We examined a range of statistics to see whether this opinion poll result was borne out by other measures, and whether Scotland did indeed prove an exception to the accepted wisdom that more learning early in life leads to more learning later on. What we found told us far more about historical changes in performance in initial, full-time education than it did about the participation of adults. It also showed up the gaps in the available statistics, especially for training, community education and part-time study, so that trends could not be clearly identified, or comparisons made, between different countries in the UK, or between different groups in Scotland. The best available figures in Scotland relate to initial, full-time education. It also relies on proxy interviewing and this might distort the figures for participation in training.
Community education is the bedrock of non-vocational provision for adults.
However, there are few reliable figures to show the extent of provision, and comparable figures between the countries of the UK are not available. There are continuing difficulties in counting part-time participation. In our report to the ESRC, we conclude with a set of recommendations. First among these is a proposal for an annual 'state of the nation' report on lifelong learning. We do not mean just that there is always more to be known, nor that the world is more complex than policy-makers often wish it to be.