1. As part of Adult Learners Week
Town Centre Research
Carried out on
May 26th 2005
As part of Adult Learners Week

2. Questionnaire prepared by: - Jonjo Higgins
Research collected by:
Shahnaz Begum
Mina Bhogal
Sherna Watson
Melanie Clark
Carl Gomez
- John Child - Rahima Miah - Sandra Gonsalves - Munira Jeewanjee - Carol Willis

3. 100 people approached
100 questionnaires completed
5 Questions Asked

4. The Participants
It is essential we gained a clear view of the people we interviewed
All people questioned were walking through Regents Circus in the middle part of the day
They were picked at random
Questioners assessed participants based on categories of age, gender and race

8. Question1: When was the last time you did any learning?

9. Question 2: What did you learn last?
We discovered that Computer Training was the single subject most recently studied (16%)
A whole range of various types of vocational training were also studied recently (33%)
A cluster of Health and Wellbeing courses were popular (9%)
Only 4% had recently studied at Higher Education level
Others seemed to be learning for enjoyment

10. Question 3: Where did you learn it?
25% said they’d learnt at Swindon College whereas only 6% had studied at New College
Other Colleges and Universities mentioned were Essex, London and Kent
A bit closer to home in West Swindon, people mentioned The Link Centre and Greendown School.
More centrally Broad Street and the D.I.Y project were mentioned, as was the W.E.A as a provider
There were 2 people who had learnt overseas in Goa and South Africa
10 people had recently studied at home and 9 at Work

11. Question 4: What puts you off learning?
43% of the sample said that there was nothing that really put them of learning
However there were 57% of people that had mentioned obstacles such as: work and family commitments, childcare issues, cost, time, travel, location, ‘red tape’, poor teaching, dyslexia, other peoples put downs, lack of support in the class and a feeling that they cannot cope

12. Question 5: What encourages you to learn?
42% of people said personal development reasons encourage them to learn, including self motivation and self improvement
25% said their employment prospects would improve through learning
18% said that being able to overcome barriers to learning encouraged them to learn e.g. the costs of courses, support from friends, crèche facilities and good teaching were all positive encouragements

13. Our Conclusions:
This sample of central Swindon learners was a very brief snapshot therefore it is hard to draw too many general assumptions
Proximity to Swindon College meant that we found most people questioned were young, and attending Swindon College
The fact that 16% of people had recently studied computers reflects the importance people put on ICT as a basic skill
The numbers undertaking vocational training reflects the reasons many want to learn i.e. to enhance employment prospects
57% of people experienced barriers to learning and this reflects the fact that a large number of those asked said that what encourages them to learn is the removal of barriers

14. Different sites would get more varied responses
Things we learned about how we might do a survey differently in the future….
Different sites would get more varied responses
Data analysis would be made easier by more multiple choice questions with limited number of answers possible
Asking more specific questions about certain curriculum areas e.g. basic skills would give us more in depth data

15. Thank you for watching
The End