Jan has worked in adult and community education for 30 years in a wide variety of settings, including the voluntary sector, workplace and trade union learning, community education and tutor training. She has a commitment to widening participation. Her main interest and experience are in the field of Return to Learn and Skills for Life. Before coming to NIACE, she was a Lifelong Learning Planning Officer for a Local Education Authority and an adult and community learning manager with a Learning Partnership. She also worked with the National Health Services University (NHSU) as Learning Co-ordinator for South Yorkshire, leading the Skills for Life initiative for a large region.

Jan has extensive experience in the health and social care sector. Currently she is working with the “Skilled for Health” (health literacy) initiative to develop a handbook for literacy, language and numeracy practitioners and is working in the NE of England on a regional sustainability strategy for health literacy. She has also supported Skills for Health (the sector skills council for health) to develop their Literacy, Language and Numeracy website. 

She has worked with the Department of Health’s Widening Participation Unit to identify good practice in widening participation in learning for NHS staff with the greatest skills needs. She supported a Workforce Development Confederation to enable 18 trusts to develop a Skills for Life action plan that included a template, staff support, and training in awareness raising. This work was showcased in a Department of Education and Skills for Life Employer Toolkit. 

Other experience includes: work with mental health service users to influence access to learning, an evaluation of work-based learning for support staff at Oxford Radcliffe NHS Trust, a major university teaching hospital; and a needs assessment for the Education Department at Ashworth Hospital, Mersey Care NHS Trust.

Jan completed a research degree and trained in the early 1970s as a town planner before starting her career in adult learning.