Alex Stevenson on England’s PIAAC results: Low-skilled adults are falling behind

A closer look at the 2023 PIAAC results on adult skills in England shows that the progress since 2013 has largely been among so-called high achievers. Low-skilled adults are being left behind, warns Alex Stevenson of the Learning and Work Institute.

We spoke to Alex Stevenson, Deputy Director at the Learning and Work Institute (L&W), an independent UK organisation specialising in policy and research on lifelong learning and better employment. Stevenson, whose work focuses on essential skills – including literacy, numeracy, digital skills and English for speakers of other languages – warns that the situation in England is far less encouraging than some headlines suggest.

By international standards, England seems to perform well. The results of the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), the OECD’s international assessment of adults’ literacy, numeracy and problem‑solving abilities released in December 2024, offered a relatively positive picture of basic skills in England compared with other countries. Adults aged 16 to 65 scored an average of 272 points in literacy, 268 in numeracy and 259 in problem‑solving: all above the OECD average.

According to the study, 18% of adults in England performed at Level 1 or below in literacy, meaning they can understand only short and simple texts, compared with an OECD average of 26%. Looking across all three skill areas, 14% of adults in England were at the two lowest proficiency levels, against an OECD average of 18%.

“While these figures look encouraging in an international context, they mask a more complex reality, and one that is far less rosy than it may appear,” Stevenson says.

The main issue, the researcher says, is that when this study is compared with the previous PIAAC carried out in 2013, the progress made has largely been among so‑called high achievers.

“The improvements we’ve seen over the past decade are mostly down to people who were already scoring highly in 2013 and have improved further. Those at the lower end have seen virtually no change,” he says.

The struggles behind the headlines

In 2013, around nine million adults in England and Northern Ireland had low literacy levels; today the figure is 8.5 million in England alone.

“Having so many working‑age adults with poor basic skills remains a massive problem for society and the economy. We clearly haven’t succeeded in turning this around over the past decade, because the focus has been on people who were already performing well, while those who were struggling have been left behind,” Stevenson says.

He points to Skills Bootcamps, organised by the government’s Department for Education, as an example. These short, flexible courses, lasting up to 16 weeks, are designed to help adults gain in‑demand, employer‑valued skills, whether they want to switch sectors or move up in their careers.

“Although investing in adult training is crucial and it’s important to support people to train or obtain qualification at Level 3, programme evaluations show that many participants are already qualified at degree level. While the best programmes are certainly useful to some, public funding has largely gone to people who were already highly qualified and not to those who need it most, which should be the priority,” Stevenson says, mentioning that some devolved areas are now moving away from these programmes.

Public funding has gone to people who were already highly qualified, not to those who need it most.

The numeracy results make this clear. England’s average numeracy score has risen, and the share of high performers has grown to 15% at Levels 4-5. Yet around one‑fifth of adults remain at or below Level 1.

“The gains were concentrated at the top, with barely any improvement at the bottom. So once again, those already doing well in 2013 have improved, while those struggling have not,” Stevenson explains.

Privilege and disadvantage in the PIAAC results

This points to a deeper issue: entrenched disadvantage and a persistent lack of progress in basic skills. As in many other countries, these patterns are closely tied to socio‑economic background.

“People from more disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to have basic skills needs, and their results have barely shifted at all,” he continues.

“This is exactly where we should be focusing our efforts. We need to set high expectations for everyone, not just high achievers. That means providing far more support for people from disadvantaged backgrounds, so they have the same opportunities to reach the skill levels of their better‑off peers.”

A youth-centred approach has sidelined adult education

Although this applies to both young people and adults, Stevenson points to a fundamental gap in how the two groups are treated when it comes to education policy.

“When the previous PIAAC study was published, it was clear that England and Northern Ireland were performing quite poorly compared with the OECD average, and that was a real wake‑up call for policymakers,” he says.

In response, the past ten years have seen a strong focus on raising essential skills among young learners, something Stevenson welcomes and believes has been genuinely beneficial. One example is the English and maths condition of funding, which applies to all age 16-19 study programmes. Under this rule, institutions must ensure that any student who has not achieved a grade 4/C in GCSE maths or English continues to study the subject as part of their programme.

“While this policy hasn’t been without controversy and has sometimes been misunderstood, it has had a positive impact. Over half a million more young people have left with Level 2 qualifications in English and maths since the policy introduction in 2014,” Stevenson explains.

Stevenson describes the progress made with younger learners as encouraging and says governments should continue to invest in education for young people. However, he warns that “the latest PIAAC findings show this improvement has masked a far bleaker picture for adults in England”.

