Academic year 2025/26

Further education and skills

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See all updates (1) for Academic year 2025/26

  1. Initial release of data covering the period August 2025 to October 2025

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Introduction

This release shows provisional in-year data on adult (19+) further education (FE) and skills in England reported for the academic year 2025/26 (August 2025 to October 2025) based on data returned by providers in December 2025. This includes apprenticeships in the overall FE and skills numbers, but for detailed statistics relevant to apprenticeships please see the ‘Apprenticeships release’. 

We always welcome feedback on our releases, please email us at FE.OFFICIALSTATISTICS@education.gov.uk.

Please note that the ‘Explore data and files’ section contains the underlying files and featured tables that underpin this release. You can also view featured tables or create your own table using the ‘create your own tables' functionality.

Related information

Releases in this series

View releases (12) for Further education and skills

Methodologies

Headline facts and figures - 2025/26

Explore data and files used in this release

  • View or create your own tables

    View tables that we have built for you, or create your own tables from open data using our table tool

  • Data catalogue

    Browse and download open data files from this release in our data catalogue

  • Data guidance

    Learn more about the data files used in this release using our online guidance

  • Download all data (ZIP)

    Download all data available in this release as a compressed ZIP file

Additional supporting files

All supporting files from this release are listed for individual download below:

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About these statistics

This statistical release presents provisional information on adult (19+) FE and skills participation and achievements in England for the 2025/26 academic year (covering August 2025 to October 2025). We are also publishing supporting data files on 16-18 participation and enrolments in this release. These official statistics in development are published to support the testing phase of a FE Provider Dashboard for colleges and larger local authority FE providers in receipt of £1m or more. The data presented is as recorded on the ILR and may not represent an accurate estimate of activity by providers at this stage. Further development of these data will continue to improve these estimates to offer better transparency on 16-18 activity. Estimates will therefore cover all providers reporting on the ILR whether they are in scope of the FE performance dashboard or not. 

A separate release covers apprenticeships data, please see ‘Apprenticeships release’, but note that apprenticeships are included in the overall FE and skills numbers in this release. 

Individualised Learner Record (ILR) administrative data 

The ILR is an administrative data collection system designed primarily for operational use in order to fund training providers for learners in FE and on apprenticeship programmes. We publish a high volume of FE statistics using provisional, in year data and use latest data as soon as available despite not being ‘final’. This enables us to provide the earliest picture of FE performance and allows users to assess the impact of government-funded provision and hold the ‘system’ to account. 

The FE and skills data in this release are based on the fourth ILR data return from FE and apprenticeship providers for the 2025/26 academic year, which was taken in December 2025.

Quarterly release schedule: 

  • Quarter 1: Data from August to October published in January 
  • Quarter 2: Data from August to January published in March 
  • Quarter 3: Data from August to April published in July 
  • Full Year: Data from August to July published in November 

Note: The academic year in the FE publications covers August to July. 

National achievement rate tables data 

Figures in the ‘national achievement rate tables’ section are as published in March 2025. These official statistics cover achievement rates for the 2023/24 academic year and would have been previously released as part of the standalone National achievement rate tables publication. 

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How to find data and featured tables in this release

The content of the publication contains charts and tables which highlight key figures and trends that give an overview of the national picture.

At relevant points within each commentary section there are links to "featured tables" that offer the next level of detail behind each of the tables embedded within the release. The table builder tool “featured tables” sit within, also enables the user to amend content, reorder and take away to meet their needs.

The user can also choose just to explore the data within this release by using the 'Explore data and files used in this release' section. Here the user can either select “view or create your own tables” to view all of the ready-made “featured tables” in a single list, or build their own table by selecting a datafile that underpins the release, or use one of the featured tables as a starting point.

There is also a dashboard that provides interactive presentation of our published data, with a number of different views on to data and ‘drilldown’ capability to allow users to investigate different types of FE provision. It is particularly helpful in viewing data across different geographical areas and providers. See the Interactive data visualisation tool accordion for the dashboard link.

This release also contains an ‘Additional supporting files’ accordion containing mainly csv files that can be downloaded, which provide some additional breakdowns including unrounded data. They are provided for transparency to enable analysts to re-use the data in this release. A metadata document is available in the same location which explains the content of these supporting files. Please note some of the files are too large for proprietary software such as Excel and may need specialist analysis software such as R, SQL, etc.

