20 April 2011

The Adult Education Survey is part of the EU Statistics on lifelong learning. The surveys have been carried out by countries in the EU, EFTA and candidate countries between 2005 and 2008. The EU AES is a pilot exercise which for the first time proposed a common EU framework including a standard questionnaire, tools and quality reporting.

AES data from approximately half of the participating countries will be disseminated in autumn 2008 and the second part in mid 2009

The survey covers participation in education and lifelong learning activities (formal, non-formal and informal learning) including job-related activities, characteristics of learning activities, self-reported skills as well as modules on social and cultural participation, foreign language skills, IT skills and background variables related to main characteristics of the respondents.

Parameters and main variables

The AES in all the participating countries focused on the following parameters:

• Participation in formal, non-formal and informal education (FED, NFE, INF)
• Non-participation and obstacles to participation in training
• Participation in FED, NFE and INF activities by field of education/learning
• Share of the job related NFE
• Volume of instruction hours in FED and NFE
• Employer financing and costs of learning in FED and NFE
• Module on language and ICT skills of the population
• Module on social and cultural participation of the population

The classification of education, occupation and economic activities in the Adult Education Survey are fully harmonised with the classifications used in other fields of the European system of statistics.

The classification of the economic activities is in accordance to NACE Rev.1.1 and occupations according to ISCO (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/).

The classification of educational activities is based on ISCED - the International Standard Classification of Education - UNESCO 1997.

Not available

Lifelong learning: All learning activity undertaken throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competences, within a personal, civic, social, and employment related perspectives.

Learning activities: Any activities of an individual organised with the intention to improve his/her knowledge, skills, and competences. Intentional learning (as opposed to random learning) is defined as a deliberate search for knowledge, skills, competences, or attitudes of lasting value. Organised learning is defined as learning planned in a pattern or sequence with the explicit or implicit aims.

Formal education is defined as education provided in the system of schools, colleges, universities and other formal educational institutions that normally constitutes a continuous "ladder" of full-time education for children and young people, generally beginning at the age of five to seven and continuing to up to 20 or 25 years old.

Non Formal Education is defined as any organised and sustained educational activities that do not correspond exactly to the above definition of formal education. Non-formal education may therefore take place both within and outside educational institutions and cater to persons of all ages. Depending on country contexts, it may cover educational programmes to impart adult literacy, basic education for out of school children, life-skills, work-skills, and general culture.

Highest level of education successfully completed (educational attainment)

Highest level of educational attainment are aggregated to 3 levels:

- low corresponds pre-primary, primary and lower secondary education (ISCED levels 0, 1, 2)

- medium corresponds to upper secondary and post secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED levels 3 and 4)

- high corresponds to tertiary education (ISCED levels 5 and 6).

More information on ISCED97 is available on the Unesco site

 Degree of urbanisation

Three types of areas are defined based on population density:

- densely-populated (urban) with more than 500 habitants per square kilometer,

- semi-urban with between 100  and 500 habitants per square kilometer

- rural with less than 100 habitants per square kilometer.

Activity status : The activity status comprises employed, unemployed and inactive.

Economic activities

Economic activity, is in accordance with the section breakdown of the NACE Rev. 1.1, the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community.

Occupation

Type of occupation is defined according to the International classification ISCO-88, 1-digit level. 4 categories of employees are distinguished (ISCO-88 codes in parenthesis):

- high skilled white collar (codes 1+2+3) that includes, legislators, senior officials and managers, professionals and technicians and associate professionals;

- low skilled white collar (4+5) that includes clerks and service workers and shop and market sales workers,

- high skilled blue collar (6+7) where includes skilled agricultural and fishery workers and craft and related trades workers;

- low skilled blue collar (8+9) where is included plant and machine operators and assemblers and elementary occupations.

Individuals and learning activities

Sampling unit was individuals in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, United Kingdom while it was households in Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and dwellings in Poland.

The reference population is individual persons living in private households. The target population is individuals between the ages of 25 to 64 years old. The table below shows the target population and sample sizes.

