A new report has called for colleges to be put at the centre of adult education after claiming they are being constrained by ‘a short-sighted approach to funding and policy’.

The report has been published by the University College Union (UCU), and makes a series of recommendations to government, including a national website to help guide people who are just returning to work. The report has also called for schools, colleges and universities to work closer together to support learners.

Transformative Teaching and Learning in Further Education argues that colleges are well placed to support adults who want to return to education to improve their career opportunities.

One of the authors of the report Professor Vicky Duckworth said:

Colleges have a key role that makes them much more than simply a component in the supply of skills for employers. Our research shows how they help re-build damaged learner identities and offer people from diverse communities hope, agency and a positive orientation towards the future.

The report has been hailed by Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner MP, who said:

I welcome this report because it reminds us that education is about more than numbers – it’s about the people like me whose lives have been transformed by learning. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for my local college giving me a second chance at education.

The report is the culmination of UCU’s Further Education: Transforming Lives research project.