You may have read in the papers this month about the findings of a government led research initiative into the basic skills of the adult workforce. The Skills for Life survey, which surveyed 16 to 65-year-olds across England, found that in some parts of the UK as many as a quarter of adults have the numeracy skills of a nine year old or even younger.
The report also claimed that more than eight million adults are considered to lack even basic numeracy. The survey found that the North East was the region with the highest proportion of people who had the maths skills of a seven to nine-year-old at almost a third. London and the East Midlands had a quarter at that level, and the North West just under one in four. As for English skills, London and the North East were weakest, with nearly one in five having the equivalent skills of a nine to 11-year-old.
Free government help is available, in the form of offering maths and English GCSEs for adults who missed out the first time round. Adults have been able to take free maths and English GCSEs since August, with other qualifications available to support those with lower skills levels.
Is this something some of your workforce might benefit from? Do you know how competent your workers’ basic skills are? Sign up with the Basic Skills Test today, and you have a simple, quick and effective means of establishing what skills your workforce are lacking.
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Report summary:
The 2011 survey was commissioned by BIS as a follow-up to the initial Skills for Life survey conducted in 2002/03. Fieldwork for the 2011 survey was conducted between April 2010 and March 2011. More than 7,200 people completed face-to-face interviews comprising a background questionnaire followed by a combination of two of three skills assessments: literacy, numeracy and ICT (Information and Communication Technology).
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