Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of adults with low literary proficiency.

The government recognises that securing good levels of literacy has a positive impact on participation in society, improves earnings and employment opportunities and opens doors to further learning.

The department participates in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s survey for adult skills, Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies last conducted in England and 30 other countries in 2022/23. The results, published in December 2024, show that 18% of 16-65-year-olds have low literacy proficiency in England compared to the OECD average of 26%. England also has the highest average literacy levels amongst English-speaking countries in the survey and the second highest in the G7. More details on the survey are available at: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/programmes/piaac.html.

The government continues to support those who want to improve their literacy skills through the essential skills legal entitlements, funded through the Adult Skills Fund. This enables eligible adults with low literacy skills to undertake a range of fully-funded English courses, including GCSEs and Functional Skills up to level 2.