Feedback

We continually look to improve our data and statistics and your feedback is important to help us further improve and develop. To provide feedback on this release, please email us at FE.OFFICIALSTATISTICS@education.gov.uk

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Full-year adult (19+) education and training

As set out in the ‘Changes to the reporting of Further Education and Skills’ section in the 2024/25 release, we revised our definition of Education and Training, following the introduction of the Adult Skills Fund and Tailored Learning.

To enable consistent reporting, historic Education and Training figures were recast to reflect the new definition. They amalgamate what were separately reported Education and Training and Community Learning provision types into a single Education and Training category, reflecting all adult Further Education activity that is not apprenticeships. 

Breakdowns of Education and Training participation and achievements in regulated qualifications and in non-regulated provision were added to the data reported.

The figures in this section cover adult (19+) education and training under the new definition and relate to full-year final data up to and including the 2024/25 academic year, first published in November 2025.

Levels

Adult participation in Education and training decreased by 4.8% to 1,174,940 in 2024/25, following a series of year-on-year increases since 2020/21.

Achievements have followed a similar pattern, decreasing by 3.3% from 2023/24 to 996,690 in 2024/25 after three successive years of increases.

Since 2022/23, participation and achievements in Multiply and Skills Bootcamps courses have contributed to Education and training totals and explain most of the increases seen in 2022/23 and 2023/24. Funding for the Multiply Programme stopped at the end of March 2025, part way through the 2024/25 academic year. This has contributed to the fall in Education and Training seen in the latest figures. (see the 'Non-regulated provision and Tailored Learning’ section for further information on enrolments, participation and achievements on the Multiply programme).

Level 2 courses remain the most popular among those aims where a level is assigned (419,240 learners), with the vast majority participating in regulated qualifications (381,850). Entry Level (268,830) and Level 1 (224,610) were the next most popular where level is known.

Level 3 participation has seen year-on-year increases, rising 3.0% to 146,730 in the latest year. Much of the recent rise at level 3 has been from non-regulated Skills Bootcamps aims.

Participation on non-regulated courses with no level assigned was 430,510 in 2024/25, rising by 3.8% from 414,750 in 2023/24 and from 403,520 in 2022/23. Participation in such courses saw a large rise in 2022/23, increasing from 316,840 in 2021/22, mainly due to the introduction of the Multiply programme. Skills Bootcamps (and to a lesser extent Community and Tailored Learning) have also contributed to the recent increases.

Subjects

Subject breakdowns for Education and training enrolments are restricted to regulated qualifications in the charts and summary statistics below. Non-regulated Community and Tailored Learning aims have not had subject areas allocated to them since 2023/24, leading to invalid comparisons to earlier years when looking at the whole of Education and training.

Of the 1,246,010 enrolments on regulated qualifications in 2024/25:

  • Science, technology engineering and maths (STEM) subjects represented 16.3% of enrolments - an increase from 15.2% in 2023/24 (or 8,880 enrolments).
  • The subjects showing the greatest increase in enrolment numbers compared to 2023/24 were engineering and manufacturing technologies (up by 4,480 - 9.4%) and construction, planning and the built environment (up by 3,190 - 5.4%).
  • The subjects showing the greatest decrease in enrolment numbers compared to 2023/24 were health, public services and care (down by 23,890 – 8.9%) and business, administration and law (down by 8,860 – 8.1%).
  • Preparation for life and work was the most popular subject area, accounting for over two-fifths of all enrolments (42.1%). The majority of enrolments in this subject area were essential skills (maths, English, ESOL or digital) with many of the rest being in employability skills, personal and social skills or living/working in the UK.
  • Despite seeing a fall in enrolments, health, public services and care (19.6%) and business, administration and law (8.1%) remain the next most popular subject areas after preparation for life and work.
  • Construction, planning and the built environment is the only subject area that has seen year-on-year increases in enrolments in the last five years, increasing from 39,950 in 2019/20 to 62,570 in 2024/25.

Subject breakdowns within levels:

  • Entry and Level 1 courses together made up half of all enrolments – 631,640 in total. The majority of these were in preparation for life and work (72.1%).
  • Of those qualifications at level 2 and above, STEM subjects represented one-fifth (20.4%) of enrolments – up from 18.7% in 2023/24.
  • Health, public services and care was the most dominant sector subject area at level 2 and above accounting for around a third (34.3%) of all such enrolments. The prevalence of health, public services and care enrolments increases by level, with 32.6% of level 2, 40.3% of level 3, and 43.7% of enrolments at level 4 and above being in this subject area.

The share of education and training enrolments among other subjects varies depending on level.

