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Written question asked by Jeremy Hunt (Conservative) on Monday, 28 October 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 31 October 2019 (named day). It was answered by Michelle Donelan (Conservative) on Thursday, 31 October 2019 on behalf of the Department for Education.


Literacy

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of adults in the UK who were (a) below OECD literacy Level 1, (b) at OECD literacy level 1 and (c) at OECD literacy level 2 in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Answer

The Department for Education monitors literacy levels for adults through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) Survey of Adult Skills. The last study took place in 2012 and showed the following:

Percentage of adults (aged 16-65) at each level in literacy in England, 2012

OECD level

Percentage meeting this level in literacy

Below Level 1

3.3%

Level 1

13.1%

Level 2

33.1%

Source: Table 2.7, Adult skills international survey 2012

The survey is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-survey-of-adult-skills-2012.

The next OECD Survey of Adult Skills will take place in 2021/22.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
6321
Session
2019-19
Subjects
Literacy
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk