Obstacles to participation in lifelong learning by educational attainment level

Description

The Adult Education Survey (AES) covers adults’ participation in education and training (formal, non-formal and informal learning) and is one of the main data sources for EU lifelong learning statistics. The AES focuses on people aged 25-64 living in private households. The reference period for the participation in education and training is the twelve months prior to the interview.

The following information is available from the AES:

• Participation in formal education, non-formal education and training and informal learning (respectively labelled FED, NFE and INF)
• Volume of instruction hours
• Characteristics of the learning activities
• Reasons for participating
• Obstacles to participation
• Access to information on learning possibilities
• Employer financing and costs of learning
• Self-reported language skills

Two waves of the survey have been implemented so far (2007 AES and 2011 AES). The first AES – referred to as 2007 AES – was a pilot exercise and carried out on a voluntary basis in 29 countries in the EU, EFTA (European Free Trade Association) and candidate countries between 2005 and 2008. The 2011 AES was underpinned by a European legal act and thus carried out in all Member States on a mandatory basis. The next AES is due in 2016.

Comparable data from 2007 and 2011 AES can be found in the following folders:

• Participation in education and training (last 12 months) (trng_aes_12m0)
• Access to information on education and training (last 12 months) (trng_aes_12m1)
• Time spent on education and training (last 12 months) (trng_aes_12m2)           
• Obstacles to participation in education and training (last 12 months) (trng_aes_12m3)
• Self-reported language skills (educ_lang_00)

The domain “Past series on lifelong learning - reference year 2007 (trng_aes_007h)” presents 2007 AES data on participation and non-participation in education and training which are not comparable with 2011 AES due to methodological changes.