This research aims to consider the value of income and wellbeing returns to adults following general compared to specific (Becker, 1993) education. It uses two comprehensive data sets in the UK over different time periods, one focusing on work-related training, and the other on gaining a Level 3 qualification as an adult.

Human capital theory finds that income returns to specific, or vocational, training are greater than for general, or academic, education (Ibid). Evidence from adult learning suggest that although there are limited income returns (Coelli and Tabasso, 2019), there are significant returns to wellbeing (Hammond and Feinstein, 2006), life satisfaction (Tett and Maclachlan, 2007), and confidence (Barton et al., 2007). However, there is limited recent evidence of these kinds of returns to adult learning, and where it has been measured, this is typically over long periods of time for older adults (e.g. Jenkins and Wiggins, 2015). There are also challenges of academic learning for adults with lower-level prior qualifications in terms of self-concept and identity (Schuller, 2004), although there is limited evidence on whether gaining qualifications as an adult affects those with lower or higher prior qualifications differently (Ruber, Ress and Schmidt-Hertha, 2018). This research aims to address these gaps in the literature, by providing recent data on returns to adults from academic qualifications, here Level 3, for those with lower-level prior qualifications, here Level 2.  

This sits within a policy context of changing views of lifelong learning across Europe, where the EU and national governments are refocusing spending on adult education towards vocational learning (Rambla et al., 2020). In the UK, funding for classroom-based adult education has fallen by two-thirds from the early 2000s to 2024-25 (Farquharson et al., 2026), while increasing numbers of adults are undertaking apprenticeships (Pullen, 2024).  Cedefop (2025) report a shift towards more targeted measures and vocational learning in lifelong learning, both across Europe and in individual nations, as adult learning becomes more focuses on work. This trend towards encouraging specific learning for skills in the workplace is tested in this research, with an assessment of income returns for those receiving work-related training versus those obtaining a more general qualification as an adult.

The challenge of supporting wellbeing in times of crisis and uncertainty is a global one. This research investigates the capacity of education to support wellbeing in adults, and whether general or specific education is more effective in promoting wellbeing. There is existing evidence particularly for adult learning, although this can often be informal and difficult to characterise neatly as academic or vocational. The data used here enables this clear differentiation and uses the same outcome measure in both cases to validate the research. Although the data for this project comes from two different time periods, this can highlight the impact of changes in policy, economies, and global security. This research draws on the context of different periods to ask questions about whether academic or vocational learning provides the best return for adults.

This research is based on two investigations using large datasets. The first dataset is the Workplace Employment Relations Study, which surveyed linked employers, employees and employee representatives in the UK, covering around 2500 workplaces. The most recent two surveys are used – those in 2004 and 2011. The second dataset is Understanding Society, an annual survey of around 40,000 households in the UK. The data used covers 14 waves of the survey from 2009 to 2024. Both are analysed used Stata and econometric methods. The analysis of the Workplace Employment Study focuses on the income and wellbeing returns associated with received workplace training at different levels of qualification. One of the challenges with receiving workplace training is that individuals can be selected or volunteer, making the sample potentially biased, so an instrumental variable is used in the regressions. The analysis of the data from Understanding Society focuses on those who achieve a Level 3 qualification as an adult (aged 18 or above), compared to those who stay with Level 2 as their highest qualification, and investigates any associated income or wellbeing returns. As there are small numbers of individuals obtaining a Level 3 qualification as an adult, propensity score matching is used to establish a matched control sample with similar characteristics. Difference-in-difference methods allow for the analysis using the matched sample. For both analyses, observable factors that might affect the outcomes are controlled for. Age is key factor in the Understanding Society analysis because the treated group, those who achieve a Level 3 qualification as an adult, are typically in their 20s, while those who have a Level 2 qualification throughout are usually older, so they are part of the propensity score matching, and later controls. Age is related to wellbeing and mental health, with evidence suggesting that there is a U-shaped happiness curve, bottoming out in midlife (Blanchflower and Oswald, 2008), meaning that those in their 20s are expected to be on a downward trajectory. In both cases the outcome variables are income and wellbeing, with the latter being measured using the General Health Questionnaire which has 12 questions asking about mental health. This questionnaire is regularly used to assess the mental health and wellbeing of individuals (e.g. King et al., 2023; Ushakova et al., 2023).

The two investigations have diverging results, suggesting that there are greater returns, in terms of income and wellbeing, for work-related training. The analysis of the Workplace Employment Study finds that there is a consistent income return to 2 or more days of work-related training in a 12-month period, for all levels of prior qualification from Level 2 upwards. It also finds a wellbeing return to work-related training. However, the Understanding Society analysis, which investigates the returns to gaining a Level 3 qualification, finds no such returns. Where previous work on the returns to learning as an adult (e.g. Feinstein and Hammond, 2004) finds returns in relation to wellbeing, this more recent analysis finds none. Taken together, these suggest that returns to general education as an adult are limited, and where possible individuals should seek to gain work-related training. It suggests that learning economy (Biesta, 2006) is becoming more work-related in recent years. While lifelong learning is important for adults (Neves et al., 2020), the kind of general education which relates only to gaining a higher level of qualification appears to be becoming less important. This reflects recent policy in the UK, which has seen a large drop in investment in adult learning since 2010, while changes to apprenticeship have led to increases in adults accessing this kind of work-related learning (Pullen, 2024). This aligns with changes in EU policy towards lifelong learning, which has more recently begun to include supporting vocational learning (Rambla et al., 2020). Changes in the economy after 2008, and more recently the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine, suggest that the increasingly insecurity of the world may also play its part in focusing resources on economies and growth.

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