The lifelong learning inquiry: why is it needed?

This week, Robert Halfon MP announced a new inquiry into lifelong learning after calling poor access to adult education a "glaring social injustice". The inquiry – undertaken by the education select committee which is chaired by Mr Halfon – is asking for submissions about the state of adult skills and lifelong learning in England. But why is an inquiry needed? And what are the issues with the current provision on offer? At the launch of the inquiry at the Centre for Social Justice, James Scales, head of education at the centre, said that there were four extremely worrying trends: Mr Scales called level 2 and 3 qualifications "crucial stepping stones to higher education – where the returns are even greater". He pointed towards the decline of people aged 19 and older completing the qualifications – and said there were no signs that would change anytime soon. A dip in learners taking part in part-time higher education. “Part-time higher education, a key motor of lifelong learning, is also stuttering. Numbers fell by 54 per cent between 2011 and 2018 and if we look at disadvantaged learners specifically we see that that rate is even higher at 65 per cent,” said Mr Scales.