2011 Skills for Life Survey
This report presents the initial headline findings from the 2011 Skills for Life Survey.
The key findings, which focus on the distributions of Literacy, Numeracy and ICT skills, are as follows:
- Overall 57 per cent of respondents achieved a Level 2 or above score in literacy, which is a large increase from 44 per cent in 2003. Amongst 16-18 year olds there has been a 13 percentage point rise in the proportion achieving a Level 2 or above score since 2003, and amongst 19-65 year olds there has been a 12 percentage point rise.
- 85 per cent of respondents achieved Level 1 or above in literacy, with 15 per cent performing at Entry Level 3 or below. This represents no significant change since 2003.
- Three quarters (76 per cent) of respondents achieved Entry Level 3 or above in numeracy, with one quarter (24 per cent) scoring below this level. This represents a small decline in numeracy levels as 79 per cent achieved Entry Level 3 or above in 2003.
- Across ICT components the following proportions of respondents achieved Entry Level 3 or above: 57 per cent on the word processing component, 69 per cent on the emailing component, 61 per cent on the spreadsheet component and 91 per cent on the multiple choice component.In line with 2003, the numeracy assessment performance correlated positively with the literacy assessment performance.
- Just over six in ten respondents (62 per cent) performed at a higher level on the literacy assessment than the numeracy assessment. Only one in ten (10 per cent) had stronger performance on the numeracy assessment.
- Seven in ten respondents (72 per cent) achieved Level 1 or above in literacy and Entry Level 3 or above in numeracy. One in ten (10 per cent) were below both of these levels.
- The literacy and numeracy assessments correlated positively with each other and with the ICT assessment.
- Whilst the four ICT components measure different skills sets, positive correlations were found between all four components.
To read the report in full, go to www.bis.gov.uk
