David Mallows, Director of Research, National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC) presented at the BIS / Ipsos MORI event Improving basic skills: An international perspective on a UK dilemma in London on 14 January 2015.

1. International Review of Adult
Basic Skills: Learning from
High-Performing and
Improving Countries
David Mallows
National Research and Development Centre
for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC)

2. Aim
To draw lessons that could inform future adult basic skills policy, its delivery
and the application of skills by adults in England.
Methodology
Rapid Evidence Assessment for 8 countries: Canada, Estonia, Germany,
Japan, the Netherlands, and Norway (high-performing); South Korea and
Poland (improving)
– Analysis of OECD International Survey of Adult Skills & policy analysis
In-depth country case studies of 4 comparison countries: Canada, South
Korea, Netherlands and Norway
– Expert interviews & English language Rapid Evidence Assessment /
Native language lit review

3. Similar rather than different
Comparison of England to high-performing countries show
relatively similar socio-economic and demographic
profiles to countries that scored more highly than England
in PIAAC’s three dimensions.

4. Eg England has a
comparatively high %
who attained tertiary
education
Demographic profiles do not provide a consistent indicator
of ‘high performance’ among countries.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Austria
Czech Republic
Slovak Republic
Poland
Sweden
Germany
Netherlands
Average
Australia
Flanders (Belgium)
Norway
Denmark
Korea
England (UK)
Finland
Estonia
Japan
Canada
Lower than upper secondary Upper secondary Tertiary

5. Some differences
… age trends
… NEETs
… family background
… jobs

6. Shared policy focus
• …provision tends to be taken up by groups that are
easier to reach, rather than those that are most in need.
• Similar target groups: low skilled people in
employment, the unemployed and immigrants.
• More workplace provision, with employers encouraged
to play a role.
• Little robust evaluation data.
• Low expectation of change.

7. Size is not important
All countries, regardless of overall proficiency scores in the
PIAAC Survey of Adult Skills, have a large proportion of
their population scoring at or below Level 1 – the so-called
Low Skilled Population.
Focus on understanding the nature of the low-skilled
population.
Those who score at or below Level 1 are more likely than
the rest of the adult population to exhibit certain
characteristics, but of more relevance is that the majority of
them do not.

8. Supply and demand
Increasing the supply (and use) of skills.
Supporting adults to respond to the literacy demands of the workplace
and their everyday lives.
Need for a comprehensive, lifelong and life-wide strategy that
addresses concerns of supply and demand, and brings together a
range of policy stakeholders to address these issues.

9. David Mallows
Director of research
NRDC
UCL Institute of Education,
London
www.ioe.ac.uk