Cuts to adult education threatened to deny millions of adults the chance to improve their skills. An educational charity's survey of 2,000 over 45s found 18% worry they will have to work past retirement age, as funding fell 24% for to 2016. For Adult Learners' Week, we built NCFE's broadcast PR campaign around those findings, positioning NCFE, a registered educational charity with a heritage in learning going back over 150 years, as the voice of authority on vocational qualifications. We put a spokesperson from NCFE and a representative of an education foundation on air across a radio day of interviews. The campaign secured 45 items of radio coverage reaching 2.0 million listeners, including BBC Radio Three Counties.
45Items of coverage
2.0 millionCombined reach
2h 00mTime on air
The story
NCFE, Adult Learners' Week
The aim
NCFE wanted to position NCFE as the voice of authority in the vocational qualification arena.
The message
NCFE is a registered educational charity with a heritage in learning going back over 150 years, giving it a wealth of knowledge in vocational qualifications.
The angle
An educational charity warned that government cuts to adult education would deny millions of adults the chance to improve their skills. Its survey of 2,000 over 45s found 18% worry they will have to work past retirement age, as funding fell 24% for to 2016.
On air
A spokesperson from NCFE and a representative of an education foundation
The result
45 items of coverage reaching 2.0 million, including BBC Radio Three Counties.
About Adult Learners' Week
Adult Learners' Week is an annual UK campaign run by the Learning and Work Institute. It encourages adults to return to learning, whether to change career, progress at work, pick up a new hobby or improve wellbeing. It has been coordinated in the UK since 1992. For brands and charities with something useful to say, it gives radio and TV producers a timely reason to book an interview.
Planning Adult Learners' Week for 2027?
Adult Learners' Week ran from 21 to 27 September 2026; the 2027 dates have not yet been announced. Talk to the team about a broadcast PR campaign that gets your spokesperson on radio and TV.
