Safia Flissi, ESOL Lecturer at South and City College Birmingham and NEC
The government’s recent announcement of a 6% cut in Adult Skills Funding (ASF) is yet another slap in the face for FE, ACE and our learners. Without resistance it will undoubtedly lead to mass course closures; making education inaccessible for many adults particularly those with few or no qualifications, unemployed, ESOL learners, adults with learning difficulties or disabilities and working adults on low incomes. In short the ASF cuts will hit the most disadvantaged and marginalised adults in our society.
Adult Education has a long history of creating educational opportunities, breaking down barriers and empowering adults. But since 2010, funding to adult education has reduced considerably. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, public funding for adult skills has declined by a third compared to its inflation adjusted peak in the early 2000s. That alone is terrible, however, it’s even worse when examining expenditure on classroom-based learning. This has fallen by two-thirds – from £5.1 billion to £1.7 billion by 2023/24, leading to a 47% reduction in adult learners. These cuts disproportionately affected lower-level
courses, making them unaffordable to deliver and thus limiting access for those seeking to upskill or retrain.
The Department for Education (DfE) has justified these cuts as necessary fiscal measures. However, this perspective overlooks the long-term economic benefits of adult education. Investing in adult skills contributes to a more adaptable workforce, reduces unemployment, and fosters innovation. The current funding reductions are counterproductive, undermining efforts to build a resilient economy. The DfE’s approach fails to consider the social value of FE colleges and Adult Education. But education is always more than simply “economic metrics”. Adult learning promotes personal development, mental health, economic growth, community development and social cohesion. FE colleges and Adult Education often serve as a lifeline for marginalised groups, providing pathways to employment and social inclusion. Reducing access to these programmes exacerbates inequality and hampers community development.
Colleges across the country are grappling with the consequences of reduced funding. For instance, NCG’s colleges report that demand for adult education is so high that they are delivering beyond their allocated budgets, making it impossible to support current student numbers. Lewisham College Principal Jamie Stevenson refers to the cuts as “unjust cuts” and reminds us that “Those figures aren’t just numbers or a funding amount. They are real people who need these opportunities.” In the West Midlands a vast number of FE colleges have large adult provisions and the impact of the cuts to ASF could have disastrous
consequences not only for FE colleges but also for the wider community.
South and City College Birmingham (SCCB), where I teach, is sadly a perfect example of where the cuts to ASF could jeopardise its future. SCCB has a large adult provision, it is a pivotal institution in the West Midlands, offering a wide range of adult education programmes aimed at upskilling the local workforce and supporting community development. Given Birmingham City Council’s financial challenges, including a declaration of effective bankruptcy, the college’s reliance on ASF becomes even more critical. Any reductions in this funding could lead to:
• Course reductions and the potential elimination of programmes essential for adult learners seeking to improve their qualifications.
• Job losses & hiring freezes, affecting the college’s capacity to deliver quality education.
• Limiting communities by reducing educational opportunities for adults in Birmingham, hindering efforts to address unemployment and social mobility.
The reduction in ASF poses a significant risk to institutions like NCG’s colleges, SCCB and others across the UK that provide vital adult education services. The cuts are a short-sighted approach undermining both individual potential and collective prosperity. In the face of escalating welfare cuts and sustained attacks on students and staff across post-16 education, it is more vital than ever to defend a broad, inclusive curriculum—one that meets the needs our most vulnerable learners including SEND learners, one that recognises gender diversity, and actively addresses issues of race, class, and inequality. By restoring investment in this vital sector, we can empower individuals, strengthen communities, and build a more equitable and resilient society.
As the UK looks to strengthen its workforce for future challenges, restoring and increasing ASF should be seen as an investment in people, not a cost. Political will is essential to reversing these funding cuts. Advocacy by education leaders, unions, and think tanks has brought the issue into the spotlight, but real change requires sustained pressure on policymakers by the trade union movement.
UCU must act now. UCU’s campaign to reverse the cuts should include lobbies and demonstrations at Parliament to push the issue into the political spotlight, issue media alerts and build public awareness of what’s at risk. UCU must seek to work with the WEA, TUC, ESOL campaigners and others to build a broad, cross union coalition to protect adult provisions.
Let’s not accept these cuts. Let’s expose them, fight them, and reverse them. The future of our communities, our colleges, and our learners depends on it.