Learning for a Changing World: Ep 2 Never too Late to Learn 

As working lives get longer and the pace of economic and technological change accelerates, the case for supporting adults to keep learning has never been stronger. The latest episode of FE News Live put that challenge to the panel.

Never too late to learn was the second episode in Learning for a changing world, an FE News Live series exploring how education and skills systems must adapt to demographic shifts, economic transformation and emerging technologies, including AI.

This session turned to adult learning and the growing importance of helping people retrain and progress throughout longer careers. The panel discussed retraining later in working life, the funding barriers that hold adult learners back, the role of devolution in meeting regional skills needs, and how modular learning and the recognition of prior learning can open up more flexible routes back into education.

The conversation was hosted by Gavin O’Meara, CEO of FE News, and Suzanne Slater, Commercial Director at NCFE. They were joined by Mark Morrin, Head of Research at the Lifelong Education Institute, and Sam Rasiah, Founder and Fitness Coach at The Slink Academy, who shared his own experience of changing direction and retraining later in life.

The discussion landed on where the system is falling short for adult learners, and the policy and funding changes that could make lifelong learning a reality for everyone, with each panellist setting out the one change they would make to better support learning across a lifetime.

Watch the full episode below:

Never too late to learn, final episode airs live at 10am on Thursday, 25 June. Join us to watch the discussion.