Future of an Ageing Population

smaller proportion of men of any age group use adult education classes, and
these differences between the genders become more pronounced with age 57 .
Looking forward, the increasing demand for unpaid care (see Chapter 6) may
also increase the barrier to participation in adult education.
35
Proportion of learners (%)
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2002 2006 2010 2014
Year
Educational qualification: Survey of residents aged 10+
No qualification
Up to O Level/GCSE/NVQ2
of 40,000 households
A-Level/NVQ3
Higher educational qualification
Figure 3.3: Proportion of UK residents who report taking part in formal education or training in
the last 12 months, by highest educational qualification, 2002-2014 57 .
Funding is one of the major factors affecting provision and therefore
participation. Currently, public expenditure makes up the largest share
of spending on adult education, followed by private employers and then
individuals 79 . Reducing budgets may challenge the assumption that adult
learning and training are the state’s responsibility 57 . It remains to be seen what
impact the apprenticeship levy (a new scheme where control of apprenticeship
funding will be put in the hands of employers) has on the balance of funding I .
Currently 86% of spending on adult education is focused on the under 25s,
with significantly less provision for those aged 50 and over 57 . Private and public
spending on learning declines rapidly per head of population for those over 25
(see Figure 3.4) and the proportion of training paid for in part or in whole by
employers reportedly also declines with age (see Figure 3.5). However, training
older employees has been seen as a good return on investment for some
SMEs 32 .
In future, it is likely that some balance between public, personal and employer
finance will continue to be needed, coupled with the provision of information
to support individuals to take more control over their employment paths 57 .
I
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-levy
P47