Adult literacy skills update

See also Adult learning update (covers more general news on adult education issues)

CBI skills audit – basic skills are still a concern

The CBI has published results of a new annual audit of the nation’s skills. The survey, 'CBI/Edexcel Education & Skills Survey 2008', examining 735 firms, employing 1.7 million people between them. It identified skills gaps in the workplace and revealed the skills employers value the most.

Two-fifths of employers had serious concerns about employees’ basic literacy and numeracy skills. On the literacy side, the main problems are not being able to write in sentences, spell correctly or use accurate grammar. On the numeracy side, the key issue is the inability to spot simple errors or rogue numbers.

While most employers (63%) described staff in high skilled roles as ‘good’, fewer did so for those in intermediate level jobs (43%) and even fewer for lower skilled staff (35%).

Poor basic skills have a serious impact on customer service according to two-fifths (40%) of employers, and lower productivity according to a third (34%). Both issues have damaging implications for business performance and around a quarter of employers are investing in remedial literacy and numeracy training.

The CBI’s Deputy Director-General, John Cridland, said: "Being skilled is all the more important in an increasingly global economy, and our message to students is that your hard work to attain the right skills and good qualifications is essential to securing quality, well-paid jobs after school, college or university.”

(CBI, 18 April 2008)

Employers turn backs on skills

The TES has reported that employers are increasing demand for more unqualified people to take low-grade jobs, going against the Government’s drive for a higher skilled workforce. Department for Trade and Industry figures show that there is a shortage of four million people to fill jobs that require no qualifications in all sectors. The annual survey of adult education participation by NIACE, published in the report Road to Nowhere, shows a large drop in numbers of workers studying or training, particularly among part-timers.

The figures show that with 5000,000 fewer adults in study now, compared to last year, the Train to Gain scheme is not working. NIACE say that employers are using public money for training that they should be paying for themselves.

(TES, 18 May 2007)

Up to half of army recruits have poor basic skills

The Basic Skills Agency has published a report, developed by the Army in partnership with the Basic Skills Agency and jointly funded by DfES and the Army, which finds that up to half of the 12,000 recruits entering the army each year have literacy or numeracy skills at levels at or below those expected
of a primary school leaver. A survey also shows that 62% of army line managers 'often' or 'sometimes' encounter incidents where poor literacy hindered or stopped soldiers from carrying out the day-to-day tasks expected of them and 59% had the same experience with poor numeracy skills.

For more information on the report, Army Basic Skills Provision- whole organisation approach: lessons learnt visit www.basic-skills.co.uk/resources/resourcessearchresults/detail.php?ResourceID=26847132

(Basic Skills Agency, March 2007)

Poor maths and literacy skills cost £800m a year, survey finds

The Guardian has reported on reserach from Learndirect which has said that poor mathematics skills cost British adults more than £800m a year, according to a survey of 1,000 adults. It also revealed that one in three workers - 14.6 million people - admit their inadequate numeracy and literacy skills have lost their company money. Half those questioned felt their basic maths and English skills let them down. Many said they did not know the difference between basic words or homophones such as there and their. Learndirect said £823m is lost each year due to inadequate basic skills - enough to pay the starting salaries of more than 40,000 new teachers.

The Guardian interviewed Judi James, a workplace expert, who said that around a third of people surveyed said they feel embarrassed, panicked or afraid when their basic skills let them down. Learndirect also estimated that 1.4 million workers in the UK believe they have missed out on a promotion, or even lost a job, due to a lack of basic maths or English skills.

(Guardian, 21 February 2007)

Further education trainees fail to meet literacy standards

The training of some further education teachers is being held back by their inability to read, write and use ICT properly. Although all were highly-motivated, the report by the Schools' Inspectorate, indicated that a lack of teaching experience meant that many were not well prepared for working with students. Ofsted found that trainees were not only unable to make use of their own skills to teach, but that a few were "constrained by weaknesses in their own literacy and numeracy or a lack of effective study techniques". This meant that many trainees were unable to address errors in student assignments. Although training for vocational teachers was good or better in half of the providers studied, the inspectors said that as many as half gave too little attention to key aspects of applied learning. Ofsted found that there were "unacceptable variations" in the quality of training plans and needs assessment of individual trainees from school to school.

(The Times, 19 January 2007)

Adult learners in uphill battle

Adults who return to education take an average of 14 years to get their first basic GCSE-equivalent qualification. Research for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) showed that most people found the task so daunting that only three in 100 without a school-leaving qualification would have a go.

Carole Stott, former chief executive of the National Open College Network, who was commissioned to do the research, blamed a succession of failures in government policy and an "inflexible" exam system for putting people off. Ms Stott found evidence of failure in every part of the system. Advice from experts was often misleading and inconsistent, partnerships to promote and manage adult education were not working, and there was insufficient flexibility in the exam structure and the curriculum on offer.

While the Government was boasting about ever increasing numbers signing up for courses that would get adults back to work, her research suggests it is not hitting areas of greatest need and social and economic deprivation. "So, for those of us who think that adult learning as it stands needs protecting, there is a stark message," she said. "As it stands, the system does not deliver either way. Few adults without a qualification participate at all and a tiny proportion progress, however you measure progression."

Bill Rammell, the minister for FE, has introduced a series of free and subsidised programmes in recent months for people without qualifications. They range from basic literacy and numeracy, the Foundation Learning Tier, First Steps learning and an entitlement for all adults to study to level 2. But Ms Stott argued that none of these would succeed in the long term without a fundamental reform of exams and the curriculum. Adults needed more "personalised" learning, adapted to their needs and drives. The ways in which people were allowed to study had to be more flexible and adults had to have more time to complete exams and to qualify in short stages she said.

Many of the recommendations from the research issues are being adopted by the LSC. From 2010, all adults without a level 2 qualification will be entitled to more personalised learning with short units of study building towards a credit-based qualification.

(TES, 5 January 2007)

12m workers have the reading age of children

Up to 16 million adults - nearly half the workforce - are holding down jobs despite having the reading and writing skills expected of children leaving primary school. MPs on the Commons Public Accounts Committee claim that a major government scheme costing billions of pounds has done little to improve the quality of adult literacy and numeracy teaching.

The Department for Education is on course to have spent almost £6bn on its Skills for Life scheme by 2010, but its first few years have produced little evidence of improvement in provision in colleges or on-the-job training by employers.

The committee examined progress made improving the literacy, language and numeracy skills of adults in England, expanding learning provision and improving its quality, and targeting adults who need to improve their skills. It looked in depth at the effectiveness of Skills for Life, which was launched in 2001 with a target to improve the skills of 2.25 million adults by 2010.

But it suggests that much higher spending is necessary to deliver real improvements. Although the DfES has spent at least £3.7bn, the committee concluded that was "likely only to mark the start of a long-term programme. Estimated further expenditure of over £2bn could be needed to sustain the strategy until 2010."

The report highlights poor quality of provision and teaching as a major reason for lack of progress. "The quality of provision for adults is still too low. An extensive review of quality and standards by Ofsted and the Adult Learning Inspectorate found widespread weaknesses. People in the greatest need were getting the worst provision, and even in colleges, provision of literacy, language and numeracy was poorer than the provision for other areas of learning. In the first three years of the strategy, inspections have shown little evidence of improvement."

The skills minister, Phil Hope, said: "Tackling the huge legacy of poor adult literacy and numeracy skills is a key priority for this government. Poor skills may cost the country as much as £10bn a year and our continuing investment reflects this. Already, 3.7 million adults have taken the first step to engaging in learning, with over 1 million of these going on to achieve first qualifications."

For further information on adult skills levels see the NLT key skills explanation

The full Public Accounts Committee report Skills for Life: improving adult literacy and numeracy is available at - www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506

(Guardian, 24 January 2006)

Literacy counts but not as much as numeracy

Skills for Life, the national strategy for improving adult literacy and numeracy, has had more than £3 billion of investment over the past five years. As a matter of public accountability we therefore need to know exactly what the benefits of this type of learning are.

The National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy has drawn on its own research - and on reviews of evidence from other organisations - to gauge the returns. Our analysis confirms that they are substantial.

The evidence is particularly strong in relation to earnings. It is also clear that the returns to numeracy learning are especially significant. However, economic gains from Skills for Life, such as social and educational benefits, often take years to become fully apparent. A study by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research found adults who attended a basic maths course more than three years earlier were earning 13% more than matched individuals who had not attended a course.

By the third year of the study the former learners had an average annual take-home pay of £558 more than in the first year, while non-learners earned £713 less than in year 1. Higher levels of literacy and numaracy also bring better job prospects. The British Cohort Study (of people born in the same week in 1970) showed that 30-year-old women at level 1 literacy (equivalent to GCSE grades D to G) are up to 7% more likely to be in the workforce than women at entry level 3, the level down.

Furthermore, Skills for Life learners appear to benefit from greater self-esteem, reduced likelihood of long-term illness and commitment to their job. These are significant benefits, not least for employers who emphasise the importance of people's attitudes to their enterprise.

Intriguingly, numeracy is having a particularly important effect on socio-economic outcomes. Some researchers have suggested this is because offices require more numeracy skills than in the past, especially from women. Whatever the reason, poor numeracy rather than poor literacy was associated with low economic well-being for adults in the British Cohort Study. Futhermore, numeracy skills decline if not practised. This can create a vicious circle: poor numeracy leads to limited employment, which causes numeracy to deteriorate, which makes it harder to obtain and stay in employment.

At the age of 30, men and women in the British Cohort Study with poor numeracy were more than twice as likely to be unemployed as those with competent numeracy. And men with poor numeracy had the lowest hourly rates of pay. The message could therefore hardly be clearer. Literacy counts but numeracy appears to count even more.

(TES, 5 January 2006)

Assault course, combating low literacy in the army

Andy McNab, the former SAS man turned bestselling author (and National Literacy Trust Reading Champion), and Jordan, the surgically enhanced TV personality, don't appear to have much in common. But both have played a significant role in boosting literacy rates among British soldiers. Up to half of the British army's soldier recruits enter training with literacy or numeracy skills at or below the level expected of a primary school leaver. The army has a large and expanding adult education operation, and a range of initiatives are in place to help recruits grapple with "the three Rs".

Candahar Barracks in Tidworth, Wiltshire, is home to the UK's largest army education centre. At the barracks library, Major Ed Flute, a tall, enthusiastic man in charge of education, says: "I don't care what they're reading as long as they read."

Several of McNab's books are prominently displayed and are frequently borrowed. Even more popular is Jordan's autobiography. Between them they have helped to engender a love of reading among soldiers, some of whom had never read a book before they joined the army. There's a flurry of activity at the barracks today because McNab (not, alas, accompanied by Jordan) is due to arrive in the next half-hour. He will talk about his own lowly, semi-literate beginnings and how the army improved his reading, writing and numeracy skills. His aim is to inspire and exhort a hall full of soldiers to improve their basic literacy skills and to take pleasure from reading.

