The Skills for Life Alliance consists of leading researchers, delivery organisations and sector specialists. It is exploring what affects participation in basic skills learning and will use these findings to help drive adult literacy, numeracy and digital skills up the agenda in England.
Convened by Learning and Work Institute and Holex, the Skills for Life Alliance has published a report – Getting the basics right: The case for action on adult basic skills.
The report shows that despite the evidence available on its positive impacts for individuals, society and the economy, there are rising levels of basic skills needs in England. An estimated 9 million working-age adults in England have low basic skills in literacy or numeracy, of which 5 million have low skills in both. At the same time, the adult education budget has been halved since 2011/12 and participation in learning is steadily declining.
It is against this backdrop that the Skills for Life Alliance has been formed and is calling for urgent action to reverse these trends.
