Anonymised Transcripts of Adult Learners in an Online Mathematics Qualification Course

This dataset contains fully anonymised interview transcripts collected as part of a doctoral study exploring adult learners’ experiences of online Mathematics education. All personal identifiers, organisational names, job titles, and platform names have been replaced with anonymised placeholders to ensure participant confidentiality. This ethnographic case study examines adult learners’ experiences of online mathematics learning, enriched by an autoethnographic account from a practising mathematics tutor. The research integrates the tutor’s digital diary, recorded during the 2020/2021 academic year, with semi‑structured interviews conducted with adult learners. Together, these complementary sources illuminate how adults navigate online mathematics courses and how their personal circumstances, prior learning histories, and interactions with tutors shape their engagement, challenges, and progress. Through narrative accounts, the study highlights key themes, including personal circumstances, technological accessibility, the role of tutor-learner interaction and understanding, and the strategies employed to foster mathematical comprehension in a virtual environment. The findings reveal that personalised feedback, tutors' approaches, work-life balance, and technology are important factors that shape the learning experience. The study also identifies barriers such as digital literacy gaps and varying levels of mathematical preparedness among learners. The research addresses gaps in existing literature by offering context‑specific insight into adult learners aged 25 and above who are enrolled in GCSE and Functional Skills mathematics courses, an under‑represented group in studies of online mathematics education. While reflective tutor accounts and learner narratives have been explored in other contexts, this study provides a focused examination of these perspectives within the FE mathematics sector, based on practice in a Community Adult Learning Centre. The implications of this research underscore the need for adaptive and empathetic teaching approaches in online mathematics education for adults. Recommendations for future practice and research are discussed, emphasising the importance of continued exploration of tutors' and adult learners' experiences in online mathematics courses across different age groups to enrich the educational landscape for adult learners.