2. Skills for Life Improvement Programme SKILLS FOR LIFE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME Skills for Life Awareness Raising

3. Skills for Life Improvement Programme Aim:To increase your awareness of Skills for Life Objectives:  identify what is meant by Skills for Life  be aware of the national Skills for Life strategy  identify some barriers to learning that might hinder adults improving their literacy, language and numeracy (LLN) skills  recognise where adults need to use literacy and number skills in work, training and everyday life  recognise the impact of the lack of LLN skills in the workplace  discuss one form of LLN skills assessment  consider what provision is available to support adults to improve their LLN skills  draw up an action plan, which begins to address the LLN skills issues in their workplace.

4. Skills for Life Improvement Programme What are Skills for Life? “The ability to read, write and speak in English/Welsh and to use mathematics at a level necessary to function and progress at work and in society in general.” Basic Skills Agency

5. Skills for Life Improvement Programme Scale of the Problem - Recap  Approx 5.2 million adults have literacy levels below Level 1 & 14.9 million have numeracy skills below this level (last SfL survey 2003)  74% of the prison population have literacy and numeracy skills below level 1  Those with poor skills are more likely to be unemployed and to live in substandard housing  Those with poor skills are also more likely to have poor physical and mental health  Poor literacy/numeracy skills are intergenerational – there is a cycle of poor skills

6. Skills for Life Improvement Programme History of Development  1970s – On the Move  1999 – Sir Claus Moser – ‘A Fresh Start’  2001 – Skills for Life Strategy (England & Wales) oTarget numbers for adults with improved LLN skills oDevelopments needed to be able to achieve this.

7. Skills for Life Improvement Programme Achievements so far Since 2001:  4.7 million adults have started literacy, language and numeracy courses  Over 1.5 million learners have achieved Skills for Life qualifications (2007 target)  1,619 000 learners have achieved their first Skills for Life qualification (including 138,000 offenders)

8. Skills for Life Improvement Programme Targets to 2010  Improve the literacy, language and numeracy skills of 2.25 million adults  Reduce by at least 40 per cent the number of adults in the workforce who lack NVQ 2 or equivalent qualifications

9. Skills for Life Improvement Programme Useful Websites www.sflip.org.uk www.dfes.gov.uk/readwriteplus www.basic-skills.org.uk www.dfes.gov.uk/readwriteplus/embeddinglearning www.skillsforlifenetwork.com