The army has provided education facilities of one kind or another for many years, but in 2001 there was a big shake-up of provision. According to Brigadier Tony Brister, the army's director of educational and training services, the army faces many challenges as a result of the basic skills deficiencies among some of its soldiers.

Boosting literacy and numeracy rates not only benefits the individuals but also improves the general effectiveness of the army, he says. "Facing basic skills deficiencies head-on and effectively leads to more confident, responsive and thinking individuals - individuals who are better prepared to meet the many and varied demands of modern-day soldiering."

There are 33 army education centres and more than 120 ICT-based learning centres in the UK and overseas. Between 2003 and 2006, around 12,000 learners have studied on 24,000 basic skills courses through the Army Learning Centre (ALC) network, which offers ICT-based learning. Course completion rates are around 84% and pass rates for those taking level 1 (equivalent to GCSE grades D-G) and level 2 (equivalent to GCSE grades A-C) are between 87% and 97%. The army's aim is for all recruits to have literacy and numeracy qualifications by the time they reach the end of their three-year training. These qualifications are needed for those who apply for promotion.

Around 55% of new recruits enter the army with level 1 or level 2 qualifications. Around 45% have the average skills of an 11-year-old and around 9% the skills of a five-, six- or seven-year-old. With more than 10,000 new recruits a year, the 9% at the lower end of the educational ability spectrum is a significant number. The army now carries out an educational test at recruiting stage and those who have the skills of a five- or six-year-old are no longer accepted into the army but are referred to local colleges, where they can be helped to improve their educational ability. Once they attain the educational level of a seven-year-old they can reapply to the army. A system of soldier mentors has been implemented to support recruits who are studying basic skills courses.

(Guardian, 5 December 2006)

Blackburn programme to break cycle of deprivation

A handful of childcare education tutors went out begging for space in a Barnardos centre and a disused shop when planning a new course five years ago. Their efforts proved so successful that today they run one of the most sophisticated outreach learning networks in the country. What started as a plan by Blackburn College to hold classes on child care for disadvantaged young mums has grown into a national centre of vocational excellence in childhood studies, and more besides.

By 2006, the college had created 800 places to give young adults from some of the most disadvantaged areas a foot on the ladder to further and higher education. Four in 10 adults in Blackburn have no qualification and appalling standards in reading and maths. The scheme creates a much-needed childcare workforce. It is also improving social cohesion in a multicultural society and providing economic benefits for families and local communities.

Sarah Horne, head of the programme, said that with a quarter of the local population from the Indian subcontinent and one in four children in families with no adults in work, "we have the classic cycle of deprivation and failure". She soon realised the scheme, with such small beginnings, needed to be more ambitious, which meant getting outside support.

Ms Horne said: "We knew from the start that if we were to succeed we had to get every service involved, from Sure Start to university access schemes. With financial support from the different agencies, this makes us more financially secure at a time when government spending is tight. Staff are trained to spot parents in difficulty in every setting from the school to the welfare office and workplace. Once recruited on to taster courses, students advance rapidly, with increasing numbers going on to study in other areas. Many of the students also go on to work for the programme, spreading the word in local communities. For the students, it has helped them realise an educational dream they thought was beyond them.

(TES, 24 November 2006)

Screening in Welsh colleges shows up basic skills deficiency

Screening new students in Welsh colleges has exposed deficiencies in basic numeracy and literacy. But on a standstill budget they are struggling to cope with the fall-out. John Graystone, chief executive of the colleges body Fforwm said that when screening was introduced in 2004 by the former funding body ELWA, it identified 'a huge need'. Mr Graystone added: "I'm hearing figures of around 50 to 60% across the board, far greater than many of us realised. You can't ignore it. Yet we haven't the funding to respond."

In last year's skills action plan, the Assembly government revealed that 24% of the working-age population lacked level 1 literacy skills and 53% level 1 in numeracy. In Wales, 20% have no qualifications compared with 14% across the UK.

(TES Cymru, June 30 2006)

Free courses fail to attract adult learners

A leaked report says that the introduction of free courses for adults without GCSE-level qualifications was badly thought-out and completely ineffective. A survey by the Adult Learning Inspectorate, completed in March 2006 but still unpublished, shows that free tuition did not help any college to enrol more adults on level 2 courses. The report also said colleges were frustrated at having to refuse cheques from employers prepared to pay for training. This is because another government scheme offers free courses through work.

Free courses were introduced to give adults without five GCSEs (grades A*-C) or a level 2 NVQ, the skills essential for a good job. Adults already in work in some areas can get the same qualifications through the employer training pilots, due to go nationwide as Train to Gain. Colleges told the inspectorate that the free tuition just shifted students around the system and failed to bring in any new ones.

The inspectors said: "For colleges already hitting their targets, the level 2 entitlement was of no benefit at all. Some felt all it did was reduce costs for employers who would otherwise have been prepared to pay fees." The inspectors recommended that the future finding of free courses under Train to Gain and the level 2 entitlement be guaranteed, to allow colleges to plan properly.

For more information on Train to Gain visit www.lsc.gov.uk

(TES, June 23 2006)

Skills for work are not enough

This TES article by Professor John Bynner, project director with the NRDC, at the Institute of Education, London, discusses the acquisition of skills beyond qualifications in light of the Leitch Review, and compares the UK with other developed countries. To read this article in full visit: www.tes.co.uk/search/story/?story_id=2259493

(TES, June 7 2006)

Reading is passive. Writing is where the action is.

