PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(7 January 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Association of Colleges' report entitled From treatment to prevention: how colleges can build a healthier society, published in December 2025, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of access to further education colleges' adult community learning programmes on supporting public health outcomes for local people, including on the level of demand for primary care services.

Asked by:
Dr Simon Opher (Labour)

The primary purpose of Tailored Learning, which includes what used to be called Community Learning, is to support learners into employment and to progress to further learning, in line with the overall purpose of the Adult Skills Fund.

It plays a vital role within adult learning provision of supporting those furthest from the workplace and in improving wider outcomes, such as the health and well-being of learners and equipping parents/carers to support their child’s learning.

It is an important stepping stone for learners, including disadvantaged learners, who are not ready for formal accredited learning or who would benefit from learning in a more informal way.

In the 2024/25 academic year, 62,390 learners participated in learning to improve their health and well-being.

Answered by:
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