To think evening class GCSE/A Level provision for adults has massively declined since 1990?

Adult education is a mess sadly.. so much for lifelong learning which was the mantra when I did my PGCE in 2000

Not GCSEs but I remember in the 90s getting a college brochure and enjoying looking through all the interesting adult evening classes available at easily affordable prices.

I'd pick something to try each term. I did various cookery courses, pottery, beauty, balloon modelling 😂. It was good fun and sociable.

It's very hard to find anything like that now and if you can find it the cost is hundreds of pounds. Such a shame.

Yes, there's nothing near me either (shit town, the Midlands). The only available courses of any kind take place in the daytime when I'm at work.

I'd love to do a language course one night a week, or higher Maths or even Philosophy. The only courses near me are watercolours with Beryl at the local village hall from 2pm til 3pm on a Wednesday.

They are pretty much a thing of the past here too, only maths, English, functional skills. My mum actually did a few in the early 2000s (left school in the 70s at 15, got a shop job straight from school, married by 20 so left the workplace and needed to upskill to re-enter the workplace). She did quite a few computer classes, a few gcses, a using the full Microsoft office suite class. The adult education centre also did photography, painting, sewing, knitting, card making and loads more, pretty much 6, 12 or 18 week courses every week day between 9.30 and 4. Bar my mum, a couple of other middle age women in the same position as my mum and 1 SEN adult, the majority of the attendees were retired (courses were free or significantly discounted for retired people) and were going for something to do. There was a group of 8 who basically did every course, constantly failed the exams but it was a social experience for them, they didn't do Tuesday afternoon as that was knitting club, Thursday morning was church coffee morning, Friday afternoon was pop in shop but every other course was attended. The courses were basically running at a loss. Just before it closed the adult Ed centre was used as a cheap Alternative Provision so lots of teens that could not attend mainstream school due to SEN were attending with either a 1:1 or as a group with 5 students and 2 adults. They also had quite a few SEN adults from the care home attend. Unfortunately, it wasn't really appropriate for either the teens or SEN adults and most them were spending their time in a corridor, refusing to attend classes and having meltdowns due to unmet needs.

Nowadays, the adult education centre is shut (shut 2011). Courses are at the central hub and only English, maths and functional skills.

can yoh share who the provider was please?

Perhaps because it is lots of people prefer to do online classes now? That wasn't an option then.

I was toying with studying for an A level myself. The main cost/barrier seems to be doing the exam.

I agree. I did two A levels at night school, and really enjoyed both the learning and social aspect.

Many people who did A levels in the evening actually paid for it themselves, yes some were funded by the tax payer (we could get adults to get loans like they do for access courses but that’s not possible for A levels for some stupid reason!) but now anyone who wants to access HE as an adults doesn’t have the option of A levels they have to do an access course. That’s just silly and limits people’s options.

Local authorities are completely broke. The death of evening classes and night schools is a real shame, particularly for working class communities, but a pp is right: most people now get more qualifications at school (thank goodness).

And it’s not a good use of taxpayers money to pay for you to do random A Levels as a hobby: someone has to pay the exam board, the invigilators, the markers, the teachers etc, and numbers wanting to do it had declined.

Councils have to spend all their money on social care and looked after children. The Cameron Government cut their funds to the bone. All the money is gone for everything else.

This has been my experience recently as well. I wanted to learn DIY and car maintenance, in person not via YouTube. Absolutely no options available.

YANBU
They want struggling young people in work and not on benefits but there is next to no access to MH provision, it’s hugely difficult to get driving test dates and there are big difficulties in getting qualifications for those that have had a disrupted education.

Some Alevels aren’t suitable for doing at home.

Access courses aren’t cheap and actually for some Alevels over a longer period of time would be preferable.

Its simply not good enough.

We never did have evening class A levels available. They were day time at the local FE college. A few O levels for repeats too. Evenings were pottery, photography, local history - that sort of thing. Plus part time study towards basic professional qualifications. There never was a replica of a school near me in the evenings.

I did that for law gcse and got an a star. However I believe
moving to a level is far more technique in the essay writing side. Over knowledge. Which you’d need a tutor to share examples to practice.
i decided to skip the a level and just do a second degree in law, which was interesting at 50.

