This paper discusses the many challenges that faced researchers in Ireland as they undertook fieldwork as part of Subproject 3 of LLL2010 ‘Towards a Lifelong Learning Society in Europe’. The project sought by means of a survey to document the experiences and opinions of adult learners who have returned to education following a break of two or more years. Students from across the educational spectrum, from those attending literacy training up to and including those undertaking state examinations and degrees, were sampled. The sample was stratified by level of education (ISCED levels) and this paper will concentrate on the challenges posed by undertaking survey work with those attending courses on ISCED levels 1, 2 and 3. Adults traditionally undertaking these courses would have received limited formal education. Challenges included accessing institutions, gaining the consent of tutors and participants and overcoming concerns regarding confidentiality. Other issues that emerged included dealing with emotions raised by the survey questions and participants’ varying abilities in completing the questionnaire. This paper will detail how these challenges were faced, provide an overview of initial results from this cohort and offer suggestions for how future research can be conducted with groups who have experienced educational disadvantage.