  • Preparation for life and work ranks as the second most popular subject area for level 2 courses, followed by business, administration and law.
  • At level 3, retail and commercial enterprise, then digital technologies rank second and third, each having roughly the same number of enrolments (8.7% and 8.6% respectively).
  • Enrolments in level 4 and above courses are small, accounting for under 1% of all enrolments. Only three subject areas had more than 1,000 enrolments in 2024/25, together making up around 70% of level 4+ courses. These were health, public services and care, retail and commercial enterprise, and business, administration and law.

Demographics

Of the 1,174,940 learners participating in adult education and training in 2024/25: 

  • Females account for 62.5% (734,000). The share of female learners has declined in the last few years from 66.7% in 2020/21.
  • Learners aged 19-24, 25-49, and 50 and over accounted for 18.1% (212,710), 59.0% (693,120) and 22.9% (268,990) respectively - broadly in line with the previous year.
  • Those declaring a learner learning difficulty and/or disability (LLDD) account for 22.9% (261,260) an increase from 21.8% in 2023/24.
  • The proportion of White learners dropped to 62.4% from 64.5% in the previous year. All ethnic minority groups (excluding white minorities) increased their share of education and training participants in consecutive years since 2021/22.

Region

The North East consistently records the highest learner participation rates in education and training among adults when adjusted for population size. This is largely driven by strong engagement among 19-24-year-olds and high enrolment in Level 1 and Level 2 courses. In contrast, the South West, East of England, and the South East have the lowest participation rates per 100,000 population.

The North East consistently records the highest education and training learner achievement rates among adults when adjusted for population size. This is largely driven by strong performance among 19-24-year-olds and high success rates in Level 1 and Level 2 courses. The South West, East of England, and the South East have the lowest learner achievement rates per 100,000 population.

Provider type

Almost half (49.2%) of education and training participation by adults was in General FE Colleges (GFECs) during 2024/25, with Local Authorities (LAs) delivering just over a quarter (26.4%). 

For learners participating in regulated qualifications, 64.0% were in GFECs, 20.1% in private sector providers and 11.9% in LAs. 

The share looks quite different for non-regulated provision, with 45.3% participating in LAs, 32.9% in GFECs and 11.2% in private providers. 

Advanced Learner Loans

The number of learners participating with an advanced learner loan has fallen year-on-year to 36,890 in 2024/25.

Of the 36,890 learners participating with an advanced learner loan in 2024/25:

  • Most of the learners were at Level 3 (30,330).
  • Of those at Level 3, the highest participation was from the 31-40 age group (8,860) followed by the 19-23 age group (8,040).
  • Level 4 or above participation was 7,080.

Further information can be found in the following featured tables:

Education and training participation by ethnicity and sex
Education and training provider participation
Education and training provider aims enrolments
Education and training subject aims enrolments by detailed level
Education and training learner characteristics by learning difficulty / disability
Education and training learner characteristics by IMD (Index Multiple Deprivation) quintile and age
Education and training learner participation and achievement by age
Advanced learner loans applications by age

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Latest in-year adult (19+) education and training

The figures in this section cover adult (19+) education and training in the first quarter of the 2025/26 academic year (Aug to Oct) and shows corresponding data at the same time point for the previous three years.

  • Adult participation in Education and training reported to date has decreased by 7.0% to 573,330 compared to 2024/25 (616,500).
  • Level 2 courses remain the most popular (195,090 learners participating), followed by entry level (156,490).
  • There has been a decrease in participation on courses that have no level associated with them – 145,210 reported to date compared to 171,540 in 2024/25. Much of this decrease is due to the Multiply programme that ran until the end of March 2025 (no learners in 2025/26). Most multiply learning aims had no level assigned. Multiply contributed 25,970 learners with no level assigned at this point in 2024/25.

Further information can be found in the following featured tables : 

Education and training participation by provider type (in-year comparisons)
Education and training achievements by provider type (in-year comparisons)
Education and training participation by English devolved area

Free Courses for Jobs

Since April 2021, adults aged 19 and over have been able to access a level 3 qualification for free under Free Courses for Jobs (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (FCFJ).

A level 3 qualification (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) is equivalent to an advanced technical certificate or diploma, or A levels.

The criteria for adults who are eligible for the national offer have changed over time:

Between April 2021 and March 2022 – offer open to adults aged 19 or over who did not already have a full level 3 qualification.

Between April 2022 and July 2024 – as above and extended to adults aged 19 or over who were earning under the National Living Wage or were unemployed, irrespective of their prior attainment. 

