Abstract: After the Industry Revolution, emphasis was placed on educating the working class in British adult education, which met their needs for education to a certain extent. From the beginning of 20^th century to 1956, British adult education was shaped by the competition among three main actors:Labour Colleges,the Workers' Education Association, University Adult Education. The independent working class education offered by Labour Colleges turned into the training means of Trade Unions' executives while the liberal adult education led by the Workers' Education Association and challenged by university adult education, graduated into mass adult education from working class education. Meanwhile, general higher adult education dominated by the universities, achieved its own institutionalization by competing against the Workers' Education Association and ended up with thriving. The changes in the three forces were closely related to the changes in the British labor movement at the same time. The change of the natureof labor movement directly affected the development of adult education in the first half of the 20th century and it contributed to the evolution of adult education from working class education to mass adult education.

Key words: working class education, mass adult education, Labour Movements, Labour Colleges, the Workers'Education Association, university adult education