Why Adult Learning Deserves a Bigger Spotlight: Meet Awards Sponsor Barbara Allen

When we talk about the class-based sector, children’s activities often get a huge amount of the attention.

And rightly so. There are incredible businesses across the UK helping children learn, move, create, build confidence and discover new interests every single week.

But there is another part of this sector that I think deserves a much bigger spotlight.

Adult classes.

That is one of the reasons I am so pleased to have Barbara Allen, founder of Lingua Forme, sponsoring Adult Class Provider of the Year at The Class Business Awards 2026.

Barbara has spent years working in adult education, building a language business around long-term relationships, community and lifelong learning. Her perspective is a brilliant reminder that the impact of a class does not suddenly become less valuable when the learner turns 18.

A Lifelong Love of Languages

Barbara’s own relationship with languages began at school in the North East of England.

She remembers walking into a classroom at around 10 or 11, seeing French written on the board and realising she understood it when nobody else in the room did.

That interest eventually took her through French and Russian at university, into living and working in France and Russia, and travelling much further afield.

For Barbara, studying languages did far more than teach her vocabulary.

“It really did open my whole world and it really, really changed my life.”

Coming from a working-class family in Wallsend and becoming the first generation to attend university, languages gave Barbara the confidence to travel, work internationally and experience a world much bigger than the one she had grown up in.

Building a Business Around Adult Learners

Lingua Forme was established in 2010, although Barbara describes 2018 as the point where she really went full-time with the business.

Her route into teaching was not particularly traditional either. She had worked in business and sales before an opportunity arose to teach in a university in France, despite having no previous teaching experience.

A mentor helped her find her feet, and she discovered that she loved it.

Today, Barbara specialises in teaching French to adults through face-to-face classes in the North East, alongside helping other independent language teachers build businesses of their own.

And her customer retention is extraordinary.

Some of Barbara’s learners have been attending her classes for 14 years.

Her oldest learner is 92.

“You are never too old to learn a language.”

That longevity is one of the things Barbara believes makes adult classes such an interesting business model. Instead of constantly replacing customers who age out of a programme, adult learners can stay together for years, progressing through different levels while building friendships and community along the way.

For Barbara, those long-term groups provide:

• Consistent recurring customers
• Stronger relationships between learners
• A genuine sense of community
• Less reliance on constantly finding new customers
• Opportunities for learners to progress over many years

The class becomes much more than the subject being taught.

The Opportunity Barbara Thinks More Teachers Are Missing

Barbara also believes there is a significant opportunity for language teachers who are currently focused primarily on GCSE and A-level tuition.

Adult teaching can feel unfamiliar because there is no prescribed exam specification telling you exactly what must be covered next.

But Barbara sees that freedom as an opportunity.

An adult learner might want French because they have a property abroad, relatives in another country, plans to travel, a desire to keep learning in retirement or simply because they have always wanted to do it.

The possibilities are enormous.

That is why Barbara has now developed a licensing opportunity to help other language teachers create their own independent adult language businesses.

The model brings together:

• Barbara’s tried-and-tested adult teaching structure
• Training around how adults learn differently from children
• Lesson ideas and resources
• Business guidance
• Branding and website support
• A framework for creating profitable face-to-face classes

As Barbara explained during our conversation, teachers can still mix group classes with one-to-one tuition, GCSE or A-level work. The point is to build a business around the way they want to work.

Why Sponsor Adult Class Provider of the Year?

Barbara’s decision to sponsor this category comes back to something she feels strongly about: adult learning is underrepresented.

When she began working in adult education, there was much more public funding available for classes. People could access opportunities in everything from languages and creative writing to silversmithing and crochet.

Over time, much of that provision has disappeared.

“I really think that there should be champions out there of adult learning.”

I completely agree.

Classes give adults reasons to leave the house, meet new people, challenge themselves, discover interests and continue learning throughout their lives.

For older adults in particular, that combination of learning and connection can be incredibly valuable.

And yet so many brilliant adult class providers still sit quietly under the radar.

That is exactly why having Adult Class Provider of the Year represented within The Class Business Awards matters.

Celebrating Lifelong Learning

What I love about Barbara’s story is that it challenges the idea that a successful class business has to be built around children.

Her learners stay for years.

They build friendships.

They travel.

They challenge themselves.

They keep learning well into later life.

At 92, Barbara’s oldest learner is perhaps the best evidence of all that there should never be an expiry date on curiosity.

Watch Barbara’s Full Interview

In our full conversation, Barbara shares more about her journey into adult language teaching, the extraordinary loyalty she has built within her classes, why she believes adult learning deserves far more recognition and how she is helping other language teachers build independent businesses of their own.

👉 Watch Barbara’s full sponsor interview here.

Barbara’s sponsorship of Adult Class Provider of the Year gives us another opportunity to shine a light on the businesses creating those experiences every week.

And I cannot wait to celebrate them together on Saturday 10 October 2026 at the National Conference Centre in Solihull.

The Class Business Live runs from 9:00am to 3:00pm, bringing together providers, finalists, judges and sponsors for speakers, mastermind conversations and practical business discussions, before The Class Business Awards & Afterparty begins at 6:00pm.

Join us for The Class Business Live and Awards.

And a huge thank you to Barbara and Lingua Forme for helping us champion adult class providers across the sector.