Data for countries in the European Statistical System come from the pilot EU Adult Education Survey (AES). The EU AES surveys were carried out between 2005 and 2008 by 29 countries in the EU, EFTA and EU candidate countries. The EU AES is a pilot exercise which proposed a common framework for the first time, including a standard questionnaire, tools and quality reporting (OECD, 2010b). They do not, however, indicate anything about the actual quality of the competences gained by people and therefore about how the qualifications earned contribute to individual wellbeing, e.g. by improving access to the labour market.