Evaluation of the Adult Skills Fund in London: 2024/25
This report presents the findings of the evaluation of the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) in London in the 2024/25 academic year.
The 2024/25 academic year marked a year of key transition within the adult skills system as the Department for Education replaced the former Adult Education Budget with the ASF in order to drive greater alignment between skills provision and the needs of employer.
Through its delegated authority, the Greater London Authority (GLA) deviated from national reform in order to offer continuity of provision, ensuring stability for ASF providers and Londoners, and maintaining support for mayoral strategic priorities.
The evaluation identified the success of this deviation in maintaining access to important foundational learning. Notably:
- the ASF achieved record engagement from Londoners most likely to be negatively impacted by skills disparities;
- providers spoke positively of the GLA’s approach to implementing funding reform; and
- there was increasing alignment between the ASF and London’s priority sectors (health and social care, hospitality, construction, digital and creative).
Despite these successes, and reflecting a decline seen nationally, ASF participation in London fell by 5%.
Bringing together a range of primary and secondary evidence, this evaluation report explores the successes of, and challenges faced by the ASF in London in 2024/25, and provides recommendations for how the GLA can ensure it is meeting the needs of Londoners, and supporting mayoral priorities.
The GLA has published a response to this report which can be found here.