Adults
Overview
In 2023/24 the total number of adult learners at CWM colleges increased, continuing the upward trend. The level of 50,493 was a 3% increase on the previous year and the highest level since 2019/21.
Within this overall upward trend, there is variation across funding streams, level of learning and sector or subject. There is also some variance between learners residing in the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) area, where funding for adult learning is administered by the Mayoral Authority, and those residing in the other areas beyond the WMCA seven local authorities.
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Data Narrative
Funding Stream
Adult Learners benefitted from three funding streams: Adult Skills Fund (ASF) learners increased, Advanced Learner Loans (ALL) learners decreased, and Free Courses for Jobs (FcFJ) learners increased.
Adult Skills Fund
- CWM learners funded through ASF increased by 3% on the previous year to 46,391, surpassing the pre-Covid level of 45,317 in 2020/21.
- The number of ASF funded learners living in the WMCA was 32,110, up 4% on the previous year.
Advanced Learner Loans (ALL)
- In 2023/24 there were 1,301 CWM learners self-funding their Level 3 and Level 4 programmes through ALL. This number represented a 36% decline on the previous year and a continuation of the sharp year-on-year decline. The sharpest fall was in learners living in the WMCA area whose numbers declined by 55% to 457.
Free Courses for Jobs
- By contrast the number of CWM adult learners funded through FcFJ is rising year on year. In 2023/24, the fourth year of this funding stream, some 2,801 CWM learners were funded by FcFJ, the majority (84%) residing in the WMCA patch.
Level of Learning
The number and proportion of CWM college learners at level 3 continues to rise and in 2023/24 enrolments stood at 10,610/24, an increase of 6% on the previous year.
The sharpest growth was in level 3 and level 4 learners living in the WMCA. Between 20232/23 and 2024 numbers grew by 18% to 8,590, despite the fall in ALL learners.
Priority Sectors
Across the priority sectors, the number of adult learners in Construction and Motor Vehicle increased and adult learners in Engineering and ICT decreased.
Construction
- The sustained growth in CWM Adult Skills Fund construction learners continued in 2023/34 when CWM colleges enrolled 4,818 learners, an overall increase of 18% on the previous year. The number of construction learners living in the WMCA grew by 24% to 3,716.
Engineering
- The overall number of CWM Engineering learners dropped by 31% after previous year-on-year increases. Engineering learners living in the WMCA dropped by more than a half to 611 learners.
Motor Vehicle
- The upward trend in Motor vehicle learners continues and in 2023/24 reached 2,724 a 7% increase and the highest level since 19/20. All of the growth was in the WMCA area where there was a 12% increase to 2,426 learners.
ICT and Digital
- Following steady growth in the previous years, in 2023/24 the number of CWM adult learners in ICT/Digital fell last year by 29% to 2,310. The decline in the WMCA was sharper with a 32% drop to 1,976 enrolments.
For Employment Provision
All For Employment provision increased to 6,446 learners in 2023/24, an increase of 22.5% on the previous year, with the strongest growth in Free Courses for Jobs provision and Construction Gateway provision
Inclusion Trends
Ethnicity
The ethnicity of learners on Adult Skills and Advanced Learner Loan funded provision is increasing slowly year-on-year. The largest broad group, White learners, has decreased by 6% between 2019/20 and 2023/24.
The ethnicity profile of residents in the WMCA patch is more diverse than those living the in the whole CWM patch
Sex
Female learners outnumber male learners, though the balance is slowly shifting year-on-year.
Disability, Learning Difficulty and Health Problems
Consistently around 15% of adult learners consider themselves to have a disability, learning difficulty or health problem.
Deprivation Profile
The deprivation profile of CWM 16-19 learners closely mirrors the profile of the resident profile.