Country		AES Micro data		Population (average of 2006)
Code	Name	Sample size (RESPONSE)	Target population	Target population	Total population
Totals		169,183	234,641,457	251,394,379	397,207,283
AT	Austria	4,675	4,561,836	4,575,327	8,282,424
BE	Belgium	4 850	5 652 513	5,666,353	10,547,958
BG	Bulgaria	5,263	4,295,030	4,296,797	7,699,020
CY	Cyprus	4,810	422,466	416,996	772,549
CZ	Czech Republic	9,543	6 045 009	5,960,173	10269134
DE	Germany	6,407	45,227,984	45,096,036	82,376,451
EE	Estonia	3,585	705,974	706,354	1,343,547
ES	Spain	16,968	25,507,487	25,207,735	44,116,441
FI	Finland	4,144	2,849,791	2,851,172	5,266,268
FR	France	15,350	31,492578	33058904	63195457
GR	Greece	6,510	6,050,927	6,176,115	11,148,460
HR	Croatia	3089	2 365 740	2406343	4442061
HU	Hungary	7,494	5,567,176	5,637,591	10,071,370
IT	Italy	27,848	32,657,194	32,884,557	58,941,499
LT	Lithuania	3,696	1,795,076	1,788,623	3,394,082
LV	Latvia	2,287	1,205,505	1,217,140	2,287,948
NL	Netherlands	3326	9,020,870	9,064,944	16,346,101
NO	Norway	3,018	2,510,364	2,489,800	4,660,677
PL	Poland	24,817	20,633,803	20,809,598	38,141,267
SE	Sweden	3,632	4,793,653	4,808,445	9,080,505
SI	Slovenia	4,192	1,162,228	1,150,004	2,006,868
SK	Slovakia	5,001	3,040,871	3,023,737	5,391,409
UK	United Kingdom	3,528	31,140,644	32,101635	60,621,244
CH	Switzerland	*	*	4202984	7483934
DK	Denmark	*	*	2981044	5437272
MT	Malta	*	*	223512	406408
PT	Portugal	*	*	5844772	10584344
RO	Romania	*	*	11792424	21,587,666
TR	Turkey	*	*	No data	71104615

Source: population data taken from the Eurostat demographic database.

* Quality reports are not available yet.

The Adult Education Survey data is compiled for the EU, EFTA and candidate countries and aggregates will, until further notice, not be calculated for EU15, EU25, and EU27 because not all countries take part in the present survey (no survey in Ireland and Luxembourg).

Data from the following countries available (August 2009):

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia and United Kingdom.

The complete dataset is expected to be available towards the end of 2009 with the inclusion of the following countries:

Switzerland, Denmark, Malta, Romania and Turkey.

The national AESs were carried out during the period 2005 to 2008.

-

Not available

The data are presented with a common reference year (2007) although the reference period varies from country to country.

COUNTRY	Interviewing periods
AUSTRIA	04/2006-11/2007
BELGIUM	02/2007-06/2008
BULGARIA	11/2006-12/2007
CROATIA	12/2006-12/2007
CYPRUS	09/2005 -12/2006
CZECH REPUBLIC	01/2007- 03/2008
ESTONIA	10/2006 -12/2007
FINLAND	03/2005 - 08/2006
FRANCE	01/2006 -01/2007*
GERMANY	03/2006 - 07/2007
GREECE	10/2006 - 12/2007
HUNGARY	06/2005 - 08/2006
ITALY	05/2005 - 08/2006
LATVIA	05/2006 - 06/2007
LITHUANIA	03/2005 - 04/2006
NETHERLANDS	02/2007-04/2008**
NORWAY	05/2006 - 08/2007
POLAND	10/2005 - 12/2006
SLOVAKIA	08/2006 - 09/2007
SLOVENIA	09/2006-12/2007
SPAIN	02/2006-04/2007
SWEDEN	10/2004 - 03/2006
UNITED KINGDOM	10/2004-02/2006

 *  The reference period for the learning activities is the year preceding the survey.
** Information on the formal learning activities was obtained from LFS data. This implies that the reference period for formal education is 4 weeks prior to the interview. The reference period of the non-formal and informal learning activities was the last 12 months before the interview.

'Regulation (EC) No 452/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 concerning the production and development of statistics on education and lifelong learning' domain 2 Council Regulation (EC) No 452/2008

The development of a legal framework (foreseen Commission regulation) towards full implementation of the survey in 2011 is in the planning stage.

See also Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 of 9 March 1998 on the organisation of a labour Force sample survey.

Not available

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Not available

The precise date of data release is disseminated on Eurostat website.

Not available

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Dissemination format') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Adult Education surveys are planned to be conducted every 5 years (please see Council Regulation (EC) No 452/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 concerning the production and development of statistics on education and lifelong learning' domain 2.

