U3A stands for the University of the Third Age, which is a self-help organisation for people no longer in full time employment providing educational, creative and leisure opportunities in a friendly environment.  It consists of local U3As all over the UK, which are charities in their own right and are run entirely by volunteers.  Local U3As are learning cooperatives which draw upon the knowledge, experience and skills of their own members to organise and provide interest groups in accordance with the wishes of the membership.   The teachers learn and the learners teach. Between them U3As offer the chance to study over 300 different subjects in such fields as art, languages, music, history, life sciences, philosophy, computing, crafts, photography and walking.  A typical U3A has about 250 members but could be as small as 12 and as large as 2000.

The U3A approach to learning is – learning for pleasure.  There is no accreditation or validation and there are no assessments or qualifications to be gained.