Written question asked by Dennis Skinner (Labour) on Thursday, 26 October 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 30 October 2006. It was answered by Phil Hope (Labour) on Tuesday, 31 October 2006 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Adult Literacy

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment he has made of levels of adult literacy in England; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: The 2003 ““Skills for Life Survey”” reported that 5.2 million people of working age in England have literacy skills below Level 1 (broadly equivalent to the level required to pass an English GCSE at grades D to G.)Our ““Skills for Life”” strategy offers adults literacy tuition free of charge up to Level 2 (broadly equivalent to the level required to pass an English GCSE at grades A* to C.). Since the launch of the ““Skills for Life”” strategy in 2001, 3.7 million learners have taken up 7.9 million ““Skills for Life”” learning opportunities; this includes approximately 3.2 million literacy learning opportunities. 1,275,000 learners have gone on to attain at least one ““Skills for Life”” qualification; this includes approximately 450,000 literacy qualifications.

Secondary information