Overview

The 2003 DfES Skills for Life survey in England reported one in six respondents (16 per cent) as having serious problems in literacy or numeracy (Entry level 3 or below). Most did not know that they had a problem. Despite this, nearly all parents of children aged 5-16 said they tried to help their children with reading; even among those with low literacy skills, a majority said they still tried to help. An Ofsted report in 2003 identified the huge challenges ahead in the adult basic skills sector to improve standards of teaching and learning and increase the proportion of trained teachers, particularly those working with disadvantaged adults. A Basic Skills Agency report on crime showed that having poor literacy skills (men) and poor numeracy skills (women) directly increased the risk of offending, independent of all other factors such as poverty, while the 2003 Prison Reform Trust's Time to Learn study identified the need for major changes in policy and culture across the prison service if prisoners' diverse learning needs are to be met.

There is some evidence that working through local communities is one way to successfully engage people of all age groups in learning. One research project of the National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy (NRDC), the national centre set up in 2002 to support the development of the Skills for Life strategy, identified the key features of community-focused basic skills provision. These included taking a holistic approach to learning that took account of learners' interests and needs, with the funding to support critical development work. The important role of development workers in building capacity was highlighted as one of the lessons from the Skills for Life Pathfinders. An NRDC project on ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) in the workplace reported that it is an increasingly important factor, especially in rural areas, and that language is a dimension of workplace racial discrimination.

The evaluation of short basic skills courses (three to six hours) provided by further education colleges showed that this kind of course is valuable in attracting new learners, and also that such learners may be more willing to enrol in an IT course than one described as teaching basic skills. An evaluation of the Vital Link showed that libraries were, potentially, an important source of resources and support to basic skills learners and their tutors.

This overview was originally produced for the Literacy and Social Inclusion Project.

Research reports, reviews, etc.

2007

• Effective teaching and learning: Reading - this report outlines the findings from the largest study in Britain to date of the strategies used to teach reading in adult literacy classes, by G. Brooks (NRDC, 2007)
• Effective teaching and learning: Writing - this report analyses the relationship between classroom practice in the teaching of writing and learners' competence and confidence, by S. Grief (NRDC, 2007)

2006

• New light on literacy and numeracy - this report outlines patterns of relationship between basic skills and other variables, by J. Bynner (November 2006).

2005

• Literacy, numeracy and the labour market: Further analysis of the Skills for Life survey - report looking at the relationship between an adult's skills, their participation in basic skills courses, and their earnings and participation in the labour market, by J. Grinyer (2005)
• Embedded teaching and learning of adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL - seven case studies outline how embedded literacy, language and numeracy provision can be an integral part of vocational courses, by Celia Roberts (NRDC, August 2005)
• ESOL in the workplace: A review of research and related literature (2005)
• A systematic review of controlled trials evaluating interventions in adult literacy and numeracy - this article concludes that more rigorous research is needed, by Carole Torgerson (JRR, May 2005)
• Provision of, and learner engagement with, adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL support in rural England - this report argues that for effective delivery the needs and motivations of the adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL learner need to be fully understood before it can be met, by Chris Atkin (NRDC, April 2005)
• Understanding the relationships between learning and teaching - this study emphasises the importance of viewing learning from the perspective of the learner, by Roz Ivanic (NRDC, February 2005)
• Am I still needed? Guidance and learning for older adults - a report on third-age guidance, learning and employment policy and practice, by Geoff Ford (CeGS, February 2005)
• Assessing adult literacy and numeracy: A review of assessment instruments - this report provides an overview of assessment instruments used between 1972-2004, by G. Brooks (NRDC, February 2005)
• Adult media literacy: A review of the research literature - a review of access to various media and information technology, by Ofcom (2005)

2004

• Pathways in Adult Learning Survey (PALS) 2003 - this survey details the learning experiences by continuous learners, by D. Snape (DfES, July 2004)
• Adult literacy learners' difficulties in reading - this research shows less than perfect correspondence between learners' needs and pedagogy by S. Besser et al (NRDC, July 2004)
• 'Is that not literacy, helping parents to help children?' - this report provides a catalogue of basic skills provisions/providers in the Lancaster/Morecambe area, by G. Burgess (LLRC, June 2004)
• Learning brokerage in the workplace - a report that examines the reasons for successful brokerage, by D. Thursfield (LSDA, June 2004)
• Adults' language experience - Literacy Today article by Jane Mace (June 2004)
• Adult education and attitude change - uses data from the National Child Development Study to look at the effect of participating in adult learning on learners' attitudes, by J. Preston and L. Feinstein (2004)
• Basic skills programmes in the Probation Service: Evaluation of the Basic Skills Pathfinder - a Home Office evaluation (2004)
• Catching Confidence - a qualitative study into adult learners' and practitioners' views on the development of confidence in relation to learning, by J. Eldred et al. (2004)
• Low pay, household resources and poverty - a Joseph Rowntree Foundation report on escaping poverty by J. Millar and K. Gardinar (2004)