Ursula Howard, director of the NRDC at the Institute of Education, discusses the overemphasis on reading in the literacy curriculum. To read visit: http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,,1785315,00.html

(Guardian, 30 May 2006)

Money earmarked for skills training is spent teaching the 3rs

Billions of pounds meant for workplace training is being spent on teaching adults how to read, write and add-up. MPs warn that too much taxpayers' money is being poured into boosting basic skills that should have been learned at school.The findings are taken from a report by spending watchdog the Public Accounts Committee.

Its Conservative chairman Edward Leigh said £6.7billion was dedicated to training each year, with employers spending another £23billion. However, he highlighted that much work was needed to ensure it was better spent. Mr Leigh said: "Too much of the public funding is still being used to give people aged 16 to 19 the basic literacy and numeracy skills that they should have learnt in school."

The funding priority for the government is training up to level 2, which is the equivalent of five GCSEs grades A* to C. Research showed that in 2003 nearly 60% of 16-year-olds and 80% of 19-year-olds in work had literacy and numeracy skills below level 2.

(Daily Mail, 25 May 2006)

Funding changes 'create more losers than winners'

One of the central pillars of the government's skills strategy is that adults struggling with the most basic skills should not have to pay to learn to read and write or handle simple calculations. Another pillar is that people doing higher level courses, or studying for their own pleasure and fulfilment, should pay more - if not all - of the cost.

But how far do the voters go along with this? Two substantial surveys of public opinion suggest that on the second pillar, at least, people agree with the government, though many have no accurate idea how much a further education course costs. Nor have people cottoned on that the government's skills strategy produces many more "losers" than "winners" in terms of who has to pay and who doesn't, says Claire Callender, professor of social policy at London South Bank University, who coordinated one of the surveys.

But what about the first pillar? Labour is clear that those who are old enough to vote but unable to make out the names on a ballot paper, or mature enough to get a mortgage but incapable of totting up their milk bill, have first call on limited funds. Whether these people have been failed by the school system or themselves failed to cooperate with efforts to teach them - or both - ministers believe there is an economic imperative to improve their skills that justifies the taxpayer stumping up.

The taxpayer, however, disagrees. New research shows that only a small minority are with the government on this. Barely a fifth of people aged 17 and over believe the public purse should bear the full cost of the government's Skills for Life scheme. Furthermore, twice as many people oppose any public subsidy. According to a survey by the independent pollsters RSGB, more than 40% think the state should not cough up any money at all to teach basic skills to adults.

(Guardian, 9 May 2006)

Youth work and further education must join-up, report says

A research report launched in January 2006 has found practitioners working in informal learning environments often have little specific training in the teaching of literacy, language and numeracy.

The research also found that the concentration of resources on 16 to 19 year-olds not in education, training or employment is often at the expense of older young adults.

The full report, Success factors in informal learning: young adults' experiences of literacy, language and numeracy, is available from www.niace.org.uk/conferences/successfactors.htm

(Young People Now, 7 December 2005)

The report was particularly critical of skills programmes in prisons, stating that over half of prisons investigated offered "inadequate" provision. The report said "too many" managers in prisons were failing to correct faults and weaknesses pointed out by inspectors. There also needed to be greater awareness among all prison staff of the role they played in developing skills.

The inspectors said Skills for Life was not achieving its key aim of helping people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. "There has been a depressing lack of improvement and a failure effectively to tackle weaknesses over the past four years," its annual report said. "This is despite an extraordinary injection of funds and capacity building from the Government's Skills for Life campaign."

However, the report did acknowledge a "dramatic improvement" in work-based training over the past four years, with inadequacy rates falling from 58% in 2001/02 to 25% in 2004/05.

David Sherlock, ALI's chief inspector, said adult education colleges were being forced to make up for the shortcomings of state schools. He said, "We cannot get away from the fact that the adult learning sector is distorted to deal with the shortcomings of our schools system. Until we deal with our failure to properly equip so many young people for adulthood, let alone successful careers, we cannot hope to build a world-beating adult skills strategy."

Skills minister Phil Hope acknowledged that there was much more to be done, but said the report had highlighted major improvements in the quality of training. He said, "The report will be a spur to help us identify what needs to be done to raise the quality of provision across the board. More than a million adults have improved their skills and gained a first qualification since we launched the Skills for Life programme. We are on course to meet our target of improving the skills of 2.25 million adults by 2010."

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4506410.stm December 2005)

Basic skills are to receive a boost under plans set out in October 2005 to freeze funding for recreational courses and focus resources on training that will more directly improve national productivity.

Announcing a new funding package for the Learning and Skills Council, the body that funds the network of 389 further education colleges, Bill Rammell, the higher education minister, said the bulk of the additional £1bn for 2007-08 should be spent on improving the skills of people who lack basic level two qualifications - the equivalent of five good GCSEs.

(Financial Times, 21 October 2005)

Adult basic skills staff crisis

A shortage of specialist teachers is jeopardising the Government's attempt to help more people with basic literacy and numeracy, according to its own inspectors. The Office for Standards in Education says shortages of teachers with the necessary expertise and qualifications in literacy, numeracy and English for speakers of other languages (Esol) remain in all types of college.

In its report about the Government's "Skills for Life" strategy to to improve adult basic skills, Ofsted says: "The Skills for Life strategy has yet to deliver significant improvements in the quality of provision. The proportion of unsatisfactory provision for literacy, numeracy and Esol is unacceptably high in general further education colleges.

"The lack of skilled teachers is at the heart of the continuing difficulties with effective implementation of the Skills for Life strategy."

The Ofsted findings mirror the results of a survey carried out last year by The TES and the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace), which drew an angry response from the then skills minister Ivan Lewis.

The report revealed that the quality of courses for English for speakers of other languages has actually deteriorated, with nearly a third unsatisfactory compared with 26 per cent a year ago. Their report said: "A significant minority of vocational teachers have weak literacy and numeracy skills themselves.

Skills for life in colleges: one year on www.ofsted.gov.uk

(TES, 7 October 2005)

What are the barriers and triggers to learning? That's the question NIACE will be asking as part of a major project funded through the Skills for Life Strategy Unit, which aims to investigate why and how adults are motivated to learn literacy, language or numeracy. "Say What You Like!" will encourage people to tell us what has triggered them to learn, what they like about what they are learning and what has been different from any other previous learning.

Say What You Like! aims to encourage learners, with the help of tutors and volunteers to tell their own stories in words and/or pictures, in ways that might be helpful and inspire others in similar situations. For more information visit: www.niace.org.uk/saywhatyoulike

(NIACE press release, October 2005)

Take part in trials of Skills for Life screening and assessment tools

The SfL Strategy Unit has contracted the AlphaPlus Consultancy Ltd and Bradford Technology Ltd (BTL) to develop a suite of screening and initial assessment tools for literacy, language and numeracy skills. Separate versions of the tools have been designed for use with learners in the workplace and in other generic settings. The screening tools are designed to assess whether an individual has a literacy or numeracy need, and to identify learners who would benefit from a more in-depth initial assessment. They help to determine a potential need and are not designed to indicate the specific level of the learner. The initial assessment tools are designed to help learners and their teachers ascertain the approximate general literacy, numeracy or ESOL skills level at which the learner is working and, therefore, if further diagnostic assessment or skills support might be appropriate. The outcome will tell the learner whether he/she is working at one of five adult core curriculum levels from Entry 1 to Level 2 and will feed into the diagnostic assessment process.

The trials for the initial assessment tools began in early July 2005 and will last approximately three months; screening tool trials will start in September 2005 and operate over a similar period. The trials are designed to confirm that the tools are providing consistent, if approximate, output as to learners' general skills levels; check that they work in the way in which they were designed; confirm that each individual item is valid and has been correctly designed; gain general feedback from learners, assessors, teachers/tutors and others as to the effectiveness and usability of the tools; and confirm that the guidelines to assessors and learners effectively present the necessary level of information and support.

Any tutors or providers willing to take part in the trials can find out more at www.toolslibrary.co.uk. Both the learner and those supervising the trial within the organisation will be asked to complete short questionnaires. Questionnaires contain 15 questions for learners and 20 for tutors and should take two to five minutes to complete. The information from the returns will be collated to provide feedback across a variety of users and organisations.

(July 2005)

Teenagers with GCSEs lack basic skills

Teenagers with top-grade GCSE passes in maths and English are having to be tested again when they look for a job because so many lack basic skills. A report reveals a growing number of school-leavers with GCSEs lack the skills even to write a business letter or do basic sums.
It suggests that time should be set aside in the school timetable to coach youngsters in specific skills such as letter-writing.

The research, which was carried out among leading employers in the City of London, will refuel the debate over exam standards - and whether secondary schools are putting enough effort into improving standards in the basic subjects. "Some recruitment consultancies working on the employers' behalf test for literacy and numeracy - or offer further training in these areas - even where candidates hold the relevant GCSEs," it concludes. "This does not necessarily imply 'dumbing down' or a lowering of standards at age 16 although a few employers did have concerns in this area.

"It was more the case that the qualifications were thought not to equip recruits with particular basic arithmetic skills or business English for letter-writing and other professional communications."It adds: "Recruiters stated that candidates for administrative and secretarial, clerical and customer-support positions often lack basic skills and soft skills, as well as lacking in confidence and presentation skills." Soft skills are defined as an ability to communicate or engage in team work. It recommends more public-speaking opportunities.

The report also recommends the introduction of specialist coaching in business English and maths in schools - and adds that pupils should be persuaded to study traditional academic subjects rather than vocational qualifications.
It will make gloomy reading for ministers who rejected the call from the inquiry headed by the former chief schools inspector Sir Mike Tomlinson to replace the GCSE and A-level system with a single diploma to give more credibility to vocational qualifications.

This report shows that - while the two are separated - employers pay scant attention to vocational qualifications. The researchers said that employers "stuck to their traditional beliefs in the GCSE and A-level system and didn't necessarily move with the times".

(Independent, 29 June 2005)

Social groups that would arguably benefit most from adult education remain the least likely to try it, according to a survey published in May 2005. And a gender gap may be starting to open up, as the proportion of women learning grows while male participation declines, notes the study carried out for Niace, the National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education. Despite campaigns that promote the advantages of learning, the proportion of adults saying they have done none since leaving full-time education has stubbornly remained at around 35% since 1996, when the Niace surveys began.

More than half those in full or part-time employment are currently learning or have done some learning in the past three years, compared with 40% of the registered unemployed. The upper and middle classes are roughly twice as likely to be pursuing adult education as unskilled workers and people on limited incomes (socioeconomic groups D and E). Overall, almost one in five (19%) adults are doing some learning, a drop of 4% since 1996. "The economic pressures on publicly funded adult learning opportunities make it likely that this trend will be difficult to reverse in the next three years," comments the introduction to the 2005 Niace survey on adult participation in learning.

Some of its findings are encouraging. Despite the gap in participation between groups ABC1 and the Ds and Es, participation among all socioeconomic classes has increased by 2 or 3%. This increase has been most notable among group C1, skilled manual workers. In 1996, 33% of them said they were engaged in learning or had been in the previous three years. The proportion in the latest survey is 40%. Though the proportion of adults actually involved in learning at the time of the survey has dropped by 4% in a decade, the proportion of them added to those who have undertaken some education in the previous three years has risen slightly, to 42% over the past 12 months.

