I am writing to let you know about some exciting news – Aldridge Adult Learning (AAL) is going to have a new home!  From September, we will be based on Gardner Road, Brighton. 

AAL, with roots in adult learning since the 1970s, offers flexible learning options to adults in the Portslade, Hove, and Greater Brighton communities, including daytime, evening, and online classes. These are designed to improve job prospects, enable progression to higher-level courses, including university, and create growth, prosperity and opportunities for social mobility for our local communities. 

For a number of years, AAL has hired classrooms in the Portslade Sports Centre, with our administrative offices based nearby in Portslade Aldridge Community Academy. The classrooms in the sports centre will no longer be available for hire after Summer 2025, and so it was time for us to find an alternative location that would allow us to continue providing high-quality education and support to you, our learners. 

Our new space on Gardner Road brings lots of benefits. We will gain an extra classroom, providing more space for our learners, and we will also be able to personalise and tailor the rooms to best suit your needs.  

The new location also has excellent transport links, being accessible via numerous bus routes and within walking distance of Fishersgate train station, making it easier for you to reach us. Additionally, the new premises will allow us to bring together, for the first time, our administrative staff with our tutors and learners, creating a more cohesive experience for our AAL community. 

We are really looking forward to getting set up in our new home – it truly is a win for everyone at AAL, and we are excited to welcome you to the new building. Before then, there is some work that we will need to complete in the building to ensure that the space meets the needs of our AAL team and our learners; this should be all finished before the start of September. 

Although our building might be changing, you’ll find the same supportive and caring environment for learning that we have always strived to create. We remain committed to making a positive impact for both individuals and society, contributing solutions to a range of pressing societal issues, such as health & wellbeing; inclusion and community; growth and prosperity; jobs and careers; and social mobility. 

Just as a reminder, our courses, mapped to local and national needs, include: 

‘Begin your journey’: Unaccredited first steps provision in a range of vocational and academic areas to help those furthest from education, skills, and opportunity build their confidence and begin their learning journey. 

• Skills for Life courses: English, Maths, Computing & Digital Skills, and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) to improve basic skills from entry level to level 2 (including GCSEs in English & maths). 
• Access to Higher Education courses: Health & Social Care, Access to Social Science to prepare for university study. 
• Support Work in Schools: Courses to train for careers in supporting children in schools in roles such as teaching support assistants. 
• Care Professions: Courses to train for careers in child and adult social care. Art & Creativity: Courses for those interested in exploring their artistic side, such as Art, Floristry, and Photography. 
• Health and Wellbeing: Courses to improve physical and mental health, such as Tai Chi, Floristry and Spanish. 
• Apprenticeships: In a range of subjects including IT Digital, Early Years (Early Years Educator and Early Years Practitioner), Customer Service, Business Administration, Management, and Teaching Support Assistants. 

For our full range of courses, visit: Adult Education Courses & Workshops in Brighton | Portslade

AAL’s last Ofsted inspection achieved ‘good’ across all categories, except for Behaviour and Attitudes of Learners – which was rated even more highly as ‘outstanding’. 

Thank you for your continued support and partnership; you really are at the heart of everything we do, and we know AAL and our learners are going to thrive in our new space. We’ll be in touch again to confirm our exact moving date and in the meantime, rest assured you can still enrol by calling our number 01273 422632 or emailing info@aal.org.uk.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch should you have any questions.  

Best wishes, 

Nick Fenn 

Principal, AAL