Lifelong Learning and English: articles to explore
Richard J. Jones (The Open University)
The World Health Organisation reports that people are living longer. According to its findings, in 2020, the ‘number of people aged 60 years and older outnumbered children younger than 5 years’; by 2030, it is estimated that ‘1 in 6 people in the world will be aged 60 years or over.’ The pace of population ageing is also getting faster: according to WHO, by 2050, the number of people over 60 will have doubled (to 2.1 billion).
As WHO puts it, there ‘is no typical older person’. The diversity of older age is related to the different environments in which people live. These environments might include opportunities for lifelong learning. This is why the UN Decade of Healthy Aging (2021-3) highlights the aims of ‘changing how we think, feel and act towards age and ageism’ and ‘developing communities in ways that foster the abilities of older people’. It is one of the ways to reduce inequities and improve lives. You can read more about these projects on the WHO website: Ageing and health (2025) and WHO’s work on the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030).
In 2025, a research report for the House of Lords Library noted some of the benefits of lifelong learning, which included ‘improvements in life satisfaction and mental health’. ‘developing broader perspectives and keeping up with technologies’ along with ‘better employment prospects’. Even so, there remain many barriers to people taking up learning opportunities: these include people’s experience of education and the perception of its value. Broadly defined, however, around 52% of adults said that they had taken part in learning in the last three years (Learning and Work Institute). You can find out more in the House of Lords report (2025) and the Learning and Work Institute survey (2024). For some details about the UK government’s ‘Lifelong Learning Entitlement’, see the Department of Education website.
The study of English has always had strong connections to lifelong and informal learning. The QAA Subject Benchmark Statement for English (2023), for example, notes how ‘English recognises the value of different life experiences and draws on these differences for teaching and learning’; the benchmark statement for Creative Writing notes its ‘life-enhancing properties’, describing how the subject can ‘broaden horizons and offer well-being benefits, including increased confidence in self-expression, voice and use of language.’ See Subject Benchmark Statement – English (2023) and Subject Benchmark Statement – Creative Writing (2024). Last year, University English ran a public campaign to highlight the broad public impact of research in English departments. You can read more about how ‘English is a living subject, deeply embedded in our culture and society’ on the English Curates Impact page, curated by Andrew Macrae.