The survey was carried out for Niace by the research organisation RSGB, which interviewed more than 5,000 adults, aged 17 or over, during the last two weeks of February. The definition of learning it used was wide. It included "practising, studying or reading about something" as well as being taught, instructed or coached. It did not have to head to a qualification, nor did it have to last very long. In general, the older people are, the les likely they are to take part in learning. While, for instance, 52% of the 25-32 age-group are presently learning, or have done so in the past three years, that proportion drops to 32% in the 55-64 age group and 17% in the 65-74 group.

The intention to learn in the future also declines with age, particularly among the over-55s. Young adults, aged 24 and under, and older adults, aged 65 plus, are less likely to say they intend to take up learning in the future than they were three years ago. "An older population, with longer periods of active retirement, gains real health benefits from participation in learning - yet this survey offers no cheer on the impact of learning outside the world of work", the report says.

The latest survey confirms again that the later a person full-time education, the more likely they are to pursue learning in adulthood, Only 30% of those leaving school as early as possible are current or recent learners, compared with 60% of those who complete full-time education at 21 or older.

(Guardian, 24 May 2005)

Thousands of adults are being turned away from basic skills courses or put on long waiting lists because of staff shortages. Half the 100 colleges and 60 independent training providers in the national annual staffing survey said they had cut back basic skills programmes because of a lack of trained staff. Nearly a third had to postpone or cancel classes and a quarter had put learners on a waiting list, according to research by the TES and National Institute of Continuing Adult Education (NIACE). The survey was carried out to coincide with Adult Learners' Week, in late May 2005.

Basic skills teachers say they are struggling to get the training they need because there are not enough courses and funding is in short supply. Managers and lecturers responding to the survey said teacher training courses were often not available in their area or were full and had long waiting lists, especially at levels 3 and 4 (A-level and higher education equivalent). Even when funding is available, colleges struggle to find cover for those who do it. Alan Tuckett, director of NIACE, warned that people who had plucked up the courage to ask for help with literacy and numeracy might not return if turned away. "Even if only 10% of colleges are turning people away, they may never come back," he said.

The Department for Education and Skills is aware of the problem, admitting progress is "patchy" around the country. Barry Brookes, head of the DfES Skills for Life unit, said the south-west in particular was "really challenging" because of its large rural areas and lack of universities. But he insisted the Learning and Skills Council was getting to grips with the problem. Since 2001, new subject-specific teaching qualifications in basic skills have been established. There is also a new national curriculum for basic skills and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), and new materials. He said: "A year or two ago, you would be talking about people saying there are no courses, but now we have people being trained and more on the waiting list."

The TES/NIACE survey shows colleges are being creative about dealing with staff shortages. Three-quarters of respondents use staff development programmes to recruit and retain basic skills teachers, as well as improve the skills of existing staff. The same proportion offer full-timers time off for training, although this falls to half of respondents fro fractional staff and a quarter fro hourly-paid staff. A quarter offer payment for attendance at training sessions.

(TES, 20 May 2005)

British squaddies serving in Iraq have been told that battling insurgents is no excuse for skipping lessons in maths and English. A full-time teacher is being flown to the war zone to help those troops who failed basic education tests on entry into the forces. Senior officers have made the move following concerns that too many troops are missing out on the compulsory literacy and numeracy classes because they are busy keeping the peace in Iraq.

The new teacher will reputedly join three other officers from the Army Education Corps who are currently giving lessons to troops stationed in the southern part of the country. Under army rules, new recruits who fail to achieve basic GCSE standards in maths and English must attend the classes. "It's a case of telling a squaddie with bad spelling, 'the bad news is, you're going to Iraq - the worse news is that you will still have to get your homework in on time'!" an unnamed army source said.

(dehavilland.co.uk, 27 March 2005)

Government "talked up" skills shortage

The Government has exaggerated the number of adults with literacy and numeracy problems in order to make it easier to meet its targets for solving the problem, according to the man in charge of improving the nation's basic skills.

Alan Wells, director of the government-funded Basic Skills Agency, said that the public had been "bamboozled" by flawed research and misleading government claims into believing that a large proportion of adults could not read or add up properly.

Ministers have also damaged the UK's international reputation by proclaiming that more than 80 per cent of adults had sub-standard English and maths skills, Mr Wells said. He argued that millions of perfectly competent adults had been targeted by the Government for extra help "because it's a lot easier to reach targets if you include almost everyone in the target audience".

"What's worrying is the impact of exaggerating the scale of the problem," Mr Wells said. "Clearly it tells generations of teachers that they have been doing a pretty bad job. Even more worryingly it 'writes down' the UK. What company would want to keep jobs in this country if four out of five potential employees have difficulties with the basic skills we all take for granted? And what company will develop in an employment black spot if it hears, and believes, the publicity that most potential recruits can't read or write or add up?"

Labour made literacy and numeracy a priority after coming to power in 1997 and commissioned a report, chaired by Sir Claus Moser, which concluded that seven million adults had poor skills. Mr Wells, who was an adviser to the Moser committee, said he warned at the time that this was "a serious over-estimate" based on flaws in the original research. However, he is most concerned about the Government's Skills for Life Strategy, published in 2003, which concluded that 82 per cent of adults had poor skills. This study argued that all adults who had failed to get at least a C-grade GCSE pass in English and maths needed help. "This is obviously total nonsense," Mr Wells said.

