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Adult basic skills training no boost to economic competitiveness, says expert

3 April 2009

Short, sharp basic skills courses designed to improve adult literacy and numeracy are a waste of time and money, a leading education economist will warn at a conference today (Friday 3 April).

Since the early 1990s, the government has launched initiatives to increase the reading, writing and maths skills of people who find them difficult – 20 per cent of adults in England have severe literacy problems and 40 per cent have trouble with numeracy – in efforts to boost the country's economic competitiveness. Figures from the National Audit Office show that £995 million were spent on one such programme, Skills for Life, in 2006–07, with an average spend per course of £500.

Yet the UK remains in the bottom half of international basic skills league tables produced by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Professor Anna Vignoles, from the Institute of Education, London, will confirm at the Institute for Fiscal Studies conference.

Professor Vignoles will contend that good basic skills are crucial in boosting earning power, but they must be learned early. "It is well known that an individual's basic skills level affects how much they earn, but research shows that the three Rs are best acquired in childhood," she will say. "Policies and qualifications to help adults develop them have proved largely ineffective."

She will add that there may still be a place for short training programmes of up to 20 hours, as they can reach people who are not engaged in other learning. There is also evidence that adults who take basic skills training are more likely to take up formal education courses.

"But," she will argue, "The array of low-level qualifications available to adults has not boosted productivity and earnings. Gains from workplace courses are particularly small."

She will suggest that adult programmes can potentially build literacy and numeracy skills, but only if they are lengthy and intensive, as adult learners need between 100 and 150 hours of instruction. This would have cost implications.

"Adult basic skills training might increase equality of opportunity, but unfortunately it won't boost economic competitiveness," she will conclude.



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Institute of Education, University of London

Institute of Education, University of London

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