Participation in sport or fitness activities in Great Britain was examined through a survey of more than 6,000 adults throughout Great Britain. As of April 2001, 35% of adults surveyed were currently participating in sport or fitness activities. Those most likely to participate in sport or fitness activities were male, young, in high social…

Adult participation in learning in England and across the nations of the United Kingdom was examined in 2002, and the survey findings were compared to those of earlier surveys. Overall, 42% of the 4,896 people interviewed in the weighted sample survey of adults aged 17 and over reported having engaged in learning in the past 3 years. For the first…

The public vocational education and training (VET) system in Australia encompasses formal learning activities intended to develop knowledge and skills that are relevant in the workplace for those past the age of compulsory schooling, but excludes bachelor and post-graduate courses and learning for leisure, recreation or personal enrichment. Some…

Adult participation in the United Kingdom in 2001 was examined through interviews with a weighted sample of 6,310 adults over age 17 across Great Britain with a boosted sample in Wales. The following were among the key findings: (1) for the first time in 20 years, there was a marked upswing in adults' participation in learning from the previous…

The benefits of sectoral workforce development programs to the working poor were examined in a 3-year longitudinal study of participants in six sectoral employment training programs across the United States. The programs, which were all designed to serve low-income clients, provided training in a diverse set of industries, including the following:…

Of the 477,800 students reported to Australia's national vocational education and training (VET) data collection in 2000, 237,900 were enrolled in a vocational adult and community education (ACE) program. More than 70% of the latter individuals undertook informal training. Vocational ACE programs accounted for 49.8% of all ACE students and nearly…

Data from the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) were analyzed to compare the incidence and volume of continuing education (CE) and training among adults in the following countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The following were among the…

Data drawn from 3 cycles of data collection for the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) were analyzed to identify the levels and distributions of literacy skills in the adult populations of 20 countries. The following were among the main conclusions: (1) in 14 of the countries, at least 15% of all adults have literacy skills at only the…