The department has not conducted an assessment of adult literacy levels within the past 5 years.

We participate in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Survey of Adult Skills to assess our performance in literacy, which was last conducted in England and 24 other countries in 2011-12. Findings from the survey can be found at: http://www.oecd.org/skills/.

The next Survey of Adult Skills will take place in 2021/22, with results available in 2023.

This government recognises the importance of English, both in work and everyday life. That is why we provide full funding for adult learners in England to secure English qualifications from entry level to level 2.

To raise standards of adult literacy, we are reforming English Functional Skills qualifications, which are accessed primarily by adults. This will make sure that these qualifications are more rigorous and better recognised by employers.

Through the Flexible Learning Fund, we are investing over £11 million to design and test ways of delivering learning to adults with low or intermediate skills more flexibly.

We recognise that more needs to be done to ensure adults in England have the literacy and numeracy skills that they need for life and work. This is why this government provides full funding for adults in England to enable them to develop their literacy and numeracy skills and to secure qualifications from entry level up to GCSE level.

The Skills for Life Survey, which was published in 2011, estimated the literacy and numeracy knowledge of adults aged 16 to 65 in England. This includes estimates for regions and local authorities. The survey shows estimates of the percentage of the adult population with different levels for these components for England and each region. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/36520/region-2009-all_1_.xlsx.

According to the survey, adults who have the lowest proportion of literacy and numeracy skills (with a L2 qualification or above) are in London and the North East respectively. However, this does not take into account adults who have English as a second language.

We are working with a range of sector and research partners to improve the evidence base on the best ways to support adults to secure basic English and maths skills. This includes exploring innovative ways through the Career Learning Pilots.

This government recognises the importance of English, both in work and everyday life. This is why we provide full funding for adult learners in England to secure English qualifications from entry level to level 2.

To raise standards of adult literacy, we are reforming English Functional Skills qualifications, which are accessed primarily by adults. This will make sure that these qualifications are more rigorous and better recognised by employers.

Through the Flexible Learning Fund, we are investing over £11 million to design and test ways of delivering learning more flexibly to adults with low or intermediate skills.

We provide full funding for adult learners in England to secure English and mathematics qualifications from entry level to level 2.

To raise standards of adult literacy and numeracy, we are reforming English and mathematics Functional Skills qualifications, which are accessed primarily by adults. This will ensure that these qualifications are more rigorous and better recognised by employers.

Through the Flexible Learning Fund, we are investing over £11 million to design and test ways of delivering learning to adults with low or intermediate skills more flexibly.

We are also establishing 21 Centres for Excellence across the country, with at least one in every region of England, to improve the quality of mathematics teaching and basic mathematics knowledge and skills in post-16 institutions. The programme will spread best practice across the country through mathematics networks, which will benefit adult learners.

We provide full funding for adult learners in England to secure English and mathematics qualifications from entry level to level 2.

To raise standards of adult literacy and numeracy, we are reforming English and mathematics Functional Skills qualifications, which are accessed primarily by adults. This will ensure that these qualifications are more rigorous and better recognised by employers.

Through the Flexible Learning Fund, we are investing over £11 million to design and test ways of delivering learning to adults with low or intermediate skills more flexibly.

We are also establishing 21 Centres for Excellence across the country, with at least one in every region of England, to improve the quality of mathematics teaching and basic mathematics knowledge and skills in post-16 institutions. The programme will spread best practice across the country through mathematics networks, which will benefit adult learners.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Information on apprenticeships is collected via the Individualised Learner Record (ILR), based on information submitted by further education and training providers. However, the ILR does not hold data on people who were refused an apprenticeship.

The government provides full funding for adults in England to develop the literacy and numeracy skills they need for life and work, and to secure qualifications from entry level up to GCSE.

The Skills for Life Survey, 2011, estimated the literacy, numeracy and ICT knowledge of adults aged 16-64 in England. The estimates of the numbers and percentage of the adult population with different levels for these components for England are in the attached table.

The table below provides the number of learners achieving their learning aim, for students aged 24+ for English, Maths, GCSE and Functional Skills courses in each year since the 2011/12 academic year.

Notes:

Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.

Figures for 2011/12 onwards are not directly comparable to earlier years as a Single Individualised Learner Record data collection system has been introduced. Small technical changes have been made in the way learners from more than one provision type are counted, leading to a removal of duplicate learners and a reduction in overall learner numbers of approximately 2 per cent.

Figures for English and Maths, and English includes achievements on English for Speakers of Other Languages courses.