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The Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) seeks to provide access to education and lifelong learning for adults from all backgrounds, and in particular those who have previously missed out on education. The International Federation of Workers Education Associations (IFWEA) has consultative status to UNESCO. Archbishop William Temple was a strong proponent of workers’ education.

Albert Mansbridge established An Association to promote the Higher Education of Working Men in 1903 (renamed 'Workers Educational Association' in 1905).

Contents 1 WEA UK 2 WEA Australia 3 See also 4 References 4.1 UK 4.2 Australia 5 External links 5.1 Australia 5.2 Europe 5.2.1 UK 5.3 International

The WEA, UK was founded in 1903. The National Association has nine regions in England, a Scottish Association and over 650 local Branches. London Region, for example, has many branches across 35 boroughs [1] [2] Some courses focus on local issues, such as Architecture in London - Going East, which addresses the some of the community implications for the planned 2012 Olympics developments.

The WEA is a national charity and is supported by the Government through funding from the Learning and Skills Council in England, and in Scotland by the Scottish Executive and Local Authorities.

There are also Workers' Educational Associations in Northern Ireland,North and South Wales. The WEA in Wales is supported by DELLS (formerly ELWa), the funding arm of the Welsh Assembly Government. The WEA in North Wales has merged with Coleg Harlech - a campus-based institution which shares the WEA's 'second chance' ethos.

Workers' Educational Association (North Wales)

Workers' Educational Association (North Wales) was established in 1925 as the North Wales District of the Workers' Educational Association. On 1 April 1993 it became a separate charity in response to the new funding arrangements for further education in Wales, under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 and on 1 August 2001 it merged with Coleg Harlech to form Coleg Harlech Workers' Educational Association (North Wales).

The WEA was established in NSW in 1913. Early work was patterned on the WEA in the UK. However, given the different demographic arrangements in Australia, and in the absence of other adult education providers, the WEA in Australia became a general adult education agency. In the 1980s. a range of other training providers started offering adult education and the WEA’s role has changed. The WEA has many clubs and societies including the WEA Film Study Group.

• Adult education
• Community college
• Continuing education
• Lifelong learning
• Vocational education

Lawrence Goldman, President of the Thames and Solent District WEA, has written:

• Dons and Workers: Oxford and Adult Education Since 1850 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995)
• 'Intellectuals and the English Working Class 1870-1945: The Case of Adult Education', History of Education 29:4 (1999), 281-300
• 'Education as Politics: University Adult Education in England since 1870', Oxford Review of Education 25:1-2 (1999), 89-101

• Darryl Dymock (2001). A Special and Distinctive Role in Adult Education. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-567-7. 

• WEA Sydney
• Workers' Educational Association of South Australia Incorporated (WEA South Australia) Adult Education for Lifelong Learning
• WEA Hunter Adult Education and Training, Newcastle, NSW
• WEA Illawarra

• Euro-WEA

• Home page
• Article from Liverpool's 'Nerve' magazine

• The International Council for Adult Education (ICAE)