Adult education lecturer : Training

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted)  has responsibility for inspecting learning and training for adults in both further education and publicly-funded adult skills and employment-based training.

City & Guilds  is a main provider of relevant qualifications and offers courses up to Level 4. These are generally offered as part-time courses for adult education lecturers to take while they are teaching. Many adult education centres offer this training for their own staff. Anyone teaching on a course that leads to a nationally recognised qualification must have, or be working towards, the Level 4 certificate. The City & Guilds qualifications include ‘Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector’ and ‘Certificate in the Lifelong Learning Sector’, commonly known as PTLLS (Petals) and CTLLS (Kettles). However, for anyone considering a PGCE or Postgraduate Certificate in Post-Compulsory Education and Training (PCET), there is a structural inequality here: PTLLS and CTLLS are not usually recognised as previously attained credits for these programmes, and this may lead to slower career progression than is ideal.

If you wish to teach and support adults working on their literacy, language and numeracy skills, a Level 4 subject specialist qualification is required, in addition to the adult teaching qualification. In some cases, financial incentives are available, which reflects the national shortage of teachers in this area. Details of these Skills for Life  teaching qualifications and training providers can be found through Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK)  and its subsidiary, Standards Verification UK . These organisations are responsible for endorsing and accrediting all further and adult education training courses, as well as continuing professional development (CPD). LLUK offers a phone and email helpline to anyone seeking advice on qualifications.

Adult education tutors are required to keep their skills and experience up to date, so you may need to identify and fund training in your subject area yourself. If you teach publicly funded courses in England, you must undertake 30 hours of CPD per year (pro-rata for part-time tutors). There is also an expectation that adult education tutors be registered with the Institute for Learning (IfL) ,  the professional body for teachers, trainers and assessors across further education (FE), including adult and community learning, emergency and public services, FE colleges, the armed services, the voluntary sector and work-based learning.

In addition to these training requirements, lecturers are often offered other related training courses, such as:

• managing small groups;
• developing course materials;
• encouraging widening participation;
• use of the latest technology in teaching aids.