More than 2.25 million adults achieve first qualifications in basic skills

23rd June 2008

2010 Skills for Life target achieved two years early as Denham pledges continuing focus on skills and training...

An ambitious target for 2.25 million people to achieve their first national qualification in basic skills such as reading and writing has been achieved two years early, John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills announced today.

Since 2001, 2,276,000 learners have achieved their first Skills for Life qualification in literacy, language or numeracy, improving the life chances of millions of people and in many cases paving the way into work or improving job prospects.

Skills for Life provides free literacy, language and numeracy tuition for adults in England who have skills below Level 2 (broadly equivalent to a GCSE at grades A* - C.). An external study found that Skills for Life has set the standard for government-led intervention and is seen as the benchmark against which other countries measure their own commitment and achievements.

Mr Denham said:
"These qualifications give people so much more than just a certificate. Gaining basic skills like reading and writing are a vital step towards getting a better job and life.

"Better skills improve the life chances of not only the learners but also their families and children. Skills help people get into and on at work, provide a stepping stone to further qualifications and can also help parents with basic tasks like supporting their children with their homework or reading them a bedtime story."

Research from the National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy published in May 2008, found having basic skills had a direct impact on the achievement of children in particular that:
* Poor basic skills, such as literacy and numeracy, transfer from one generation to the next;
* Parents' basic skills have a significantly greater impact on their child's cognitive ability than other factors such as the family structure, household income, a parent's education and socio-economic group;
* Parents' literacy skills have the most significant impact on the cognitive ability of young children. Five-year-olds from families with good literacy perform up to 65% better in cognitive tests than those who are from families with the lowest levels of literacy.

Achieving basic skills can also have a direct affect on the likelihood of people increasing their job prospects and the amount of money they earn. Indeed, a lack of literacy, language and numeracy skills can often trap people into low-skilled, poorly-paid jobs. 45% of those with literacy Level 1 or below in work earn less than £10,000 a year, this compares to only 25% with literacy skills at Level 1 or above.

Research also shows that 98 per cent of jobs are closed to people with basic skills below entry level with 50 per cent of jobs closed to people with basic skills below level.

The Government plans to improve the functional literacy and numeracy skills of one million adults over the current comprehensive spending review period with targets for 390,000 numeracy and 597,000 literacy achievements over the next three years. This will be backed by a further £3.9 billion in government funding between 2007/08 and 2010/11.

Mark Haysom, Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council, which plans and funds Skills for Life courses, said:
"The early achievement of the 2010 PSA target is a direct result of the hard work, effort and energy of our learning and training providers. They are to be congratulated for enriching the lives and employability of individuals by giving them the necessary literacy and numeracy skills. Starting the journey of self improvement from the lowest levels whilst not easy, can bring a wealth of rewards to the individual as their confidence grows and in turn to the British economy as our skills base is raised. With this fantastic achievement now under our belt we must continue with our crusade to eliminate poor literacy and numeracy within England."

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