24 June 2025 – The team met with policymakers and stakeholders from all countries of the UK and the Republic of Ireland at the Redmond Community Centre in London. We presented a brief recap of our project activities undertaken in WP1 and WP2 and provided detailed insights into the findings of our third WP on evidence-based policy-making in the field of adult learning and education. The presentation was followed by a panel of representatives from all five countries. During the afternoon, we held an interactive workshop to discover what ‘next steps’ are needed to strengthen the availability and accessibility of evidence, and to what strategies can enhance a growing use of such evidence.

The slide deck used at the event can be downloaded here.

16 June 2025 – Dr Betul Babayigit and Dr Sharon Clancy attended the annual UALL & SCUTREA conference. Held at the University of Liverpool, they spoke about evidence us in policy-making in the UK. Dr Sharon Clancy contributed to a range of other sessions as Co-Chair of SCUTREA, including a workshop on ‘self-directed learning and workers’ education’ and the presentation of recently published Research Handbook on Adult Learning and Education, co-edited with Dr Nalita James and Professor Kevin Orr. Details of the Handbook can be found here.

1 May 2025 – Webinar for the launch of our project report Trends in Adult Participation in Learning (2002-2023). During this online event, we presented results of our analyses on data from the Learning and Work Institutes Adult Participation in Learning Survey.

You can also download the slide deck here.

27-30 January 2025 – Professor Ellen Boeren gave a keynote at the IFE conference in Monterrey (Mexico) about the need for data-driven lifelong learning policies. She also contributed to a specialist Lifelong Learning Summit, talking about evidence on inequalities in adult learning participation. She informed the audience on progress of the ESRC project.

20 November 2024 – Assoc. Prof. Sharon Clancy and Dr. Betul Babayigit delivered a seminar to the School of Education at the University of Nottingham. In their talk, ‘What has happened to Adult Education for the Common Good in Neoliberal Times? – Psychosocial and Historical Lenses on Contemporary Policy’, Sharon Clancy shared findings and perspectives from her recent auto/biographical writings exploring historical adult education as both an emancipatory space for second chance learners and a ‘common good’ – in which lifelong learning is understood as an expression of the idea that people are ends in themselves and that their wider flourishing and empowerment throughout life is worth fostering.  Betul Babayigit discussed the key findings from the ESRC-funded ‘A UK-Ireland investigation into the statistical evidence-base underpinning adult learning and education policy-making project‘. These findings included a decade of decline in participation in adult learning and education (ALE) and how this decline relates to the neoliberal ALE policy discourses in the last 25 years. 

27-30 August 2024 – Professor Ellen Boeren, Dr Zyra Evangelista, and Dr Betul Babayigit presented the findings of the second work package during a paper presentation session in ECER 2024. The presentation focused on the participation trends in the last 22 years and the changes in adults’ motivations and barriers.

27-30 August 2024 – Dr Betul Babayigit presented a paper on the major ALE data sources and discussed their pitfalls and possibilities during the ECER conference in Nicosia.

12 July 2025 – Professor Ellen Boeren delivered a keynote at the ARPCE conference at the University of Oxford. Her talk introduced the audience to the ESRC project, with an emphasis on the need for better data to stimulate evidence-based policymaking.

1-3 July 2024 – Professor John Holford, Associate Professor Sharon Clancy and Dr Betul Babayigit conducted a workshop to discuss the problems of the ALE participation measurement during the UALL-SCUTREA Conference 2024. The workshop also included discussions around streamlining and innovating data collection methods to track adults’ participation in ALE.

6 June 2024 – The Belfast event was re-run in Limavady to accommodate policy-makers and stakeholders in the West of Northern Ireland. Professor Ellen Boeren disseminated her talk on ‘inconsistencies in the current statistical evidence base on A.L.E. – what does this mean for Northern Ireland?’

27-31 May 2024 – Professor Ellen Boeren visited colleagues at Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic. She introduced the ESRC project to colleagues and run a workshop for staff and PhD students on writing for academic journals.

22-24 May 2024 – Professor Ellen Boeren provided a keynote at the Nordic Adult Education Conference at the University of Reykjavik, Iceland. She spoke about inequalities in participation in adult learning across Europe and introduced the audience to the ESRC project.

24 April 2024 – Professor Ellen Boeren spoke at an event in Belfast, organized by the Forum for Adult Learning in Northern Ireland. Her talk ‘inconsistencies in the current statistical evidence base on A.L.E. – what does this mean for Northern Ireland?’ was attended by policy-makers and stakeholders across the East of the county.

17 April 2024 – Professor Ellen Boeren gave a keynote talk during the International Lifelong Learning conference in Brussels, organized under Belgium’s European Presidency term. The keynote focused on ‘Evidence behind participation & motivation in learning’. During the afternoon, Professor Boeren spoke at interactive workshops with policy-makers and relevant stakeholders on the role of evidence-based policy-making in the area of adult learning and education.

13 March 2024 – The A.L.E. policies team organized an online webinar to disseminate results of WP1. Professor Boeren introduced the audience to the aims and objectives of the project. Dr Corin Egglestone talked about the involvement of the Learning & Work Institute and the annual Adult Participation in Learning Survey. Dr Betul Babayigit presented the results of WP1, which was followed by an interactive Q&A session chaired by Dr Sharon Clancy. The PowerPoint slides used at the seminar can be downloaded here:

29 February to 2 March 2024 – Dr Betul Babayigit, Professor John Holford and Professor Ellen Boeren attended the ESREA Policy Studies network conference in Madeira (Portugal). Results of WP1 were presented and discussed with the audience.

8 December 2023 – Dr Betul Babayigit presented the preliminary findings from the first work package at the ‘Internal Seminar Series’ by the University of Nottingham. She introduced the main ambitions of the project to the audience and discussed the key issues pertaining to measuring participation in ALE.

7 November 2023 – Professor Ellen Boeren introduced the audience to the aims and objectives of the project at a local event attended by adult learning stakeholders across Scotland. The event was organized by Scotland’s Learning Partnership.

5 to 7 June 2023 – Professor Ellen Boeren introduced the audience to the aims and the objectives of the project at the annual conference of the Social Policy Association, held in Nottingham.

21 June 2023 – Professor Ellen Boeren delivered a seminar about the project at the University of Durham. She introduced colleagues in the School of Education to the aims and ambitions of the project and discussed the role of the annual Adult Participation in Learning (APiL) Survey conducted by the Learning & Work Institute.