Learning and work is for the well off

The Learning and Work Institute’s annual report on adult participation in learning is probably the best way to understand the world of lifelong learning.

It’s been running for over 50 years, and these days uses a representative 5,000 sample of adults (aged 17 and up) in the UK – but its big strength is a very broad definition of learning. The LWI doesn’t limit the scope merely to credit-bearing learning, or even what you may call “formal learning”. If you are on a writing course at your local community centre, if you are on the annual health and safety refresher at work, if you are pestered by that Duolingo owl on the regular, even if you are watching a vocal tutorial on YouTube ahead of karaoke night – you are learning. And that counts.

The trouble is, there appears to be less learning going on in the UK than in recent years. The headline rate (those learning now or in the last three years) is now 42 per cent, down from 52 per cent last year. That’s historically pretty decent (the late 2010s were mostly in the 30s, with 2019 the all time low at 33 per cent), but a big negative shift from last year.

The bulk of that notable in year decline is down to a drop in the proportion of people learning while working. People in work (full or part time) are generally more likely to report being engaged in any kind of learning, so the drop in this sub-sample has an outsize impact. There is also an “association” with what looks to be a decline in the availability of in-work training – 21 per cent of employed respondents accessed “learning at work” in 2025, down from 28 per cent in 2024.

The report notes that a part of this could be due to people changing jobs post-pandemic, with some of the initial on-the-job training now falling outside of the three-year window.

Lifelong learning is generally more likely if you have learned post-16 in the past, if you are younger, if you have socio-economic advantages (just under half of ABs have experienced learning in the last three years, compared to 33 per cent of DE), and if you have a higher income – and this also holds true for access to specifically work-related training.

This is characterised as being emblematic of the “two-track character of the UK labour market, with a lack of access to workplace training contributing to a lack of progress in and from low paid work”.

What’s really interesting here is that learner motivations are shifting – people are more likely to be learning for leisure or personal interest than in previous years, and less likely to be learning for work and career reasons. This comes alongside a growth in those reported learning through a university or higher education institution – we’re at 21 per cent of all learners, up from 16 per cent last year. This is a higher proportion of learners than those “learning on the job” (but a percentage point lower than those sent on training courses through work).

For those with an eye on the impact of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE), we should note that though “I feel I am too old” is cited as the biggest barrier to learning among those not engaged, the cost of learning is the most cited external reason (24 per cent) – and the second most cited overall barrier (behind time pressures) for those experiencing challenges while learning. This barrier is bigger for those on lower incomes and the economically inactive – precisely the people that LLE-style short courses are aimed at, and those who would likely benefit most from lifelong learning.

All of which suggests we are likely to see LLE modules populated by the young, the well off, and the educated – something which is already clear from previous polling, and an issue that the government really needs to address if the (comparatively expensive as lifelong learning) LLE is to be the policy success that is hoped for.