ADULTS who have been out of education for many years have the chance to enrol on bite-size courses after a £76.5m Government boost into further education in the two counties.

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Learning and Skills Council hopes to have more than 1,000 people on one and two-hour courses during June and July with the extra funding.

The short learning sessions will offer a range of activities, taking students outside traditional educational establishments and into more unconventional venues.

Using a computer to improve basic numeracy, literacy and communication are a few of the skills mature students will be able to get their teeth into.

Executive director Alan Curless OBE said the new skills council was one of 47 in England which had taken over responsibility for funding post-16 further education and training.

"By taking the fear out of learning and demonstrating what can be accomplished in a lunch break or two hours after work, this will help people who have avoided education since leaving school," he said. "The aim is to make them realise how fulfilling it can be."

Recent labour market research by the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) revealed men who claimed to have improved their numeracy skills earned three per cent more than those who did not.

Women's earnings were 11 per cent higher.

The overall budget allocated for the 47 councils is more than £5.5bn, a nine per cent increase on funding which was previously available.

Chairman of the Learning and Skills Council Bryan Sanderson said the challenge was enormous.

"There are seven million adults whose literacy is so bad they can't find a plumber in the Yellow Pages," he said.

"We hope to remove barriers and allow people to try something without fear of failure."

Further information on courses is available from Learndirect on 0800 100 900.