Save Adult Education
18 June 2025
Save Adult Education is a new campaign from UCU. It covers staff working in general FE colleges who teach adults ESOL, English and maths, functional skills, or any of the many adult courses offered at colleges across the country.
The campaign also includes adult institutes, private and charitable adult education providers, as well as adult and community education (ACE) delivered through local and combined metro authorities. Our aim is to reverse cuts to the Adult Skills Fund, promote social cohesion, defend members' jobs, and champion professional respect. UCU will fight the cuts to adult education funding, with our members at the heart of the campaign.
What are UCU's central demands?
- UK government to reverse the cuts to adult and community education (ACE)
- Invest in adult skills and adequately fund ACE
- A joined up national strategy on skills and education with ACE playing a central role
- Staff treated as education professionals and on secure contracts with comparable terms and conditions with other educators.
How will UCU carry out this campaign?
- Pressure the UK government, metro mayors and employers
- Highlight the impact that cuts to the adult skills fund will have on communities, learners of all ages, UK's growth ambitions
- Promote the role of ACE in the skills and employment strategies, the decade of renewal, NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training), Just Transition agenda, social cohesion, lifelong learning for all
- Fight all redundancies and course closures in ACE.
What are the campaign activities?
- Save Adult Education petition
- Email your MP, metro mayors, ministers campaign
- Briefing documents making UCU's case for ACE
- Getting our ACE branches and members active
- Online members meeting and launch event, Thursday 10 July
- Parliamentary lobby
- Fighting all redundancies in ACE.
What are the key dates?
- Campaign launch online meeting, Thursday 10 July (18:00-19:00)
- Save Adult Education petition live also in July
- Email your MP, metro mayors, ministers campaign and new resources throughout July
- Week of ACE-themed action in September
- Parliamentary lobby in September/October.
Latest developments
Save Adult Education campaign launch online meeting, July 2025
You can watch the Save Adult Education campaign launch online meeting on Thursday 10 July 2025 (18:00-19:00).
Resources
Campaign logo (transparent background)
- PrintPrint this page
- Share
