Social class is a major determining factor of educational experiences, and remains one of the best predictors of who will achieve success, prosperity, and social status. In particular, the existence of persistent social class inequalities in access is a repeated theme of research into higher education participation. Moreover, socio-economic inequalities persist in spite of the considerable enlargement of higher education systems that has taken place in many countries since the 1950s (Alon 2009, Bolver 2011, Field 2003, Reay 2012). Moreover, survey data and qualitative accounts both confirm that many people continue to see class as an everyday aspect of their lives, in ways that are also connected with their understanding of learning and its possibilities. Yet, despite its continued significance in peoples liǀes, Đlass has virtually disappeared from modern adult learning research. This paper looks at the ways in which experiences and constraints of social class were edžpeƌieŶĐed aŶd stoƌied ďLJ a group of non-traditional students in higher education. It starts out with reflections on the current status – or rather absence – of class as a key category of critical analysis in the adult of adult learning. We then examine briefly the question of class in the context of mass higher education. While much has changed in the A revised version of this paper is now published as John Field & Natalie Morgan-Klein (2013) Reappraising the importance of class in higher education entry and persistence, Studies in the Education of Adults, 45, 2, pp. 162-76