Key Skills take-up has increased

There has been a big rise in the numbers getting Key Skills qualifications - intended to prove a grasp of the basics to employers.

Take-up in England, Wales and Northern Ireland rose 23% last year.

Almost 332,000 were awarded - two thirds of them to 16 to 18-year-olds, though biggest growth was among adults.

But concerns about skills remain, with a new strategy being proposed for learners in Wales which will involve a review of qualifications.

In the four years since Key Skills qualifications began, 940,000 have been awarded to 572,000 learners.

Some 108,000 people have all three qualifications - in communication, information technology (IT) and "application of number".

New strategy

The figures, published by the Department for Education and Skills, come from the 16 exam boards and other "awarding bodies".

The qualifications were supposed to address concern from employers in the 1980s that young people they were taking on did not have the general skills needed to be effective employees.

In 2003-04, more than 30,000 were awarded in Wales - where on Friday the Assembly Government launched a new basic skills strategy, Words Talk - Numbers Count.

It involves a renewed emphasis on "functional" literacy and numeracy.

It aims to develop "a clear qualifications and assessment framework for basic skills that is fit for purpose, well understood by learners and employers, and which encourages take-up and completion".

No more tests

A spokeswoman for the assembly government said there was an overlap between basic and Key Skills.

"Basic skills are about the underlying knowledge, Key Skills are about application.

"The Assembly Government and its partners are considering the extent of this overlap and what a coherent package of basic and Key Skills should comprise."

Key Skills are central to the Welsh Baccalaureate.

But from last September assessment of Key Skills in Wales is by portfolio only.

The spokeswoman said the "test" element was removed after research by the qualifications regulator ACCAC showed the tests added no value and were, in fact, a barrier to take-up.

'Worrying picture'

The new strategy's target is that by 2010, 80% of working-age adults should have at least Level 1 literacy skills, and 55% Level 1 numeracy.

Level 1 is equivalent to the sort of attainment expected of 14-year-olds in school.

"We define basic skills as the ability to read, write and speak in English or Welsh, and to use mathematics, at a level necessary to function and progress both in work and in society," the strategy document said.

A recent survey had presented "a worrying picture" of the current state of affairs.

About 440,000 adults (25% of those 16-65) did not have Level 1 literacy and almost a million (53%) did not have Level 1 numeracy.