(Independent, 25 January 2005)

Wales to give free training in basics

Free basic skills tuition will be available in all colleges as part of the latest push to improve the skills of the Welsh workforce. While England already makes such training available free to all adults, many of the courses in Welsh colleges, and from private training firms, come with fees attached.

Education and Learning Wales, the post-16 funding organisation, will now fund courses as part of a new Skills and Employment Action Plan - but the Welsh colleges' association, Fforwm, said the "pivotal role" of the FE sector had not been acknowledged. Colleges in Wales provide free basic skills training to some adults, such as those on benefit, but the Welsh Assembly sees universal entitlement as vital to tackling illiteracy and innumeracy. Around a quarter of the Welsh adult population has problems with basic literacy and numeracy.

(TES, 14 January 2005)

"More to do" on adult literacy

The Government will only hit its target for improving adult maths and literacy skills if courses are made more attractive, a report says. The National Audit Office praised ministers for reaching the benchmark of 750,000 adults in England gaining basic qualifications by this year. But a target of 1.5 million more by 2010 needed "creative" ideas.

Some 26 million adults lack maths or English skill levels expected of school-leavers. According to the report, "more than half" the qualifications achieved were by learners aged 16 to 18. These are defined as "adults" by the Government for the purpose of compiling these figures. Normally adults are defined as being aged over 19. The number of those gaining qualifications is "rising slowly".

Auditor General Sir John Bourn said: "Higher levels of literacy and numeracy will benefit England both socially and economically. More people will have the opportunity to live richer lives."

In 2001, the Government launched the Get On scheme - aimed at reducing illiteracy, innumeracy and language shortcomings. Sir John said "substantial progress" had been made since, adding that this was "only the beginning". Some £3.7 billion will be spent on implementing the programme by 2006.

The report recommends gathering more details on the educational needs of areas, so courses can be set to meet local demand. Existing adult learners could use their "enthusiasm, commitment and local knowledge" to attract other people.
The Department for Education and Skills could also use more "personalised learning" and work with voluntary groups, councils and employers. It should also assess adult learners' progress "at frequent intervals", the report adds.

When the Government announced it had reached its 2004 target earlier this month, Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was "only the start of the journey". An estimated 5.2 million adults have worse literacy than that expected of 11-year-olds, while 14.9 million have numeracy skills below this level. This is thought to cost the UK economy hundreds of millions of pounds each year.

The qualifications achieved by those taking part in the Government's scheme range up to GCSE equivalents. Get On's participation target has been set at 2.25 million by 2010, with an interim figure of 1.5 million by 2007.

(BBC News, 15 December 2004)

Unfit soliders with a reading age of 11 are being used as frontline troops because of a shortage of manpower, a report has claimed. Instructors were under pressure to pass as many candidates as possible and "quality was often sacrificed to quantity", Brigadier Mungo Melvin, the author of the report, said. Of the 2003 intake at the Army's Catterick training camp, 70% had a reading age of 11. There were also problems with heavy drinking among some of the recruits.

(Independent, 11 November 2004)

Poor literacy costs £1bn a year

The Dyslexia Institute estimates that poor literacy and basic skills resulting from dyslexia that goes undiagnosed costs the UK economy around £1bn per year. The figure is a conservative estimate based on the 10% incidence of dyslexia in the UK, and the higher incidence of dyslexia among the prisons and probation populations and among the long-term unemployed. The £1bn total refers to money likely to be spent on dyslexics in these areas.

Shirley Cramer, chief executive of the institute, took part in a series of national and local radio interviews in September 2004 and will ensure that charity staff spread the message via one-to-one chats with the relevant MPs. She also hopes the message will appear in literature published by the charity's many government agency partners, such as Job Centre Plus. Cramer added that a minimum of £368m per annum is spent on people in prison and on probation who have unidentified dyslexia.

(Third Sector, 29 September 2004)

The infamous gremlins from the Government's basic skills adverts are about to meet an untimely end. This new campaign will be running throughout the coming year, but the fact that learners are shown killing off their gremlins does not mean that the Government's strategy to improve adult numeracy and literacy has done its job.

The Department for Education and Skills' adult basic skills strategy unit says it has met its target for 750,000 people achieving a literacy or numeracy qualification by July 2004. But in order to continue with this improvement the Government must tackle the shortage of suitably qualified basic skills teachers. Barry Brooks, the deputy director of the adult basic skills strategy unit admits this is a huge task and one that must be done from a standing task. "In general, before Skills for Life, there were few, if any permanent full-time teachers of literacy, language or numeracy. There were some, but not many, and the qualifications, particularly in terms of literacy and numeracy were low-level."

New courses in teaching literacy, numeracy and English as a second or other language are now available at level 4 (degree-equivalent). These are optional for existing staff, but mandatory for new entrants. The adult basic skills strategy unit says there are no figures yet to show how many have achieved the new qualifications. But it does give some regional figures - in the West Midlands more than 500 staff have achieved, or are studying towards, level 4.

(TES, 4 September 2004)

Survey suggests shortage of suitably qualified teachers holds back adult literacy

One in seven colleges and adult training centres depends on hourly-paid staff to run their entire basic literacy, numeracy and language courses, according to a national survey by the TES and the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education.

More than half of all the institutions responding to the survey said hourly-paid staff did at least 40% of the work. The overwhelming majority also depend on part-timers who are often on short contracts and hired through agencies.

The main findings were:

• 38% of institutions have a large gap in their Skills for Life (literacy, language and numeracy) provision as a direct result of under-qualified staff
• 22% reported large gaps in their ESOL provision
• 29% said they use part-time/hourly-paid staff for their Skills for Life programmes
• 17% employ staff without the necessary qualifications at levels 2, 3 and 4 (GCSE, A level and degree equivalent)
• 32% said there were not enough training opportunities for staff at these levels.