News releases on-line.

None

Please consult free data on-line or refer to contact details.

Not available

Internet address: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

Documentation of methods from both the participating countries as well as evaluation and summaries from Eurostat are or/and will be made available in the CIRCA domain.

Available information on methodology include:

• Country Profiles from participating countries
• Final questionnaires
• Summary of country profiles
• Quality reports from participating countries
• Summary and evaluation of quality reports
• Revision and review of data quality
• Other sources of information include Task Force and Working group papers on various issues in methodology.

More information and documents are available in Circa.

Notes will be made available

The summary of the quality reports (see document AES 05/2008) is available on CIRCA : Synthesis quality report (only authorized access).

Not available

Not available

Not available

Not available

Not available

The following Table  provides the estimates and confidence limits for participation rates in formal, non-formal and informal education for some countries. The intervals calculated in the table are calculated on the basis of the AES microdata provided to Eurostat (assumption simple random sample) and are therefore not taken from the quality reports.

Confidence limits¹⁾  for participation in AES survey:

Country	Participation rate (%)
	Formal education	Non-formal education	Informal education
Austria	4.2 ± 0.6	39.4 ± 1.4	75.7 ± 1.2
Belgium	12.5 ± 0.9	33.5 ± 1.3	34.9 ± 1.3
Bulgaria	2.7 ± 0.4	35.2 ± 1.3	28.0 ± 1.2
Cyprus	2.9 ± 0.5	39.5 ± 1.4	63.6 ± 1.4
Czech Republic	3.9 ± 0.4	35.3 ± 1.0	54.7 ± 1.0
Estonia	5.0 ± 0.7	40.2 ± 1.6	44.8 ± 1.6
Spain	5.9 ± 0.4	27.2 ± 0.7	28.0 ± 0.7
Finland	10.2 ± 0.9	51.2 ± 1.5	54.6 ± 1.5
France	1.7 ± 0.2	34.1 ± 0.7	63.8 ± 0.8
Germany	5.2 ± 0.5	43.1 ± 1.2	52.4 ± 1.2
Greece	2.3 ± 0.4	12.7 ± 0.8	20.7 ± 1.0
Croatia	4.5 ± 0.7	18.4 ± 1.4	44.6 ± 1.8
Hungary	2.5 ± 0.4	6.8 ± 0.6	26.2 ± 1.0
Italy	4.4 ± 0.2	20.2 ± 0.5	41.2 ± 0.6
Lithuania	6.3 ± 0.8	30.9 ± 1.5	45.3 ± 1.6
Latvia	5.4 ± 0.9	30.7 ± 1.9	53.9 ± 2.0
Netherlands	6.8 ± 0.9	42.1 ± 1.7	_ 2)
Norway	9.9 ± 1.1	50.6 ± 1.8	72.3 ± 1.6
Poland	5.5 ± 0.3	18.6 ± 0.5	25.4 ± 0.5
Sweden	12.7 ± 1.1	69.4 ± 1.5	76.0 ± 1.4
Slovenia	8.7 ± 0.9	36.1 ± 1.5	62.0 ± 1.5
Slovakia	6.1 ± 0.7	41.2 ± 1.4	84.1 ± 1.0
UK	15.1 ± 1.2	40.3 ± 1.6	53.7 ± 1.6

¹⁾ The confidence limits at 95% level of significance.

²⁾ Netherlands used some new variables for informal learning, which were totally different from those suggested in the Model Questionnaire

Note: Participation rates are calculated from microdata sent to Eurostat.

Measurement errors

For most countries AES was a stand-alone survey. French, Hungarian and The Netherlands surveys were ad hoc modules of Labour force survey. Italy carried out the AES as part of "Citizens and their leisure survey".   Recommended method for collecting the data was CAPI that was finally applied by Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France and Germany. PAPI with face-to-face interview was the most used method in Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia. Mixed version of CAPI and CATI as survey method was reported by Norway and Sweden.   Countries reported several issues in their quality reports which complement the interpretation of data:

• Survey design -some countries considered the questionnaire to be long and with some sensitive questions. The average interview time varies from country but was in general between 30 and 60 minutes.
• General information - Older respondents were not always able to answer questions on parental education and occupation.
• Participation in FED and NFE - Some respondents had difficulties with determination of the number of hours spent on travelling and learning at home and also the number of instruction hours for the NFE activity.

