Lifelong Learning Labs: Closing the Skills Gap

How can we boost skills in reading, writing, maths, and digital tech?

The UK falls behind many similar countries in literacy, numeracy, and digital skills.

This means that thousands struggle with everyday tasks.

On a national level, this affects the economy and social unity.

Inequalities grow when access to essential skills is limited.

Schools have improved, reducing the number of children leaving without English and Maths qualifications. However, many adults still lack these skills or struggle with everyday tasks.

🔬 Learning and Work Institute and Age UK revealed an estimated 6 million people over 50 have difficulties with maths and reading
🧬 50% of all adults in the UK don’t read regularly, and 1 in 6 (8.5 million) struggle to read at all
🔬 Reading Agency's adult reading research shows 18% of adults aged 16 to 65, or 6.6 million people, can be described as having very poor literacy skills
🧬 UK Government stats show 93% of Local Authorities contain at least one ward with below average numeracy skills (you can check your area on the map here)
🔬 Lloyds Banking Group showed 85% of UK adults 18+ have the Foundation Level of digital skills.
🧬 This means 15% of the adult population cannot do all the basic tasks required to get online and use digital

Give us your thoughts

Whether you’re a learner, a policy maker, a practitioner, or member of the public, we want to hear from you.

Our call for evidence is open to anyone who wants to help us secure the future of lifelong learning.

Maybe you have a story to share, a case study that works, or some brilliant research. Or, you can answer some of our 'starter' questions:

🧪 Do you think you have the right level of skills to manage everyday tasks? Are there areas of literacy, numeracy or digital skills where you think you could improve?
🧪 Do you feel that the UK could be more competitive if we improved our levels of essential skills overall?
🧪 Do you think that lack of everyday skills holds people back and contributes to inequality?
🧪 Do you think that it’s easy to catch up on everyday skills if you didn’t learn them at school?
🧪 Do you think that some everyday skills are easier to pick up than others? What do you feel most comfortable with – language, numbers or technology? And least?