Rewriting the Future Phase 4 Report: The needs of adult learners considering progression onto or towards level 4 study across Lancashire

Abstract

This is the fourth phase of Rewriting the Future, a project funded by FutureU. The overarching aim is to understand specific barriers and enablers to continued educational engagement towards higher education, for marginalised groups. This report considers adult learners aged 20 plus, returning to education to study at level 3 and on access to higher education courses. The research was undertaken in 2022. Adult learners have historically been an underrepresented group in government policy. The focus has been on Widening Participation (WP) students in general. WP students are often described as ‘non-traditional’ students, including students from disadvantaged backgrounds, part-time undergraduate students, first-generation students, ethnic minority students, refugees and asylum seekers, students from low-income backgrounds, care-leavers, vocational and work-based learners and disabled learners, who may also be mature learners. Previously available research suggests that lack of confidence and standard qualification routes may be barriers even though adult learners bring many transferable skills to education and yet the predominant focus in policy has been to prioritise the financial support essential for WP students to participate in post-compulsory education. Rewriting the Future focuses instead on multi-contextual barriers and enablers to engagement.