On-demand webinar

Get ready: how to effectively support growing numbers of adult learners

Name: Get ready: how to effectively support growing numbers of adult learners
Start: 2020-07-22T00:00:00.000Z

Marina Gaze, former Deputy Director for FE and Skills at Ofsted, on assessing adult learners' needs properly and what good support for them looks like. Recorded in 2020.

Recorded · 22 July 2020

This is an older recording. Some of it is out of date: see what's still relevant and what has changed.

Watch now

Get ready: how to effectively support growing numbers of adult learners

Speakers

Marina Gaze
Former Deputy Director, FE and Skills, Ofsted, Independent

How to effectively support adult learners

Demand for adult learning was rising fast when this was recorded, and how providers responded would make all the difference to the engagement and success of those learners.

Many adults seeking training to upskill or get back into work have no track record of success in education, and some have needs that were never identified. Providers need to re-engage them, and to create more tailored and flexible learning suited to a range of needs. Marina Gaze, former Deputy Director for FE and Skills at Ofsted, looks at why it matters to assess adult learners’ needs properly, and at what good support looks like.

What we cover

Adult education's responsibilities for local jobs and for quality, as they stood in 2020
How effective support helps providers show the impact of their provision
How assessment and personalised learning help adults overcome barriers and re-engage with learning

Watch the recording

Recorded July 2020 · reviewed October 2026

What's still relevant

Many adult learners have spent years hiding difficulties with reading, writing and spelling, so assessing everyone early is fairer than waiting for a problem.
Practical ways to adapt delivery still hold: avoid overloading working memory, give a schedule, build in breaks and present information simply.
Knowing your learners, why you offer each programme and what learners go on to do is still the base of good adult provision.

What's out of date

Funding body and fund names (from 21:12). The ESFA's Adult Education Budget sets the funding rules, and learning support can be claimed through the allocation. Now: The Adult Skills Fund replaced the Adult Education Budget, the ESFA closed on 31 March 2025, and adult skills policy has sat with DWP since 16 September 2025, with DfE running the fund on its behalf.
Claiming learning support (from 24:14). Where a learner has a learning difficulty or disability, the provider's allocation lets it claim learning support. Now: Under the Adult Skills Fund rules for 2026 to 2027, the provider must carry out and document a thorough assessment, whose cost cannot be claimed, and confirm each month that the adjustments are still needed; the rate is £150 a month.
The inspection framework (from 11:56). The 2019 framework grades four key judgements, with intent, implementation and impact in quality of education, and an overall effectiveness grade. Now: Since November 2025, each area is graded separately on a five-point scale with no overall grade, inclusion is graded in its own right, and the three I's are not a requirement.
About the assessment (from 39:50). The assessment covers eight domains, has been used by over 40,000 learners, and Cognassist data shows one in four people have a learning difficulty. Now: The assessment measures nine cognitive domains in three indexes, more than 400,000 learners have been assessed, and approximately 1 in 3 learners we assess in FE and apprenticeships may have a cognitive barrier that warrants support.
2020 jobs measures (from 3:17). The Chancellor's 2020 plan for jobs funds sector-based work academies, Kickstart placements and incentives for employers taking on apprentices. Now: This has changed since the recording; check current guidance.