J J Draper organised short courses for rural teachers between 1928 and 1933. Marjorie Wise established a short lived Rural School Extension Department and studied village schools in Devon in 1930. Formal adult education classes were organised for estate workers and apprentices in 1933 and these continued until 1939. Subjects ranged from plumbing to economics. Foxhole was leased to the Fabian Summer Schools each August during World War II, providing a socialist base for adult education. Also during World War II, the Dartington Social Centre was established.

After the War, Alan Milton was appointed as the head of the new Adult Education Centre in 1947. It was based at Shinners Bridge on land donated by the Trust. Dartington Hall School staff and other experts on the estate taught classes in a variety of practical and academic subjects. Membership rose to a high of about 200 within a few years. Cecil Chapman replaced Alan Milton in 1951. He was in turn replaced by Ivor Weeks who brought a renewed emphasis on art. In the 1960s and 1970s, space was provided at the Cider Press for craft education classes.

In 1949, a Youth Club was established and built by the Trust at Meadowbrook and this facility has grown into the present Dartington Community Centre.