Read Write Plus, DfES, Research

For general information on the Skills for Life Survey, our major piece of research on adult skills needs across England, please see the section lower down this page.

For detailed information on adult skills needs across England, please visit the new Skills for Life Survey website. This site uses the data from the Skills for Life Needs Survey and allows you to search by region, LSC area, district and ward, to find adult skills needs estimates.

The National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy (NRDC)

'Reflect' is the magazine of the NRDC and covers a full range of topical issues in Skills for Life that will interest teachers, tutors and managers. The magazine can be downloaded for free here.

The contents so far are: Issue 1 (special report on individual learning plans) ; Issue 2 (special report on numeracy) ; Issue 3 (special report on assessment) ; Issue 4 (special report on teacher training) ; Issue 5 (special report on the entry levels) ; Issue 6 (special report on effective practice) and Issue 7 (special report on learner persistence).

To download a copy of Reflect magazine, or to add yourself to the mailing list, please click here.

Frontline Workers Project

The Frontline Workers Project aims to give frontline workers (such as those working in libraries, or the health sector) the skills to recognise members of the public with a literacy, language or numeracy skills need and support them into learning. The first phase of the project has now reported.

The Skills for Life survey

A national needs and impact survey of literacy, numeracy and ICT skills

The Skills for Life survey, often referred to as "the Needs Survey", was published in October 2003 and forms a key part of the research on which the Skills for Life strategy is based.

To download the entire research report (300 pages) in PDF format, click here.

To read the original press release on the Needs Survey, which includes a useful summary, please see below.

The first definitive national profile of adult literacy and numeracy skills was published on 30 October 2003 by the Department for Education and Skills demonstrates the need for the Government to continue its sustained drive to improve adult basic skills training and school standards, particularly in maths.

Conducted as part of the Government’s ‘Skills for Life’ programme to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of 1.5 million adults by 2007, the National Needs and Impact Survey of Literacy, Numeracy and ICT Skills assesses working adults’ basic literacy and numeracy skills and shows for the first time the direct impact they have on attainment and employment prospects.

The survey demonstrates early success in the Government’s drive to increase the numbers of adults with basic skills in literacy and numeracy. The proportion of adults aged 16-65 that have literacy skills below the ‘Skills for Life’ baseline - Level 1 (a D-G grade GCSE) - has fallen from the 7 million estimated in 1997 to 5.2 million adults now. And those that have numeracy skills below the ‘Skills for Life’ baseline - Entry Level 3 (the standard expected of 9-11 year olds) - has fallen slightly from the 7 million estimated in 1997 to 6.8 million adults now.

However, the survey also highlights past decades of neglect in basic skills education, revealing that 15 million adults overall lack the numeracy skills expected at a lower grade GCSE.

The survey underlines the need for the Government to continue its successful ‘Skills for Life’ programme, which has already seen over 1.8 million adults start basic skills courses. It also emphasises the significance of delivering the new Skills Strategy entitlement to free tuition for all those who never achieved a qualification - vocational or academic - equivalent to 5 good GCSEs or an NVQ Level 2.

And while respondents to the survey will not have benefited from recent improvements made by the introduction of literacy and numeracy strategies in primary schools or in maths attainment at secondary level, it underscores the importance of continuing to drive up school standards so that more young people are properly equipped to meet the challenge of the global economy.

The survey covered 8,730 respondents aged 16-65 years old. Key findings include:

· 1.7 million (5%) of adults aged 16-65 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);

· 6.8 million (21%) of adults aged 16-65 have numeracy skills below Entry Level 3, and 15 million (47%) below Level 1;

· men and women have similar levels of literacy, but men appear to have higher levels of numeracy, with one in three or 32% of men achieving Level 2 (an A*-C GCSE) or above, compared to one in five or 19% of women;

· many respondents had a high level of awareness of, and practical skills in ICT applications and terminology, with 50% achieving Level 2 or above in an awareness assessment, and 47% achieving Level 1 or above in a practical skills assessment;

· lower levels of literacy and numeracy were associated with socio-economic deprivation, with adults in more deprived areas tending to perform at a lower level than those in less deprived areas;

· good literacy and numeracy skills tended to be associated with good wages with 68% of full-time workers with Level 2 or above in numeracy skills earning more than £20,000 a year before tax;

· parents with lower literacy and numeracy skills were less confident in helping their children with reading, writing and maths.

Publishing the survey, Minister for Skills and Vocational Education, Ivan Lewis said:

“I am determined to ensure that today’s young people will no longer endure the decades of neglect in literacy and numeracy education which is reflected so starkly in this survey. Our recruitment of 50% more maths teachers in just four years and dedicated literacy and numeracy strategies in primary schools are already delivering significant improvements in maths attainment at secondary level.

“And our ‘Skills for Life’ programme is now giving adults the chance to get the basic skills they need to get on and succeed. In its first two years, over 1.8 million adults have started basic skills courses, and 470,000 have achieved key qualifications. We are confident of reaching our target to enable 750,000 adults to achieve a basic skills qualification by the end of 2004, and increase this to 1.5 million adults by 2007.”

‘Skills for Life’ is just one of the measures under the Government’s sustained drive to improve the nation’s skills in literacy and numeracy, others include:

· the Skills Strategy, published in July, includes entitlement to free tuition for all those who never achieved a qualification - vocational or academic - equivalent to 5 good GCSEs or an NVQ Level 2. And a new Adult Learning Grant will offer £30 per week to those aged 19-30 who are studying full time for their first full qualification at level 2 or level 3;

· Literacy and Numeracy Strategies in primary schools which have led to 73% of 11 year olds achieving the expected level in maths in 2003 - a 14% increase since 1998;

· the post-14 Maths Inquiry set up to look at boosting the supply of people with science, technology, engineering and mathematical skills which will give a series of recommendations to Government later next month;

· the establishment of a National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching - to tackle the poor uptake of young people going into higher level maths;

· the establishment of 77 maths and computing colleges under the specialist schools programme to work with other local schools and the wider community to raise standards in numeracy;

· action to boost maths teaching and encourage more graduates to become maths teachers, with recruits to maths teaching rising by 50% from 1998 to 2002.

1. The National Needs and Impact Survey of Literacy, Numeracy and ICT Skills is available on www.dfes.gov.uk/research The survey is based on interviews and skills assessments with 8,730 people, aged 16-65 years old, in England. The skills assessments are designed to measure the skills of the population against the National Standards and Core Curricula for adult literacy and numeracy.

2. Previous estimates of the level of adult basic skills were published by Sir Claus Moser’s working group on post-school basic skills in its report ‘A Fresh Start’ in 1997. Deriving figures from the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) and the National Child Development Study (NCDS), the report concluded that 7 million people in

England

had literacy skills below Level 1. For numeracy, less good data were available, and it was estimated that at least 7 million people lacked good numeracy skills, based on the number of people thought to be below Entry Level 3.

The complete report (RR490) is available to purchase from TSO (The Stationery Office):
TSO, PO Box 29, Norwich NR3 1GN
Telephone: 0870 600 5522
Fax: 0870 600 5533
E-mail: book.orders@tso.co.uk
Textphone: 0870 240 3701
Online: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop

A Research Brief (summary version) is also available at www.dfes.gov.uk/research and is available free of charge from DfES Publications.

Research and Development

Welcome to the Skills for Life Research pages.

The National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy (NRDC)

Frontline Workers Project

The Skills for Life survey

A national needs and impact survey of literacy, numeracy and ICT skills