From my first day at Leeds University, taking part in the Adult Learner Summer School and then continuing to Jumpstart, the Lifelong Learning Centre gave me the confidence to keep going step by step, and I never dreamed how far my journey would take me. What an adventure!
The Lifelong Learning Centre (LLC) at the University of Leeds has developed a distinctive, graduated model of outreach that connects, inspires, and supports mature learners to see university as both relevant and possible.
Grounded in three decades of close collaboration with community partners, the model combines a trauma-informed approach and co‑creation with clear pathways, resulting in improvements in confidence, readiness, and progression into higher education.
The challenge
People think if I didn't go to university when I was at school, that's it. There are no options… It's not for me because it's too expensive… I'm too old… I don't know anyone who's been… I have a disability or a learning difference.
Adults in areas with historically low participation in higher education often perceive university as unattainable because of misconceptions, restricted access to accurate information, and uncertainty shaped by disrupted educational experiences. These personal barriers are intensified by long‑term funding cuts to further and adult education, which have reduced local courses, outreach, and community learning spaces that typically help adults re‑engage with education.
As a result, many capable individuals cannot access clear pathways, personalised support, and opportunities to rebuild confidence, while the community services that could guide them are operating with restricted resources.
The approach
To increase the number of mature learners accessing higher education, the LLC implements a community development approach anchored in deep listening, responsiveness, and a graduated continuum of engagement. This approach is relational and long‑term, ensuring adults can enter the world of HE at the right moment for them and progress at a pace that suits their lives.
There are three stages:
- Stage 1: Connect - Early engagement begins in communities through strength‑based, empathetic activities such as local information sessions, partner‑designed tasters co-created with partners and tailored campus visits that validate adults’ life experience and demystify pathways into higher education.
- Stage 2: Inspire - As interest develops, individuals can join open events and short courses that offer a real experience of university, connect them with Learning Champions, and provide impartial guidance.
- Stage 3: Step Change - Supporting adult learners with the later stages of preparing for transition into Higher Education study, and the practicalities of applying to university for learners at level 3.
Pedagogy: Critical, Transformational, and Empowering
Across every stage of the approach sits a clear pedagogical ethos shaped by critical and transformative education. Drawing on Paulo Freire’s principles, the LLC encourages adults not only to gain skills, but to question assumptions, reflect on their lived experiences, and situate those experiences within wider social and economic structures. This creates learning that is both intellectually stretching and personally empowering.
The course has been a space where my thoughts have power. I now have vital opinions to make the world new and fight against persecution.
The impact
The LLC combines compassionate, community‑centred practice with robust evaluation to understand and evidence its impact. Activity is tracked at every stage—from first contact through to applications and enrolments.
Key outcomes from the reporting period (1 Sept 2023–31 Aug 2024):
- Over 1,100 adults engaged in early‑stage outreach
- Over 900 Further Education learners reached
- 449 HE‑focused conversations at community festivals
- 48 Jumpstart participants, with 42% known progression to HE
- 233 Access and Pre‑Access FE learners supported
- 50 applicants to university supported through drop‑in sessions
- 7 community festivals, 29 Stage 1 events, 35 Stage 2 events, and 16 Stage 3 events
Alongside these figures are numerous examples of increased self-belief, improved awareness of pathways, strengthened partnerships, and greater preparedness for higher education.
The staff are incredibly supportive and will help you get ready should you decide that this is the right step for you. As a mature learner with children and a full-time job I didn't think it was an option for me until I had a chat with the Lifelong Learning Centre. The staff made me feel at ease and were extremely supportive before and during the application process. I can highly recommend and speak from genuine experience.
The most significant change is often personal. Through tasters, campus visits, and longer programmes such as Jumpstart, adults begin to rebuild agency and see themselves as capable learners.
You helped me grow in my knowledge and made my view of the future clear... I feel more confident taking the next step forward to study.
This self-efficacy is supported by impartial, learner‑centred advice. Conversations focus on what is right for the individual, not on promoting a particular course. As a result, adults move steadily from initial curiosity to GCSEs, to Foundation Years or Access programmes, and eventually to submitting university applications—sometimes years after first meeting the team.
Long-standing partnerships underpin these achievements. Community organisations and FE colleges value the LLC's ethical, responsive approach, enabling adults who once thought, 'University isn't for me,' to feel ready to say, 'Now the time is right for me'.
Get in touch and find out more
To find out more, discuss partnership opportunities, or explore the Lifelong Learning Centre’s pre‑entry and community‑based activities, get in touch by email at lifelonglearning@leeds.ac.uk.
Learn about the LLC’s outreach work with adults and local communities.