From August 2024 – open to adults aged 19 or over, earning below £25,000 or unemployed.

From August 2025 – some level 2 courses qualify for the free courses for jobs offer.

Courses that are available under the offer come from the list of courses eligible for FCFJ funding (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab), and have changed over time (within and between academic years) as some have been added or removed from the list.

In addition, devolved administrations (MCAs and GLA) have had the flexibility to use a proportion of their FCFJ funding to deliver Level 3 qualifications that are not on the FCFJ list. From April 2022 this was 20% of FCFJ funding, rising to 50% in April 2023. They also retain some flexibility over the eligibility criteria, for example, setting their own earnings threshold.

Note: Direct comparisons between academic years should be avoided, as both the eligibility criteria and the qualifications valid within the offer have evolved over time. 

All FCFJ figures are based solely based on eligibility of learners and validity of courses that applied at the reported time and run from April 2021 when FCFJ was first introduced. See the methodology for further information. 

Figures reported up to the first quarter of the 2025/26 academic year show that;

  • The cumulative number of enrolments by eligible adults on FCFJ list courses stands at 124,150; with 12,530 of these reported in the 2025/26 academic year so far.
  • The cumulative number of achievements by eligible adults on FCFJ list courses stands at 77,040.
  • There have been a total of 23,530 starts on courses under MCA’s flexible arrangements for devolved administrations.

Further information can be found in the following featured table:

Cumulative free courses for jobs enrolments and achievements by sex and subject area

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Non-regulated provision and tailored learning

Non-regulated education and training

Since 2024/25, education and training measures in this release have been broken down by activity on regulated qualifications and in non-regulated provision.

Non-regulated learning aims are not subject to awarding organisation external accreditation in the form of a regulated qualification. Courses that have no awarding organisation and are not programme aims have been classified as non-regulated. Tailored Learning and Skills Bootcamps account for a substantial proportion of non-regulated courses with Multiply aims also contributing to non-regulated figures in 2022/23 and 2023/24. Regulated qualifications are those regulated by government-recognised bodies such as Ofqual and lead to qualifications administered by an awarding organisation. 

The chart below shows historical learner participation split into regulated qualifications and non-regulated provision. 

Note: learners doing a mix of qualifications and non-regulated provision will appear in each category.

The majority of learners in education and training study at least one course that can lead to a regulated qualification. The numbers participating in regulated fell by 4.5% in the last year, with 740,620 learners recorded in 2024/25.

After several years of growth in participation on non-regulated courses to just over 620,000 learners in 2023/24, the latest full-year figures show a 3.6% decline to just under 600,000. Around half of learners did some form of non-regulated learning in this year. Recent growth follows a large decline in non-regulated participation during the period affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Participation in non-regulated provision remains below the levels seen before 2019/20, but in 2024/25 made up a higher percentage of overall learners.

Tailored learning 

Tailored learning is primarily non-qualification based provision that is tailored to the skills needs of the learners, employers and local communities. Tailored learning is non-formula funded which gives it the flexibility to support learners furthest from the workplace and to meet changing employer needs. The primary purpose of tailored learning is to support learners into employment and to progress to further learning, in line with the overall purpose of the Adult Skills Fund (ASF). It will, however, also support wider outcomes including improvements to health and wellbeing, and equipping parents/carers to support their child’s learning.

Further details can be found in the methodology.

Latest in-year tailored learning for 2025/26

The breakdowns we provide below are for the entirety of provision funded through Tailored Learning (funding model 11 in the ILR (opens in new tab)). While all Tailored Learning titled aims (LARS category code 75) are non-regulated, we are including numbers where providers have used flexibilities for tailored learning funding on ASF formula-funded provision to meet local demand. A small amount may be in regulated qualifications. Around 0.4% of tailored learning reported in 2024/25 was on aims that can lead to a qualification.

Contribution to all non-regulated education and training

Tailored learning made up 55.1% of all adult non-regulated education and training enrolments in the first three months of the 2025/26 academic year. This is higher than the 48.7% reported at the same point in the previous year.

Tailored Learning participation

There were 150,060 learners participating in tailored learning in the first three months of 2025/26, 1.4% higher than the 147,920 reported at the same point in 2024/25.

Tailored Learning purpose

Tailored Learning is recorded against seven purpose types, related to the learner’s participation intent at the start of the course. Providers must determine one purpose per learner per learning aim and where learners have multiple purposes, they must pick the primary one. Learners on the same course may have different purposes. 

