HC Deb 26 February 2004 vol 418 cc537-9W
Mr. Simmonds

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many people were enrolled on adult and community learning programmes in each year since 1995; [147441]

(2) how many people in England and Wales are enrolled on adult and community learning programmes. [147442]

Mr. Ivan Lewis

The numbers of learners in (i) adult and community learning and adult education courses run through local education authorities; (ii) LearnDirect; and (iii) adult basic skills, are set out as follows.

The number of enrolments on adult education courses run through local education authorities (LEAs) in England at 1 November each year is published annually in the Statistical First Release, "Adult Education Enrolments in England". Data on adult and community learning in Wales were collected and published by the National Assembly for Wales. The following table shows the number of enrolments in England and Wales as at 1 November in each year from 1995 to 2002, the latest year for which figures are available. These figures include enrolments on both courses that do and do not lead to a recognised qualification.

Adult education enrolments1 in England and Wales: 1995 to 2002
Thousand November England Wales
1995 1,153 28
1996 1,232 39
1997 1,062 52
1998 1,115 62
1999 1,054 67
2000 1,041 64
2001 1,052 259
2002 1,042 256
1Enrolments are not the same as learners. Individuals on a number of courses are counted more than once.
2Due to changes in data collection, figures from 2001 onwards are not directly comparable with those prior to 2001. Furthermore, data from 2001 relate to the number of enrolments in the first week of December as opposed to November.
Sources:
Statistical First Release: "Adult Education Enrolments in England—November 2002"
Statistical First Release: "Adult Education in Wales: Local Authority Provision 2000"
Statistical Bulletin: "Adult Continuing Education in Wales 2001/02 and 2002/03"

The figures in the following table show the numbers of learners on LearnDirect provision in England and Wales in each year since 2000/01, the earliest year for which figures are available.

Learners (in thousands) on LearnDirect provision in England and

Wales 2000/01 to 2002/03
Academic year England Wales
2000/01 137 4
2001/03 347 11
2002/03 485 n/a
Sources: LearnDirect National Council-ELWa

The final table shows the number of enrolments on adult basic skills courses in England and Wales.

Enrolments (in thousands) on adult basic skills in England and

Wales—2000/01 to 2002/03
Academic year England Wales
2000/01 724 25
2001/03 1,136 25
2002/03 1,230 n/a
Notes: 1. England enrolment data includes Learning and Skills Council funded learning opportunities; estimates from the Offenders' Learning and Skills Unit; and the Department for Work and Pensions. 2. Wales enrolment data from 'National Council-ELWa'.