In part of the quality reports regarding the implementation of Classification of Learning Activities (CLA), countries described their experience and cases where they had difficulties. Proxy interviews were allowed in three countries. In Greece the overall proxy rate was 22.9%, in Italy 10% and in Poland it was 15.6%. 

Reference period of 12 months but survey period varies depending on country and whether AES was conducted alone or as part of another survey:

Country	Pilot testing	Fieldwork	Processing	Data delivery to Eurostat
Austria	02-03/2007	04-11/2007	12/2007-05/2008	07/2008
Belgium	10-11/2007	02/2008-06/2008	05/2008-10/2008	01/2009
Bulgaria	05/2007	11-12/2007	02-05/2008	05-06/2008
Croatia	10/2007	12/2007	01/2008-10/2008	11/2008
Cyprus	11-12/2005	09/2006-12/2006	09/2006-06/2007	07/2007
Czech Republic	10/2007	1/2008 -3/2008	04/2008-07/2008	07/2008
Estonia	10-11/2006	09/2007-12/2007	01/2008-04/2008	22/04/2008
Finland	06/2005	03/2006-08/2006	04/2006-07/2007	31/05/2007
France	06-10/2005	01/2006-01/2007	02/2007-02/2008	02/2008
Germany	01/2007	03/2007-07/2007	07/2007-04/2008	09/04/2008
Greece	03/2007	10/2007-12/2007	10/2007-02/2008	21/02/2008
Hungary	04-05/2006	07/2006-09/2006	10/2006-05/2007	05/2007
Italy	no pilot testing	05/2006-08/2006	09/2006-07/2007	07/2007
Latvia	02-03/2007	05/2007-06/2007	07/2007-08/2007	30/08/2007
Lithuania	no pilot testing	03/2006-04/2006	05/2006-10/2006	10/11/2006
Netherlands	N.A	02/2008-04/2008	05/2008-08/2008	03/2009
Norway	02-03/2007	05/2007-08/2007	07/2007-11/2007	03/2008
Poland	05/2006	10/2006-12/2006	10/2006-05/2007	12/07/2007
Slovakia	02-03/2007	08/2007-09/2007	10/2007-12/2007	12/2007
Slovenia	10/2006	09/2007-12/2007	January - may 2008 (planned)  realized  January 2009	06/2009
Spain	03/2006	02/2007-04/2007	06/2007-10/2007	11-12/2007
Sweden	05/2005	10/2005-03/2006	01/2006-12/2006	01/2007
UK	08/2005	10/2005 - 02/2006	12/2005 - 04/2006	07/2008

Not available

Not available

Not available

Results from the Adult Education Survey are not directly comparable with variables on lifelong learning surveyed in the EU Labour Force Survey data (quarterly data where the lifelong learning variable has a reference period of 4 weeks.)

The EU-LFS ad-hoc module on lifelong learning as carried out in 2003 is not directly comparable with the AES information in terms of survey methodology.

In consequence, no time series are available.

More information and documents are available in CIRCA

Eurostat carried out quality tests, mainly on the coherency of the provided information.

Not available

Countries can revise the appropriate files but they have to resend from the beginning the whole file.

The results and methods as used in the Adult Education Survey are in principle open to revision, in particular when new or improved information becomes available. Documentation of methods or changes can be found in the public domain of Circa on the Eurostat homepage.

The basic source of data is the results of the Adult Education Survey.

The Adult Education Survey is a pilot survey carried out by countries in the EU, EFTA and candidate countries.

Existing sources of data on lifelong learning include the EU Labour Force Survey and the Continuous Vocational Training Survey (enterprise survey). Data from these sources are also available on Eurostat's website.

Every 5 years.

Data collection methods were designed in collaboration with the participating countries and Eurostat through the work of the AES Task Force and other Working groups including in collaboration with external contractors. An AES manual and a standard questionnaire were recommended for use in the survey as well as common technique of conducting interviews.

Base used for the sample

Countries used different bases for selecting the AES sample

Census: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, France, Greece and Hungary

Register: Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden

Postcode address file: U.K

More specifically:

Austria:
Central Register of Residents

Belgium
National Register

Bulgaria
Population Census 2001 Register

Croatia
The basis for the sampling frame is the Data Base of individual data collected during the Census 2001

Czech Republic
Czech census enumeration unit register

Cyprus:
2001 census of population and Electricity Authority of Cyprus.

