Research reveals England’s ‘entrenched literacy problems’

New research has revealed the literacy challenges facing many schools after showing that the vast majority of Parliamentary constituencies contain at least one ward with “entrenched literacy problems”.

A study by the National Literacy Trust and Experian concludes that England faces a “deep-rooted literacy crisis”, with 5.1 million adults currently not possessing the reading skills expected of an 11-year-old. It is also estimated that poor literacy costs the country £81 billion a year in lost earnings and increased welfare spending.

The research involved analysing data about the social factors most closely associated with low literacy to create a “literacy vulnerability score” for every single electoral ward. The score is based on the social mix of the resident population in each ward and combines metrics from the 2011 Census and Experian’s socio-demographic classification system, Mosaic.