Oxford may be recognised worldwide as an ancient seat of learning, but now three of the city's estates have been handed £1.7m to get adults back into education.

Community centres in Blackbird Leys, Rose Hill and Barton are being turned into adult learning zones, giving residents the chance of passing formal qualifications in subjects ranging from maths to film-making.

It is hoped the three community centres will form a link with established education bodies, including Oxford University and Oxford Brookes Universities. Dan Paskins, Oxford City Council's executive member for social inclusion, said: "This scheme will go a long way to tackle the pressing issue of low-skill or low-paid employment in our priority communities of Rose Hill, Barton and Blackbird Leys."

The three adult education centres will be modelled on the successful Blackbird Leys IT Zone (Blitz).

Mother-of-three Dorothy Armstead, 61, from Greater Leys, has passed IT courses at Blitz and is now studying maths, after leaving school aged 14 with no qualifications.

She said: "Maths and English are the bane of my life. I limped along all these years with three children and their homework. Now I'm on my own, I want to do it for myself.

"When my children found out I could email, they laughed but now that's how we make contact. It's frightening at first, but there are lots of single parents in Blackbird Leys who would benefit." A survey of 500 people in Blackbird Leys last year revealed 450 of those asked wanted more adult education, while just 17 were undertaking some form of learning. The 2001 census revealed 45 per cent of adults on the estate had no formal qualifications, compared with 18 for the whole of Oxford.

Community centre manager Paul Issacs said: "It's excellent to bring further adult learning facilities into the estate."

Oxfordshire County Council was awarded £843,000 from the South East England Development Agency.

The figure has now been matched by its funding partners -- Oxford City Council, Ruskin College, Oxfordshire Learning Partnership, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford Early Years Partnership, Oxford and Cherwell Valley College and Blackbird Leys Extended Schools cluster.