(TES, 14 May 2004)

Union learning reps boost basic skills on shopfloor

Unions and employers are celebrating the success of learning reps in improving the basic skills of shopfloor staff. Course enrolment has trebled to 25,000 in the year since union learning reps were given legal rights in April 2003 to spend time helping their colleagues to get trained.

This new status is liable to increase recruitment to unions. Industry accepts this as a small price to pay for cracking the basic skills problem which had frustrated human resources departments. The reps enjoy the same rights in Wales where the scheme is directly funded by the Welsh Assembly.

In the rail industry there are signs that the skills agenda is bringing competing unions together in an unprecedented way as they pool resources to tackle their members' skill levels.

But with 80% of private-sector workers not in union membership, and question marks over the adequacy of funding for basic skills through the further education system, the limitations of the scheme are beginning to show. The Confederation of British Industry stresses there are plenty of Government-funded alternatives but admits that, without a union to advise them, many employers simply d0 not understand how to get their hands on the cash - even if they are aware of its existence.

The Learning and Skills Council remains a little-known brand in small and medium-sized firms despite its size. It spends almost £9 billion a year on FE and work-related training in England. Industry points out that it sends £23.4 billion a year on staff training, nearly three times as much as the LSC.

But the CBI says union branches are often in the best position to tackle the toughest job in staff development - convincing employees that they need basic skills help.

The Association of Colleges has urged the Government to loosen the rules about which basic skills courses are eligible for public funding, so that more attractive packages can be offered to workers who would be loath to admit they are learning to read and write.

(TES, 30 April 2004)

Adults needing help with literacy and numeracy are being turned away from colleges because the Government's basic skills drive is running out of cash.

Colleges have called on ministers to loosen the funding rules so that they can help more adults who struggle to read a bus timetable or cope with household finances. John Brennan, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said increasing numbers of principals have told him they have been forced to axe the kind of basic skills courses which attract reluctant adult learners - including taster courses which do not lead to qualifications. These include courses which combine literacy and numeracy with other vocational areas - such as using computers.

Other basic skills courses, while qualifying for cash, are nevertheless a drain on budgets, he said, because they do not contribute to level 2 (GCSE A-C equivalent) targets which have a higher funding priority. As a result, they are vulnerable as colleges are forced by local learning and skills councils to priorities.

The AoC argues even level 2 targets are at stake if colleges are unable to get enough adults literate and numerate enough to cope with everyday life. The Government needs to grasp the relationship between basic skills and level 2 achievements if its strategy is to succeed, Mr Brennan said.

The AoC says the aim of getting more adults qualified in basic skills and to level 2 will be missed without a more relaxed funding regime and more cash.

(TES, 26 March 2004)

Basic skills teachers 'lack knowledge of grammar'

In 2002, 11 universities and colleges launched pilot schemes to train teachers to teach literacy, numeracy and English for speakers of other languages, following the recommendations of 1999's Moser report. The verdict on these schemes was delivered by the National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC) in March 2003.

NRDC's research review tells us of the general surprise "at the low levels of personal numeracy and literacy among both practising teachers and new entrants [to the profession]." The review reports "a lack of grammatical knowledge even among practising teachers of many years' experience". It quotes one teacher trainer: "Many graduates come with absolutely no subject knowledge. They are native speakers of English who were not taught grammar at school."

The problem is worse in maths: some groups of trainees include "no mathematics graduates", and less than a quarter of the trainees surveyed are qualified beyond GCSE.

New initial teacher education programmes for teachers of literacy, numeracy and ESOL 2002/3: an exploratory study is available from www.nrdc.org.uk.

(Guardian, 2 March 2004)

Adult basic skills have a long way to go but literacy is improving

Half the adults in England are so bad at maths they would fail to score even the lowest grade at GCSE, the most authoritative survey of their skills so far reveals. The Government backed research by BMRB International says that 15 million workers struggle to grasp basic calculations and many also have functional literacy problems.

The study forms part of the Government's Skills for Life campaign and was commissioned in response to continuing concern over low standards of reading and writing among British adults who lag behind the rest of Europe.

The survey has found that the country has made great strides in tackling adult literacy problems. Only 5.2 million adults would fail to pass an English GCSE now - compared with slightly more than 7 million indicated in the Moser report three years ago.

The latest study involved more than 8,700 adults in England aged 16 to 65 who were given basic tests by the researchers. These included interpreting a bar chart, calculating a percentage price reduction, or picking a phone number from a list provided.

The survey concluded that 1.7 million (5%) of adults have literacy skills below Entry Level 3, the standard expected of 11-year-olds, and 5.2 million (16%) below level 1 (less than a D-G GCSE). In numeracy, 6.8 million (21%) have skills below Entry Level 3, and 15 million (47%) below Level 1.

(Guardian, 31 October 2003)

Adult literacy levels - what do they mean?

Literacy levels by age

Literacy levels by region

More information from the Literacy and Social Inclusion project

Survey critique

International adult literacy consultant Thomas Sticht produced a critique of the Skills for Life survey on behalf of the Basic Skills Agency. He stated that the Department for Education and Skills was wrong to conclude that the survey indicated success for the Skills for Life strategy. He wrote: "There are major differences between the International Adult Literacy Survey tests used to determine the estimate of 7 million adults with poor literacy skills in 1997 and the estimate of 5.2 million adults with poor literacy skills in the Skills for Life survey of 2003 which render comparisons of the results of the two surveys invalid."

The full critique is available on the New Zealand Literacy Portal website at