poverty in the UK. 1
  • Low skilled adults often come from low income, low skilled families. 2
  • A child's achievement is influenced more by parental involvement in their learning than by income level and schooling. 3
  • The number of rhymes a child knows when they start school is significantly related to their reading ability at seven. 4
  • Learning together as a family helps to break the cycle of deprivation and educational underachievement. 5

See more on Family Learning

The Sources:

  1. Children in low income households. The Poverty site http://www.poverty.org.uk/16/index.shtml
  2. Parsons, S. and Bynner, J. (2007) Illuminating disadvantage: profiling the experience of adults with entry level literacy or numeracy over the lifecourse. NRDC.
  3. Desforges, C. and Abouchaar, A. (2003) The impact of parental involvement, parental support and family education on pupil achievement and adjustment: A literature review, (DfES research report RR433). Department for Education and Skills http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR433.pdf
  4. Goswami,U., and East, M. (2000). Rhyme and analogy in beginning reading: Conceptual and methodological issues.  Applied Psycholinguistics, 21, 63-93.)
  5. Ofsted (2009) Family learning: An evaluation of the benefits of family learning for participants, their families and the wider community. Ofsted

Education and Offender Learning

The Facts:

  • Half of all prisoners do not have the skills required by 96% of jobs. 1
  • The budget for education and learning in prisons is under 3% of the total prison budget of £4.3 billion. 2
  • Educational and vocational training in prisons has been shown to reduce re-offending and could save the public purse an average of £19,000 per prisoner. 3
  • Between 70 and 90% of prisoners have some form of mental health problem. 4
  • Educational attainment helps protect long-term mental health and wellbeing among offenders. 5

See more on Offender Learning

The Sources:

  1. Prison Service News, cited in IFLL Thematic Paper 5 - Crime and Lifelong Learning
  2. National Audit Office, cited in IFLL Thematic Paper 5 - Crime and Lifelong Learning
  3. Matrix Knowledge Group, 2007, cited in IFLL Thematic Paper 5 - Crime and Lifelong Learning
  4. Singleton et al (1998), cited in Sainsbury Centre report (2008), also cited in IFLL Thematic Paper 5 - Crime and Lifelong Learning
  5. Singleton et al (1998), cited in Sainsbury Centre report (2008), also cited in IFLL Thematic Paper 5 - Crime and Lifelong Learning

Education for Sustainable Development

The Facts:

  • ‘Green' skills are needed to make the transition to a low carbon economy. 1
  • Sustainability learning at gassroots level has benefits for skills and work, volunteering and involvement in communities. 2
  • Over 1,200 learners who took part in a sustainability programme made changes to make their lifestyles more sustainable. 3
  • 80% of learners who took part in learning for sustainability reported that their quality of life had improved. 4
  • Sustainable schools are reported to contribute to stronger relationships across communities. 5

See more on Sustainable Development

The Sources:

  1. BIS 2010 Meeting the Low Carbon Skills Challenge
  2. Transformation Fund thematic report
  3. Transformation Fund thematic report
  4. Transformation Fund thematic report
  5. DCFS (2010) Evidence of the impact of sustainable schools

Education and Workplace Learning

The Facts:

  • Businesses are two and a half times more likely to fail if they don't take training seriously. 1
  • By 2020, 5 million UK jobs will require higher skills and 70% of the 2020 workforce is already in employment. 2
  • Half of Britain's current workforce is not qualified beyond Level 2. 3
  • Improving your literacy and numeracy as an adult can dramatically improve your chances of being in full-time employment. 4

See more on Workplace Learning

The Sources:

  1. John Denham, Skills Secretary, 2008TBC
  2. Business in the Community www.bitc.org.uk
  3. Business in the Community www.bitc.org.uk
  4. Bynner and Parsons 2006

Education and Young Adults

The Facts:

  • A young adult ‘not in education, employment or training' between the ages of 16-18 is estimated to cost the public purse an average of £56,301 across their lifetime. 1
  • Young women who are ‘not in education, employment or training' are 22 times more likely to be teenage mothers than other young women. 2
  • Young men ‘not in education, employment or training' are 3 times more likely to suffer from depression and 5 times more likely to have a criminal record. 3
  • People with level 2 qualifications are 50% more likely to be in employment than those without. 4

See more on Young Adults

The Sources:

  1. Audit Commission (2010), Against the odds, targeted briefing - young carers, Audit Commission, page 7, London.
  2. Quoted in CBI ‘Towards a NEET solution' 2008
  3. Quoted in CBI ‘Towards a NEET solution' 2008
  4. Quoted in CBI ‘Towards a NEET solution' 2008
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