Adult education remains overlooked

Stevenson refers to what he calls a “wide gap” between young people’s and adults’ access to education. Since 2010, investment in adult learning has fallen by around 60% – roughly £1 billion (1.1 billion euros) – resulting in a significant drop in participation in lifelong learning courses.

The consequences are significant: around 80% of the workforce of 2035 has already completed compulsory education, yet adults are facing, and will continue to face, a rapidly shifting labour market shaped by digitalisation and demographic change. Meeting these challenges requires essential and increasingly advanced skills.

“One strength of the system,” Stevenson adds, “is that adult courses are free when they are available. The problem is that funding has dried up for launching new provision, and the current offer falls far short of what is needed.”

He remains sceptical that future government decisions will bring about meaningful change. “I don’t think we’re seeing much willingness from the current government to change the situation.”

In February 2025, the government announced a change in the apprenticeships policy, relaxing the English and maths requirements for adult apprenticeships. The intention was to make apprenticeships more flexible, more attractive to employers and easier for training providers to deliver. “However, this policy represents a backward step and we are genuinely concerned,” says Stevenson.

“While we’re still waiting for comprehensive data to assess the full impact of the policy, we already know it has led to a fall in participation. The signs so far are not encouraging, and the approach does not align with what the PIAAC study tells us.”

Stevenson argues this is particularly damaging because apprenticeships are one of the key points at which gaps in basic skills can be identified. They provide an opportunity to spot young adults who may need extra support and to intervene early. An opportunity, he warns, that England is now at risk of losing.

How can we address the PIAAC results?

Stevenson’s first recommendation for addressing the issues highlighted in the PIAAC study is to ensure adults receive equal attention in policy and investment. “We need to focus on adults as well, not just young people. Low‑skilled adults in England need opportunities to adapt, upskill and reskill,” he says.

For this reason, he argues that reaching people during apprenticeships, as well as those already in work, is crucial.

“Employers, for example, could play a much bigger role. In England, employers are spending 36% less on training per worker than they were 20 years ago, and employer investment is far lower than in many other European countries. That’s a real missed opportunity. With greater responsibility and influence, employers could develop more innovative and non‑formal ways of supporting learning.”

Employers could play a bigger role by developing more non‑formal ways of supporting learning.

He points to the Multiply programme, launched by the government in 2022 to help adults without a GCSE grade C/4 in maths build confidence and improve their numeracy skills.

“It was a good way to test more flexible and informal community‑based provision,” he says. “But unfortunately, it was only a short‑term initiative and there was nothing for literacy skills.”

The lack of long-term planning is yet another issue when it comes to adult education in England. “We need to invest resources in understanding the issues that adult learners are facing in the country at the moment, the specificities of their needs and long-term and strategic planning to tackle those,” says Stevenson.

Devolved funding: a threat and an opportunity

Adult education funding in England is now devolved to 14 strategic local areas rather than managed centrally. Stevenson acknowledges that this shift brings certain advantages: “Local authorities have a clearer understanding of the challenges facing their communities and can respond more directly. Devolution can also open the door to greater collaboration and innovation.”

Even so, he cautions that it is too early to judge the full impact. “Local bodies already shoulder significant responsibilities and adding more to their remit may create new pressures. The danger,” Stevenson says, “is that devolution moves at different speeds in different parts of the country, which could deepen existing inequalities.”

“If we carry on ignoring existing issues and resorting to short‑term, short‑sighted fixes,” he warns, “the gap between low‑ and high‑qualified people will only widen, leaving those with the weakest skills even further behind.”

This sets off a vicious circle: workers with low qualifications are less likely to receive training from employers, which limits their career prospects and keeps wages down.

Short-term fixes only widen the gap between low- and high-qualified people.

“What policymakers need to recognise is that this has consequences on several levels,” Stevenson says. He points first to the economy. One study by the Learning and Work Institute shows that achieving world‑class skills could boost the economy by £22 billion (24 billion euros) and save taxpayers £8 billion (9 billion euros) a year, while also laying out a vision for a “lifelong learning century” in which more people take part in learning of all kinds throughout their lives.

He adds that the societal impacts are just as significant. People with low qualifications often struggle to process key information needed to participate fully in democratic life. In a society shaped by climate change, migration and rapid technological advances, being able to understand and navigate major social shifts is vital.

“We’ve seen that people who lack basic skills often feel more isolated and lose trust in institutions and engagement in their community. What we want and need is for everyone to benefit from opportunities to learn and work throughout their lives,” Stevenson concludes.

For further reading, see Katja Pantzar’s article “Transforming PIAAC results into action: On what to focus” (published 20.12.2024).