Authors: Ellu Saar, Jelena Helemäe and Eve-Liis Roosmaa, Tallinn University, Estonia Presenting author: Eve-Liis Roosmaa This paper examines how country-specific institutional “packages” have different impact on adult non-formal education participation inequality and how this impact differs in old versus new EU member states. It explores two questions: 1. How does the structure of the educational system and its interaction with the labour market affect adult non-formal education participation gaps? Which mechanisms explain inequality in training opportunities between high-skilled and low-skilled adults? 2. Do new and old European Union member states differ in the way institutional systems shape the opportunities for non-formal education/training participation? We expect new member states to diverge from patterns between the educational system and participation in non-formal education predicted by theories and characteristics of the old EU member states. “Old” member states have a more flexible labour market and educational system with higher participation in non-formal education, but this does not hold true for the new member states. One likely explanation is that in new member states, the state, rather than the employer, determines participation in further education. Therefore the impact of the welfare state (e.g. public expenditure on training of unemployed, active and passive labour market policies) should be taken into account. Based on a lifelong learning ad hoc module in the EU Labour Force Survey 2003 and other datasets, aggregated data about participation in non-formal learning in different European Union countries will be examines. Country-level data is analysed using classification modelling and Bayesian theory (non-parametric method) (Denison et al. 2002).