For the first three months of 2025/26, just under a third of learners (32.1%) were participating with a purpose to improve essential skills. The next most popular purpose was preparation for further learning, engaging / building confidence, followed by preparation for further learning.

Demographics

Of the 150,060 learners participating in Tailored Learning in the first three months of the 2025/26 academic year:

  • Over seven in ten (71.2%) were females. 
  • 23.5% declared themselves as having a learning difficulty or disability (LLDD).
  • Ethnic minority (excluding white minority) learners made up 43.9% of tailored learning with Asian / Asian British (19.3%) and Black / African / Caribbean / Black British (10.4%) learners most prevalent.
  • 38.4% were aged fifty or over, 52.6% were aged 25-49 and 8.9% aged between 19 and 24.

Family Learning

Of the 150,060 learners participating in Tailored Learning in the first three months of 2025/26, 4.9% (7,380 learners) were reported as participating in family learning. This compares to 5.6% (8,350 learners) reported at the same point in 2024/25.

Note: The collection of family learning in the ILR is not enforced through validation, but providers are expected to return this data where available to identify this type of delivery.

Employer-facing Tailored Learning

A set of Tailored Learning aims  (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) for employer-facing provision were introduced in 2024/25, based on sector subject areas. 

Of the 150,060 learners participating in Tailored Learning in the first three quarters of 2025/26, 2.7% (4,110) were reported as engaging in an employer-facing course. This compares to 2.8% (4,150 learners) reported at the same point in 2024/25.

Tailored Learning Outcomes 

The primary purpose of tailored learning is to support learners into employment and to progress to further learning. It also supports wider outcomes including improving health and wellbeing, equipping parents / carers to support their child’s learning, and developing stronger and more integrated communities.

A tailored Learning outcome field was added to the ILR for 2024/25. This records the outcome of the learning for the learner in one of eleven categories when they have completed or withdrawn from the planned learning activities.

It is recognised that once a learner progresses on a course, their desired outcome may change. The learner’s outcome at the end of the course does not need to correspond with the initial purpose as reported above. In practice a learner may achieve more than one outcome area, but providers are required to record the main one only.

Outcomes have not yet been recorded for 46% of tailored learning enrolments in the first three months of the 2025/26. This is to be expected in early ILR collections. Around 5% of all enrolments so far have been reported as ‘No outcome area achieved’.

Improved skills for progressing to further learning is the most popular of the recorded outcomes followed by increased confidence and improved essential skills. 

Further information can be found in the following featured tables : 

Tailored learning participation by learner characteristics
Tailored learning participation and achievements by sex and age
Tailored learning participation and achievements by primary learning difficulty/disability
Tailored learning provider breakdowns by purpose
Tailored learning provider breakdowns by outcome
Tailored learning provider breakdowns
Tailored learning comparisons by region

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Essential skills provision

Adult essential skills

Essential skills are courses that help adults get the English, numeracy or digital skills that are needed for work and everyday life. English courses are split into two subjects: English (covering basic English and communication skills) and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), which provides skills to help with life in England, including reading, writing, speaking, and listening. 

Essential skills provision supports adults aged 19 and over to improve their English and maths skills up to level 2 (GCSE grade 4/C or equivalent); ESOL, if English is not their first language; or digital skills, if they have low digital skills or little to no experience of using computers or other digital devices.

From the 2025/26 publication onwards figures for pre-entry level essential skills are shown separately, whereas in previous years they were included in entry-level figures.

Information on the changes introduced for the 2024/25 publication is provided in the Methodology.   

Overall participation and achievements (year to date)

Participation

A total of 272,140 adult learners (aged 19 and over) participated in essential skills courses in the first three months (August to October) of the 2025/26 academic year. This is a decrease of 14.2% (or 45,210 learners) from the 317,350 reported at the same point in 2024/25. Of those adult learners participating in essential skills in the 2025/26 academic year to date:

  • 110,460 participated on a maths course, down 27.2% from 151,690 at the same point in 2024/25
  • 103,270 participated on an English course, down 24.4% from 136,530 in 2024/25
  • 118,220 participated on an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course, making ESOL the most popular essential skills subject
  • 20,070 participated on a digital skills course, a fall of 5.1% from 21,150 compared to a year ago

Since February 2025 (opens in new tab), apprentices aged 19 or over who do not have level 2 English and maths qualifications are no longer required to achieve these qualifications to complete their apprenticeship. This has led to a substantial reduction in the number of apprentices participating in level 2 English and maths compared to the same point last year. 

