Ealing adult learning achieves national standard of excellence

Be inspired by learning a new skills
Published Thursday 12 August 2021 Ealing Council’s adult learning service has been recognised with the international Matrix Standard charter mark, recognising the high-quality of information, advice and guidance it provides.

Ealing adult learning (EAL) offers a wide range of courses and workshops to adults, parents and families who want to be inspired, creative and qualified. During the pandemic, EAL has successfully delivered more than 400 courses, with a total of 3,379 enrolments between August 2020 and July 2021. It has a particular focus on helping residents to improve their health and wellbeing and supporting them back into employment.

The Matrix Standard is the Department for Education’s quality standard for organisations that deliver information, advice and guidance. It assesses the quality of services offered and helps providers, like EAL, to improve their services by benchmarking against best practice. The Matrix Standard now applies to all of the courses offered by EAL.

Angela McKeever, assistant director of employment said: “Since the start of the pandemic, many local people have faced significant problems with employment, from having their hours reduced to being furloughed or even made redundant.

“This Matrix Standard quality mark shows the high standard of information, advice and guidance that is available from Ealing Adult Learning and the fantastic service they provide to help residents take the steps they need on their journey to transform their lives. Through its wide range of free employability courses and workshops thousands of eligible residents have been prepared for work by developing new skills.

“We want to help as many residents as possible to secure good, stable jobs. If you need support, please get in touch with Ealing Work West , the council’s employment, learning and skills team.”

This is what three adult learners had to say about their experiences with EAL:

  • “I need my level two qualification to get into adult nursing, and Ealing adult learning helped with course choices and support to get me where I want to go.”
  • “I wanted to start a new career while working in catering. The Ealing adult learning standard is high and the teachers are really supportive. It was also great to have company during the winter lockdown.”
  • "Studying with Ealing adult learning has been a great experience. I’m so much more confident and I am working towards being a teaching assistant.”

EAL also works with a variety of businesses in Ealing to deliver high quality courses and workshops to their staff, at no extra cost to business owners. For employment-related training needs email LearnEaling@ealing.gov.uk or call 020 8825 5577.