GUEST COLUMN:
Michelle Matheron
Director for Wales
Learning and Work Institute
Adult Learners' Week – September 21-27 – offers a timely chance to celebrate individuals across Wales who have changed their lives through learning and encourages more of us to do the same.
Learning can take many forms. The Learning and Work Institute's Adult Participation in Learning Survey (APLS) takes a broad definition of learning and tells us that, in 2025, nearly half (47%) of adults in Wales reported participating in learning of some kind in the past three years.
I think it's fair to say that for all of us things can feel quite heavy at the moment. There are a number of challenges at global and UK levels and the new Welsh Government also has a very full in-tray of commitments to deliver.
It would be easy in that context to list the challenges facing adult learning provision, to focus on the significant number of people who could benefit from learning but are not accessing it, or the difficult financial context in which this provision is operating.
Those challenges are real but instead I want to focus on some good news. Adult learning works.
It is a policy intervention that delivers impact and changes lives. Naturally, it offers people the chance to learn something new which may lead to a qualification, a first job, a new job or a new opportunity. In addition, it improves health, well-being and confidence and it gives people something to look forward to and focus on in difficult times.
Adult learning also generates economic growth by supporting people into work and keeping them there. It has an impact that is felt far beyond the individual – by their families, employers and communities. The APLS survey tells us that 96% of people in Wales who engaged in learning in the past three years reported at least one benefit – these include increased confidence, moving closer to their goals, being better at their current job or improving their skills, amongst others.
During the week, we will be recognising the achievements of 11 incredible learners, who have changed their lives through education, at the Inspire! Adult Learning Awards. Their paths have not been easy, their learning journeys rarely linear and their learning has had to fit around their lives and their circumstances.
They have done it, with the support of fantastic tutors and access to provision that was right for them, but those 11 are just the tip of an iceberg of positivity and success, evidenced by the almost 100 nominations we received.
There were more than 160,000 learners in further education, local authority learning or on an apprenticeship in 2024/25. Do we need more of them? Yes, we do but that's 160,000 lives changed and countless stories of perseverance and dedication from learners and staff alike.
Right now, all across Wales, people are taking a first step into a community learning centre, entering college for the first time, starting a new work-based course or trying family learning at their child's school. They will all benefit from this and Wales will benefit, too.
Adult learning is not only an education intervention, but also a health, economic and social justice intervention – and it works. That's got to be worth celebrating!
All Adult Learners' Week activities are listed at https://adultlearnersweek.wales/ and promoted throughout September via Working Wales – https://workingwales.gov.wales/change-your-story/adult-learners-week .