Participation in level 2 English, as part of apprenticeship provision, fell by 52.9% over the year (from 52,760 to 24,860 learners), while level 2 maths participation was down 56.9% (from 65,020 to 28,040). Overall, level 2 participation was down 29.9% compared to last year, falling from 139,830 to 98,040 learners. 

By comparison, participation in pre-entry level courses fell by 3.4% over the year, down from 25,360 to 24,490 learners; entry-level courses saw a slight increase in participation, rising by 1.3% from 119,530 to 121,070; and level 1 participation was down 9.2% from 57,910 to 52,560.

Achievements

In the first three months of the 2025/26 academic year a total of 31,040 adult learners achieved an essential skills learning aim, which is 8.8% (or 2,980 learners) lower than the 34,020 reported in 2024/25.

As with participation, the fall in achievements is largely due to a decrease in level 2 English and maths as part of apprenticeship provision. The number of learners achieving a level 2 English aim as part of an apprenticeship fell by 55.1% over the year (from 4,160 to 1,870), while the number achieving level 2 maths was down 63.4% (from 3,940 to 1,440).

Participation in regulated and non-regulated learning (year to date)

The majority of adult learners participate in regulated essential skills provision, with 70.7% (or 192,390 out of a total of 272,140 learners) doing so in 2025/26. However, this continues a declining trend in recent years and is lower than the rate of 83.1% seen in 2020/21 and 75.8% in 2024/25.

By contrast the rate of participation in non-regulated essential skills provision continues to increase, rising to 36.9% (or 100,530 out of a total of 272,140 learners) in 2025/26. This is up from 30.6% at the same point last year and nearly double the rate of 19.8% seen in 2020/21. 

Participation and achievements in regulated qualifications (year to date)

Participation

In the first three months of the 2025/26 academic year, 192,390 adult learners participated in regulated essential skills qualifications. This is down 20.0%, or 48,090 learners, from the 240,480 reported at the same point in 2024/25.

Participation in regulated level 2 essential skills qualifications accounted for most of this decrease, falling by 32.1% compared to last year, from 132,790 to 90,120 learners. By comparison, participation in regulated entry level courses was relatively stable at 75,750 learners, while regulated level 1 participation was down 13.3% from 46,490 to 40,290.

This pattern of an increasing rate of participation in non-regulated provision and a falling rate in regulated provision is largely accounted for by the introduction of additional learning aims in 2024/25, all of which are non-regulated. Final figures for 2024/25 show that if these additional aims were excluded, the rate of non-regulated participation would have increased only marginally between 2020/21 and 2024/25, from 17.1% to 17.8%, while the rate of regulated participation would have been relatively unchanged at 90.9%.

Achievements

In the first three months of the 2025/26 academic year, 6,860 learners achieved a regulated essential skills qualification, which is 42.8% (or 5,130 learners) lower than the 11,990 reported at the same point in 2024/25.

As with overall essential skills provision, the decrease in participation and achievements in regulated qualifications is largely explained by a drop in the number of learners studying level 2 English and maths as part of apprenticeship provision.

Characteristics of adult essential skills learners (year to date)

The majority (nearly two thirds) of adult learners participating in essential skills in the first three months of the 2025/26 academic year were female (65.1%). This is higher than for all adult further education and skills participation, where females accounted for 57.0% of learners.

Most adult essential skills learners fell within the 25-49 age group (60.3%), which again is higher than for all further education and skills participation (53.9%).

Some 23.2% (61,420 out of 264,960 adult learners with known data) declared they had a learning difficulty and/or disability, compared to 20.6% of all further education and skills learners. 

Adult learners participating in essential skills are more likely to be from ethnic minority groups compared to those participating in all further education and skills provision. In the first three months of the 2025/26 academic year, 59.8% (151,370 out of a total of 252,990 with known ethnicity) of essential skills learners were from ethnic minority groups, compared to 32.3% for all further education and skills participation. 

This higher rate of participation in essential skills by learners from ethnic minorities is largely accounted for by greater participation in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) courses, where they accounted for 79.9% of learners (or 85,500 out of 107,070 learners with known ethnicity). 

