Fixing or Changing the Patterns?

Based on the author's research over the last decade, the views of practitioners and the literature on lifelong learning, this study reflects on what is known about widening participation in organised learning; what lessons have been learned and what we still need to know. It explores the progress - or lack of it - made since 1990 in changing the composition of the student body in post-compulsory education and training, and the various factors that account for this.