2003

• Skills for Life survey - the Department for Education and Skills national needs and impact survey of literacy, numeracy and ICT skills (2003)
• Adult ESOL pedagogy - an overview of research, by D. Barton (NRDC, 2003)
• Retention and achievement - a review of how to retain students and ensure that they gain a qualification, by Yvon Appleby (LLRC, September 2003)
• Basic skills in the workplace - a research overview, by J. Payne (March, 2003)
• The benefits to employers of raising workforce basic skills levels - a review of the literature, by K. Ananiadou et al. (NRDC, 2003)
• Community-focused provision in adult literacy, numeracy and language - a study looking at what characterises community learning provision, by P. Hannon et al. (NRDC, 2003)
• The Contribution of Adult Learning to Health and Social Capital - estimates the effects of participation in learning by looking at health, good citizenship and social cohesion, by L. Feinstein et al. (2003)
• Developing residential learning - Lessons from the pathfinders - lessons from residential Skills for Life courses (DfES, 2003)
• Learning and skills for neighbourhood renewal: Summary report on research for the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit - looks at how further education colleges and local authority adult education services contribute to neighbourhood renewal in deprived areas, by S. Taylor and L. Doyle (2003)
• Literacy, numeracy and English for speakers of other languages: a survey of current practice in post-16 and adult provision (Ofsted, 2003)
• Widening adult participation: a review of research and development - a review concluding that we need more evidence of how and why adults participate in learning, by D. Macleod (2003)

2002

• Evaluation of the Union Learning Fund in Year 4 by N. Shaw et al. (October 2002)
• Attracting new learners: international evidence and practice (April 2002)
• Basic skills and crime: Findings from a study of adults born in 1958 and 1970 - explores the relationship between poor basic skills and self-reported police contact and offending, by S. Parsons (March 2002)
• Basic skills and social exclusion - explores how reading levels early in life, combined with known risk factors, relate to levels of social exclusion at age 16 and 30, by S. Parsons and J. Bynner (March 2002)
• A Fresh Start in the Workplace: programme evaluation report - an evaluation of a Basic Skills Agency project (March 2002)
• 'I think I can do that now' - evaluation of round 5 of the Adult and Community Learning Fund, by S. McMeeking et al. (2002)
• Low achievers: lifelong learners - the impact of the public library service on adults who left school without formal qualifications (2002)
• Short courses in further education colleges - evaluation - looks at three and six-hour basic skills courses, by J. Kirk and G. Kirk (LSDA, 2002)

Earlier

• In demand: adult skills for the 21st Century - a report recommending a strategy for improving the skills of the British workforce that is driven by the skills demands of employers and employees (November 2001)
• Skills in England 2001 - a review of evidence on the demand for, and supply of, skills in England, by the Policy Research Institute, Leeds Metropolitan University (November 2001)
• Barefoot Basic Skills Work and Intensive Learning: Two experimental basic skills projects - an evaluation of residential Skills for Life courses, by S. Awan and L. Richardson (2001)
• Basic Skills and Financial Exclusion - a survey for the Basic Skills Agency (MORI, 2001)
• Getting better basic skills - what motivates adults - a survey for the Basic Skills Agency looking at why and how adults want to improve their basic skills (MORI, October 2000)
• The Learning Divide Revisited - a NIACE (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education) report of the findings of a UK-wide survey on adult participation in education and learning, by N. Sargeant (September 2000)
• Attitudes to adult education in disadvantaged areas - a Joseph Rowntree Foundation study of adults' perceptions of a successful future, by H. Bowman, T. Burden and J. Konrad (August 2000)
• A survey of reading ability in prisons - a report that finds little support for the belief that prisoners are less literate than their counterparts in the general population, by M. Rice, M. Howes and P. Connell (1998)

More research

• Adults' attitudes to learning - selected research
• Workplace basic skills - selected research