Full-year participation and achievements 

Participation

A total of 453,340 adult learners participated in essential skills courses in the 2024/25 academic year. This was down 4.9% (23,350 learners) from 476,690 in 2023/24, but 5.2% (22,610 learners) above the 430,730 reported in 2020/21. Of those adult learners participating in essential skills in 2024/25:

  • 210,710 participated on a maths course, down 8.5% from 230,370 in 2023/24
  • 188,680 participated on an English course, down 10.0% from 209,750 in 2023/24
  • 168,730 participated on an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course, which was relatively unchanged from 2023/24
  • 47,410 participated on a digital skills course, up 9.7% from 43,240 in 2023/24 

Achievements

A total of 318,740 adult learners achieved an essential skills learning aim in 2024/25, which was a decrease of 2.2% on the 325,770 reported in 2023/24 and reversed the upward trend seen since 2020/21.

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Total adult (19+) activity in Further Education and skills (including apprenticeships)

This is a summary of all adult further education activity including Apprenticeships, Community Learning (to 2024/25), Tailored Learning (2024/25 onwards) and Education and Training provision.

In-year adult further education and skills 

The figures in this section cover in-year data reported to date (August to October).

Latest in-year further education and skills participation (August to October)

  • Adult participation in Further Education and skills reported to date has decreased by 2.0% to 1,068,520 compared to 2024/25 (1,090,520).
  • Level 3 courses were the most popular (290,050 learners participating), followed by Level 2 (250,610).
  • Level 2 (250,610) has decreased by 8.3% compared to the same time last year (273,270).
  • No level assigned (145,210) decreased by 15.3% compared to same time last year (171,540). Much of this decrease is due to the Multiply programme that ran until the end of March 2025 (no learners in 2025/26). Most multiply learning aims had no level assigned. Multiply contributed 25,970 learners with no level assigned at this point in 2024/25.

Further information can be found in the following featured tables : 

Further education and skills comparisons by provider type and level (in year)
Further education and skills comparisons by region (in year)
Further education and skills comparisons by sector subject area (in year)
 

Full year adult further education and skills

The figures in this section relate to full-year final data up to and including the 2024/25 academic year. The next update of this full year data will be November 2026. 
 

Adult participation in further education and skills has declined in the last decade. From the most recent peak of nearly 3.3 million learners in 2012/13, participation fell to 1.6 million in 2020/21. The previous three academic years did see a reverse of this trend with participation rising to 1.8 million in 2022/23 and 2023/24, however a decline of 1.7% has been seen in 2024/25.

Of the 1.8 million adult learners participating in 2024/25:

  • The number on Level 2 courses was 497,870 – down 4.1% (on Full Level 2, there were 94,330 learners – down 8.4%).
  • The number on Level 3 courses was 404,140 – up 2.2% (on Full Level 3, there were 293,980 learners – up 1.1%).
  • The number of No level assigned was 430,550 – up 3.8% – this increase is largely due to Tailored Learning and Skills Bootcamps.
     

Demographics

Around three in five learners participating in FE & Skills in 2024/25 were female (58.6%).

The proportion of learners aged 50 and above reduced from 20% in 2018/19 to 14.7% in 2020/21 during the period affected by Covid. Since then, this age-group has seen recovery with participation increasing by over a third from 241,560 in 2020/21 to 307,750 in 2024/25.

The proportion of learners declaring a learning difficulty or disability has increased to just over one in five (20.3%) in 2024/25, from 19.5% in in 2023/24 and is the fourth consecutive annual increase in the share of LLDD learners from a low of 16.3% in 2020/21.

Ethnicity

The proportion of learners participating in FE & Skills who are white has declined in recent years. 69.2% of learners were white in 2024/25 compared to 76.5% in 2018/19.

Over the period 2020/21 to 2024/25:

  • Asian / Asian British learners increased from 9.5% to 12.9%
  • Black / African / Caribbean/ Black British learners increased from 7.6% to 9.0%
  • Learners from mixed/multiple ethnic groups increased from 3.5% to 4.2%
  • Learners from other ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) increased from 3.6% to 4.7%

Since 2022/23, the number of adults participating in FE Skills increased in every major ethnic minority group by at least 5.3% to 2024/25. White learner numbers fell by 3.6% in the last year.

 

Further information can be found in the following featured tables: 

Further education and skills participation and achievements by learning difficulty/disability
Further education and skills learner characteristics by sex and ethnicity group
Further education and skills participation by age and IMD (Index Multiple Deprivation) quintile
Further education and skills participation and achievements per 100,000 of population by region

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National achievement rate tables

The following statistics are classified as official statistics and have been produced in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, rather than being classed as accredited official statistics and independently reviewed as such by the Office for Statistics Regulation (opens in new tab). The statistics are included for transparency purposes. 

