Some facts

• Almost half (43%) of all 11-year olds cannot read, write and add up properly when they leave primary school.¹
• Each year about 5% of young people leave school with no qualifications²
• 12% of 16 year olds failed in 2006 to achieve 5 GCSEs at any grade – including English and Maths⁷
• One fifth of adults fail to attain literacy levels appropriate for 11 year olds²
• Two thirds of employers believe schools do not equip young people with the skills they need for employment⁷
• Educational under-achievement costs the nation £18bn a year in foregone earnings²
• Permanent exclusions have risen by 20% since 2000⁷
• 55,000 pupils miss school without permission each day⁷
• Nearly 50,000 crimes are committed in London each year by truanting children⁷
• 70,000 school age offenders enter the youth justice system, costing the UK £1bn a year²
• 73% of young offenders describe their education as nil⁷
• 60% of offenders in prison are functionally illiterate and innumerate³
• ‘The total cost of depression arising from educational underachievement in young people could be as much as between £11 and £28 million’²
• Almost a fifth of young people (16-24 year olds) in England, Scotland and Wales are not in education, training or employment. They are described as NEETS.²
• Youth unemployment has increased by 18,000 over the past ten years⁷
• Youth unemployment costs the UK economy £10m a day²
• The government pays out £20m a week in Jobseeker’s Allowance to the young unemployed²
• Almost 10% of Britain’s population was born abroad⁴
• The number of migrants with poor or zero levels of spoken English is unknown, but -
• Costs of translation for non-English-speaking migrants have been estimated as –NHS trusts £55m; local councils £25m; police £21m; courts system £10.3m; Immigration and Nationality Directorate £8.5m;⁵  Job Centres £4.5m⁶
• About 40,000 jobless people say their poor English is a barrier to finding employment⁶
• 15% of members of ethnic minorities cite language difficulties as a barrier to work⁶

We cannot underestimate the impact of poor reading skills. Research by the Basic Skills Agency has looked at a cohort born in a single week in 1970, who were classified as being at risk of social exclusion in childhood. The study, Basic Skills and Social Exclusion, found that poor readers were both twice as likely to be unemployed at 30 and have experienced a continuous period of unemployment for over a year. The study also showed that poor readers, on average, earned about £2 less per hour than the average

wage. The women who were poor readers were also disproportionately likely to become single mothers. Weak readers were also more likely to suffer ill health and depression.[1]

¹National Curriculum Assessments at Key Stage 2 2004-5 [Final] DfES 15 June 2006

²The Cost of Exclusion: Counting the Cost of Youth Disadvantage in the UK, The Prince’s Trust with the Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics 2007

³Report of Chief Inspector of the Adult Learning Inspectorate 2004-5

⁴OECD Annual International Migration Outlook June 2007

⁵BBC Research 12^th December 2006 

⁶ Former Welfare Minister Jim Murphy in speech to Work Foundation  12^th February 2007

⁷Breakthrough Britain: Ending the Costs of Social Breakdown; Social Justice Policy Group; July 2007