New research reveals a striking divide in England's adult skills landscape. Young adults (aged 16-24) have made significant improvements in literacy and numeracy since 2012, reversing a position that once placed them among the lowest performers internationally.
However, despite this improvement, approximately one in five working-age adults still lacks proficiency in basic literacy, numeracy or both, and the majority of these adults are aged over 45.
The findings draw on the Survey of Adult Skills 2023 (PIAAC), an international study assessing literacy, numeracy and problem-solving across 31 countries. NFER has published two reports with further analysis of this data: one examining what has happened to England's young adults since 2012, and the other analysing the characteristics and labour market outcomes of the 8.5 million adults in England who have low skills in 2023.
In 2012, England's 16-24-year-olds were among the lowest performers internationally. A decade on, the proportion of 16–24-year-olds with low literacy skills has almost halved and also reduced for numeracy. England's youngest adults now perform strongly compared with other countries.
Further, the cohort who were aged 16-24 in 2012 have made larger gains through their 20s than their counterparts in most other countries surveyed and are no longer amongst the lowest performers.
There are some key differences between 16-24-year-olds in 2012 and 2023:
- Women have improved significantly in both literacy and numeracy, while men have significantly improved in numeracy only.
- Young adults today, and their parents, are more likely to be educated to a higher level, which may reflect the impact of education reforms like the education leaving age being raised to age 18.
- Encouragingly, young people with the lowest qualifications have not fallen further behind.
- Other background factors, including gender and socio economic status, now play a smaller role in shaping skills outcomes than they did in 2012.
However, the research shows that around 8.5 million working age adults in England still have low literacy or numeracy skills. Literacy skills across the adult population have shown no marked improvement over the decade, even as qualification levels have risen. Women also continue to have lower numeracy skills than men, a pattern seen across most comparator countries.
Over half of all low-skilled adults are now aged 45 and over, and adults aged 45 and over are increasingly likely to have left the workforce entirely. This is unlike young low-skilled adults. Since 2012, the proportion of 16–24-year-olds with low literacy skills has almost halved, falling from 20 per cent to 11 per cent, with low numeracy skills dropping from 19 per cent to 13 per cent.
Young adults also showed greater mobility between jobs and sectors over time.
The employment picture remains concerning. Only 55-56 per cent of low-skilled adults were in employment in 2023, compared with 75 per cent of adults overall and 61-64 per cent of low-skilled adults across other countries surveyed.
Adults born outside the UK, or who learnt English as an additional language are overrepresented in the low skills group. However, they are less likely to have low skills in England than in several major economies, including France, Italy and the United States.
Rebecca Wheater, NFER Research Director said:
"It is very encouraging to see such clear improvements in the skills of young adults, who now compare well internationally and are entering the workforce with stronger foundations than we saw a decade ago.
“However, a significant number of adults continue to have low levels of literacy and numeracy, which can significantly limit employment opportunities. NFER's Skills Imperative 2035 programme shows that the need for essential employment skills will continue to grow as jobs evolve, and ensuring adults can build and sustain skills is key to meeting the demands of the future labour market."