Estonia
The Population Register 

Finland
Population database maintained by Statistics Finland

France
Census

Germany
The population register

Greece
2001 census

Hungary
2001 Population and Housing Census

Italy
Public register of households

Latvia
Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia (CSB) Address Register

Lithuania
The Population Register

Netherlands
Municipal basic registration of population data

Norway
Central Population Register

Poland
Register of Domestic Territorial Division

Slovakia
Slovak total population, state to 31st December 2005

Slovenia
Central Population Register

Spain
Spain Official Population Register

Sweden
Swedish total population register (TPR)

SAMPLING Depending on the national framework, countries used the following sampling methods:  

1. multi-stage multi-stratified sampling - Germany, Italy, Latvia, Norway and Poland
2. stratified simple random sampling - Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom
3. simple random sampling - Latvia, Slovakia
4. multistage stratified sampling within LFS - France, Greece, Hungary

Survey design and interviewing methods

Face to face interviews. CAPI interviews were recommended but some countries used other methods.

Differences between national survey design and AES recommendations were reported by several countries. Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia used for data collection the face-to-face interviews with PAPI questionnaire as an interviewing method instead of recommended CAPI. Norway and Sweden collected AES data by mixed CATI and CAPI method.

The AES in France included a lot of open coded variables (post-coding subsequently).

Calculation of the weighting factors

All the countries used data on gender and age in the weighting process. As calibration variables were also used place of residence (rural/urban area), region according to NUTS II level, education level (Finland) and employment status (France).

Data validation is done by National Statistical Institutes or organisations responsible for the survey. Eurostat carried out quality tests, mainly on the coherency of the provided information.

No European aggregates are available.

Adjustments of data are performed when countries send revisions to Eurostat.

Countries reported several problematic modules and variables mostly concerning:

Background information

Problematic modules and/or questions	Country
Parental education	Hungary, Spain,
Citizenship	Latvia,

Formal Education 

Problematic modules and/or questions	Country
Number of instruction hours in formal education	Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Latvia, Poland, Slovenia
Level of formal education	Belgium
Cost of formal education activities	Belgium
Distinguishing costs of exam fees, tuition etc. from the cost of books, technical study means etc	Norway

 Non-formal education 

Problematic modules and/or questions	Country
Number of instruction hours in non-formal education	Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Latvia, Poland, Spain, Slovenia
Certificate of a non-formal activity in education and training	Austria, Cyprus
Number of non-formal education activities	Greece
Distinguish between guided on the job training and learning from a colleague.	Latvia, Lithuania
Field of the third randomly selected activity	Sweden
guided on-the-job training from other forms of planned learning activities at work:	Norway,
separating guided on-the-job training from random learning at work	Norway
Type of non-formal education activities	Greece
Cost of non-formal education activities	Belgium
Number of travel hours	Bulgaria, Latvia, Poland, Spain
Number of time spent at home	Poland, Spain
Number of homework hours	Bulgaria, Latvia
Provider of non-formal education activity	Cyprus, The Netherlands
difficulty remembering self-study time	Lithuania
Distinguishing costs of exam fees, tuition etc. from the cost of books, technical study means etc	Norway

Informal education 

Problematic modules and/or questions	Country
Informal learning	Finland, Spain, Sweden

 Modules 

Problematic modules and/or questions	Country
Obstacles in participation in education	Austria, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Cyprus
Use of ICT:	Austria
Language skills	Norway
Level  of knowledge of foreign languages	Poland
Level of computer use (literacy)	Poland,
Attitudes towards learning	Spain, Hungary

 Others 

Problematic modules and/or questions	Country
Fields of education and training (post-coding):	Austria,
Long and complex questionnaire	Austria , Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech republic, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden
Long reference period: (remembering problems)	Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech republic, The Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden
the distinction between formal, non-formal and informal learning (definition)	Belgium
face-to-face method of interviewing	Croatia
The implementation in a PAPI survey	Italy
Post coding of the ISCO/NACE/ISCED	Cyprus
Distinguishing between non-formal and informal learning	Latvia
PAPI questionnaire (The choice of learning activities i.e. three out of ten)	The Netherlands
field of education or training	Norway
Coding with alphanumeric codes	Slovakia
Duration of interview	Spain
Access to information about learning possibilities	Spain