This section includes new data showing 2023/24 as first published in March 2025, along with historical data for 2021/22 and 2022/23. The historical figures have not been re-calculated and are shown as originally published in March 2024.

Data for years prior to 2019/20 can be found in the Statistics: national achievement rates tables (opens in new tab) collection.

Apprenticeship achievement rate statistics are available in the Apprenticeships statistics publication.

Headline facts and figures

Overall achievement rates within the 19+ Education and Training cohort have increased from 86.8% in 2022/23 to 87.4% in 2023/24, an increase of 0.6 percentage points. Compared with 2021/22 they are up by 1.2 percentage points. 

 


19+ Education and Training achievement rates by sector subject area

The largest sector subject area is Preparation for Life and Work (725,930 leavers) making up 49.4% of the total. 86.9% of this activity is below level two.

The sectors with the highest achievement rates in 2023/24 are Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies as well as Arts, Media and Publishing. Both have an average rate of 92.4%.

The sector showing the highest increase in achievement rates since last year is Education and Training which shows an increase of 1.9 percentage points since last year.

All sectors are showing an increase in achievement rates since last year.  The only exception is in Social Sciences, though this only makes up 0.1% of all adult activity.


19+ Achievement Rates by  ethnicity

Caution should be used interpreting simple averages because differences in provision mix across sectors will lead to change in overall averages. 

The figures in this section cover the achievement rates for those learners who are from ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities). Please note the figures for “White ethnic groups” includes white minorities. 

In 2023/24, learners aged 19+ from ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) had an overall education and training achievement rate of 87.2%, an increase of 0.6 percentage points from 86.6% in 2022/23.

The number of leavers from ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) was 646,050 which represents 43.9% of all leavers. The take up of education and training for learners from ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) varies according to the sector subject area.

The sector with the highest proportion of leavers from minority ethnic groups (excluding white minorities) was Preparation for Life and Work where 56.6% of leavers were from ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities). The sector with the lowest proportion was Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care at 12.9%. 

Achievement rates by provider

Summary data for individual providers can be found here :19+ Education and training achievement rates by provider
A more detailed view by provider can be found here :19+ Education and training achievement rates by provider - detailed view

Background information 

National achievement rate tables are based on underlying Qualification Achievement Rates (QAR) data. Information about the process surrounding QARs can be found by clicking here (opens in new tab).  Whilst data on 19+ provision is provided for performance management purposes, 16-18 provision is also included to give a complete view of individual provider performance.

How rates are calculated 

Information about how QARs are calculated can be found by clicking here (opens in new tab).

Redactions

No providers have been redacted in either 2023/24 or 2022/23.  We have redacted three providers from 2021/22 from our formal performance tables (NARTs) where we are unable to form a reliable QAR. This is done where the data we hold does not allow us to calculate a reliable estimate and therefore provides an unfair measure of performance. We publish headline information for these providers separately for transparency, but they do not constitute a formal QAR and should not be used to compare performance. The underpinning data is included in our national achievement rates to provide a complete view of performance. 

Details can be found in the ‘Education and Training Achievement Rates – Transparency Redactions.pdf’ supporting file in the Additional supporting files accordion.

19+ Education and training achievement rates by learner demographics
19+ Education and training achievement rates by Ethnicity
19+ Education and training achievement rates by Learners with a Learning Difficulty and or Disability
19+ Education and training achievement rates by Sex
19+ Education and training achievement rates for essential skills
19+ Education and training achievement rates for essential skills by provider
19+ Education and training achievement rates showing GCSE low and high grade proportions
19+ Education and training achievement rates by provider showing GCSE low grade and high grade proportions

 

UPDATED 11th April

Additional data files added to enable users to view data with GCSEs included :

19+ Education and training achievement rates by provider - detailed view including GCSEs
19+ Education and training achievement rates by level including GCSEs
19+ Education and training achievement rates by learning aim
 

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Help and support

Methodology

Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.

Accredited official statistics

These accredited official statistics have been independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (opens in new tab) (OSR). They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics (opens in new tab). Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (opens in new tab).

Accreditation signifies their compliance with the authority's Code of Practice for Statistics (opens in new tab) which broadly means these statistics are:

  • managed impartially and objectively in the public interest
  • meet identified user needs
  • produced according to sound methods
  • well explained and readily accessible

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics (opens in new tab) that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website (opens in new tab).

Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Further education and skills statistics and data:

FE Statistics Production and Dissemination Team

Email: FE.OFFICIALSTATISTICS@education.gov.uk
Contact name: FE Statistics Production and Dissemination Team

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