Every ten years, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) conducts its survey of adult skills, called the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). The survey provides a unique opportunity to compare the literacy skills of adults with other participating OECD countries, as well as observe how these skills have evolved over the last decade.
The initial explored data from 31 countries, testing adults aged 16-65 on their literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills.
In England, 4,941 adults participated in the survey between September 2022 and June 2023. England participated in the first cycle in 2012 which identified that the youngest adults in England performed less well than older adults (contrary to the international pattern) and performed poorly compared with their international peers.
England’s literacy score has been stable since 2012. In England, 18% of adults were defined as having low proficiency in literacy, compared with 26% across the OECD, on average. Adults with low proficiency were those whose scores placed them at PIAAC Level 1 or below. Adults achieving Level 1 or below struggle to complete tasks involving longer texts with distracting information.
England’s numeracy scores have increased significantly since 2012. Adults in England scored, on average, 268 points in numeracy, significantly above the OECD average of 263 points. Japan and Germany were the only G7 countries to outperform England. In England, 21% of adults only achieved at PIAAC Level 1 or below, compared with 25% across the OECD, on average. Adults achieving Level 1 or below struggle to complete mathematical tasks with distracting information or carry out multi-step mathematical processes.
Young people (16–24-year-olds) in England had significantly improved literacy and numeracy scores compared with young people in 2012. The distribution of skills in England by age was no longer an international outlier, as the pattern of performance by age broadly matched the pattern across the OECD, on average. In England and across the OECD, there was a pattern of increasing literacy and numeracy skills with age, and then a decline, with youngest adults scoring more highly than the oldest adults.
Another interesting finding was that those completing a degree were often not much better than those not taking a degree. There was some evidence that some of those with a degree were overqualified for their jobs and might have been better taking a level 4 or 5 vocational qualification. In England about 37% of workers were over-qualified (OECD average: 23%), and a further 7% were under-qualified (OECD average: 9%), meaning their highest educational qualification was above or below the level that is typically required for their current job.
41% of workers were mismatched in terms of field of study, because their highest qualification was not in the field that is most relevant to their job.
The findings provide an estimate of 8.5 million working age adults in England with low basic skills in 2023 (that is low proficiency in literacy, low proficiency in numeracy, or both). Adults were defined as having low proficiency if they achieved Level 1 or below. There were 6 characteristics which had significant associations with low proficiency common to all 3 domains:
- having a low level of education
- belonging to particular ethnic groups
- being born outside the UK
- having parents who have low levels of education
- not having computer experience in everyday life
- working in certain occupations.
The characteristics that were most strongly associated with increased likelihood of low proficiency: having less than secondary school education, being Black or Asian, being born outside the UK, and having no computer experience.
In the latest available statistics – the academic year 2022/23 – Level 2 attainment of English and mathematics by age 19 was the highest on record in 2022/23 at 78%. However, over a fifth are still not obtaining this important benchmark.
So, we are not doing badly but we have a long tail of weak adults just as we have a long tail of those weak at GCSE. Numeracy has improved and to some extent this reflects government policy reforms after 2010.
By Professor Barnaby Lenon, Dean of the Faculty of Education at The University of Buckingham
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