Vulnerable adults losing out on training, warns ONS

Older people, those with no qualifications and people on low incomes are the least likely to take part in adult learning or training, according to the Office for National Statistics.

An ONS analysis of the data from its Adult Education Survey 2016, first published in August 2018, revealed that those who could benefit from education or training are often not accessing it. The survey sampled 8,822 adults aged 19 and older in England who were either not in full-time education or had returned to full-time education after a break of more than two years. The ONS published its analysis on 10 January.

It revealed that by age, adults over 65 years old were the least likely of all respondents to be learning—70 per cent compared with 89 per cent of those aged 19 to 24. Analysing by income, 68 per cent of those in households earning less than £15,000 each year had undertaken some type of learning in the past 12 months, compared with 86 per cent of those from homes earning £45,000 per year or more.