Despite the policy importance of lifelong learning, there is very little hard evidence from the UK on a) the extent of lifelong learning, b) who undertakes lifelong learning and why and c) the benefits  of lifelong learning. This paper attempts to address all three of these questions.

In higher education and public administration studies in general, two main arguments for understanding policy development, policy tools and institutional responses prevail. One line refers to the rapid spread of policies across the globe and emphasises policy borrowing and coping with policies. The other main argument repeatedly points out how national trajectories and path dependencies influence implementation processes, the choice and effectiveness of policy tools and the proposed policy solutions.