@CatherineParr while I agree with you, as someone who used to teach evening A level courses in the early 2000s, before the government funding stopped, we had plenty of people doing it for fun and interest. You can do it alone, but a big part of the course was meeting people and it was very social. I think it is incredibly sad that you can't do A levels in person for interest anymore - as so many are lonely and this was a good way to meet likely minded people as an adult.

It was before that, 2005 or 2006. I used to work somewhere that offered a big night school programme. They had everything from CLAIT, ECDL, painting & drawing, conversational French…you name it! Most courses were fairly cheap with discounts for those on benefits/low income. Staff were allowed a free course, paid by work.

Funding was cut very suddenly and they stopped offering night school classes as it was no longer viable. Sad really, my friends dad was learning French, other people were trying to gain skills to enhance employment options, some liked the social aspect.

It's not just academic evening classes that are missing. Newly divorced in 2006 I looked for evening classes in DIY, to learn how to use a drill and to do lots of practical things myself. There was nothing 😢 I've taught myself but I'd have love to have learnt other practical skills.

For anyone wanting to do A Levels for fun you can self teach most of them..those that don't require coursework. Just read the specification and buy the textbook. Might be worth paying a tutor to mark past papers. Lots of teachers teach A Levels they have no qualifications in by self learning with the textbook and specification. You would need to pay a centre to sit the exam. I realise this wouldn't be possible for everyone but if you are reasonably educated anyway I think it's definitely possible to do it alone or with limited paid help

A good friend of mine Organises creative subject part time and evening courses at a college in London, they seem to still have lots of options like pottery and photography which are not available where I am in Scotland anymore. Individual school exams very hard to find outside big cities. I looked into it for DS1 a few years ago as he left school having crashed and burned his way through exams. Access courses seem to have replaced them.

Its because a greater proportion of younger adults already have some GCSEs so there isn't the same demand.

There is probably an element of that, bit it is also funding. In the 1990s/2000s, I took Spanish and German from scratch through GCSE to AS-level (there weren't enough people in either case for yhem to run an A2 class,) There just aren't even beginners classes these days. There are some conversation groups for people who already have the language, run by volunteers.

I started Welsh in my English town - I'm continuing it online with a Welsh college - partly because the Welsh government funds Welsh education. People who are teachers in Wales get the courses for work if they need it, as do other people in some jobs in Wales. (I mostly do it for fun.)

In the past, I did an OU module for general interest; since they had to offer tuition fees at the same rate as other unis, that's not an affordable option, either.

The local uni does some extra mural courses, and there's the WEA, though mostly only during the day, which isn't helpful for those of us who work normal office hours.

Part of me would like to do maths A-level, but just for interest, not work or anything. I work full-time, so evenings are the only option. Can't afford the OU, I don't see how I could do it currently. 20 years ago, I probably could have.

You're right OP. There was loads of choice when I went to college in '93. I did a few more GCSEs alongside A-levels. Now, my DS, who was unable to go to school has very limited options. The local college basically does maths and English. We're still having to pay for these privately (long story), but no options for any other subjects.

It used to be subsidized under the adult education budget.

my mum used to teach in adult education.

the funding was cut almost completely except for English and maths GCSEs and redirected to apprenticeships.

if you are over 19 you can get a funded level 2 (gcse) or level 3 (a level equivalent but almost certainly not a levels) at your local FE college if you don’t already have it.

the FE colleges now do Access courses not a levels.

They were never free even then. I took an a level at night school and you paid fees for the course and fees to sit the exam. You can study online now which has changed some things and you can enter university without a levels via foundation years

I sat A Levels as an external candidate - nowhere near me did A Level short courses, and it was far quicker and cheaper than an Access Course.

Education in the UK is far too inflexible. If you're a literate adult, you shouldn't have to do a year-long, full-time course in order to prove you can do an undergraduate degree.

It is also about availability of suitably qualified tutors. Subjects need to be in sufficient demand for classes to be economically viable and may be cancelled at short notice if enrolments are low. Tutors are employed on an hourly paid basis, with no extra time allowed for lesson preparation and marking, but are subjected to Ofsted inspections and onerous paperwork to justify any government subsidies. So many subjects can now be studied online, often for free on platforms like futurelearn or openlearn, at your convenience.