Army shows employers the way says National Skills Envoy / DfES

The Army's basic skills initiative - developed by the Army in partnership with the Basic Skills Agency and jointly funded by DfES and the Army - has been endorsed by the Skills for Life Strategy Unit and the National Skills Envoy as a model of good practice for other major employers in raising skills standards. The Army's achievements in raising literacy, numeracy and language skills, and the 'lessons learnt' from its five-year initiative are detailed in a report and survey published today by the Basic Skills Agency.

Skills Minister Phil Hope says: 'Good skills are crucial for life and work. The Army has fully recognised this and they are doing excellent work in improving the literacy and numeracy of their recruits. They are an example to all employers of how training can bring about social and economic benefits.'

Sir Digby Jones, National Skills Envoy, says: 'I applaud the Army's initiative in not only up-skilling their workforce but demonstrating how an employer can add value to people`s lives in every respect and not just through the obvious way of making them more useful and productive in the workplace. It is not rocket science - this is about the Army setting an example, leading from the front and stepping up to the challenge of getting rid of the dreadful statistic in 21st century Britain where 1 in 5 adults are functionally illiterate.'

The report - Army basic skills provision: whole organisation approach, lessons learnt - describes how the Army worked with the Basic Skills Agency to establish a system of basic skills provision capable of meeting the needs of 100,000 Service personnel at home and abroad. To date thousands of Army employees have taken the national tests with an achievement rate of between 87% and 97% - showing that the Service is on track in moving towards the 95% target outlined in the recent Leitch report.

'The Army has anticipated many of the recommendations in the Leitch report' comments Carol Taylor, Joint Director of the Basic Skills Agency. 'Sandy Leitch calls for 95% of working adults to achieve functional literacy and numeracy by 2020; he also calls for employers to be given a stronger voice, for the development of a culture of learning in the workplace, and for a greater focus on economically productive skills. The Army's experience shows that all of this can be done even with a large employer and a dispersed workforce.'

Carol adds: 'Working with the Army, we have helped the Service recognise and promote the value of improving literacy and numeracy skills and embedding this approach across the workforce. The drive for raising basic skills standards now permeates the Army organisation, from the top to the bottom, with support at senior level and substantial buy-in from middle management'.

Reviewing the Army`s experience from 2001-06 the report makes a number of recommendations for large-scale employers seeking to improve their employees` literacy, language and numeracy skills.

These include:

• Adopting a whole organisation approach – across and down through the organisation;
• Setting clear, measurable basic skills targets - linked to career advancement and entry standards for professional development training;
• Securing the commitment and ownership of senior stakeholders;
• Recruiting basic skills champions at all organisational levels with clear roles and responsibilities for promoting the benefits of improving and maintaining these essential skills sets;
• Making sure the infrastructure and provision are responsive to the needs of the various levels of the organisation and fit efficiently around its operations;
• Building an appropriate, contextualized in-house capability supported by collaborative partnerships with high quality, external providers to allow high-volume delivery;
• Developing management information systems to track the progress of individual learners and report corporate performance.

Up to half of the 12,000 recruits entering the Army each year have literacy or numeracy skills at levels at or below those expected of a primary school leaver - of these about 8-9% have Entry Level 2 skills (the standard expected of 7-8 year olds). The incidence of poor basic skills amongst recruits is not distributed evenly across the Service with rates much higher in those specialisations such as the Infantry and Artillery that set few or no academic/vocational entry qualifications. With about 9,500 foreign nationals serving in the British Army, there are also many requiring ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) support.

Many major employers face similar challenges. As the Leitch report highlighted: five million adults in the UK have poor literacy skills, 15 million have difficulty with numbers; and more than one in six young people leave school unable to read, write or add up to expected standards.

The Army recognises that staff with basic skills difficulties risk compromising health and safety standards inside and outside the workplace and that their poor literacy and numeracy skills can and do impact adversely on their efficiency at work. A recent survey, published by the Basic Skills Agency alongside the report, revealed that 62% of Army line managers 'often' or 'sometimes' encountered incidents where poor literacy hindered or stopped soldiers from carrying out the day-to-day tasks expected of them and 59% had had the same experience with poor numeracy skills.

Brigadier Tony Brister, Director Educational and Training Services (Army) insists, 'Sound basic skills ensure soldiers are better placed to assimilate Army training and education and to take advantage of career opportunities (both in the Service and on resettling into civilian life). Poor basic skills contribute to poor self-esteem, a failure to cope with demands that others find routine, frustrated career aspirations and, along with other factors, contribute to too many individuals leaving the Service prematurely. This represents a poor return on our investment.'

The Army's current target is for all personnel to reach at least Level 1 literacy and numeracy standards (equivalent to GCSE grades D to G) within three years of joining. In addition, all soldiers seeking promotion to corporal need to have a Level 1 literacy qualification as part of the minimum requirement.

Since the joint Army / Basic Skills Agency initiative was introduced, learner enrolment on basic skills programmes has risen year on year. Across the Army’s e-learning Centre network alone, almost 12,000 soldiers have taken over 24,000 ICT-based learndirect basic skills programmes from 2003 to 2006. Achievement rates (87-97%) in literacy and numeracy over the same three year period have been impressive and well above the norms for Further Education - with almost 12,300 Level 1 and Level 2 awards being achieved. Over 6000 awards are anticipated in the coming year.

Commenting on the Army’s initiative Lieutenant General Sir Freddie Viggers, the Adjutant General, responsible for Army personnel and individual training comments: 'Over the past five years, we have been providing Basic Skills tuition at Education and Learning centres at home and in deployed theatres of operation – places like the Balkans, Aldershot, Belfast, Germany and Iraq and we are seeing the rewards. Many of the improvements we have made in the Army could not have been realised without the Basic Skills Agency helping to guide and benchmark our work against national standards.'

Carol Taylor, Joint Director of the Basic Skills Agency comments: 'Embedding our Agency development officer - Martin Rose - within the Army organisation to work alongside the Director of its Educational and Training Services has proved extremely effective. It has helped to ensure the Army's basic skills policy, infrastructure and operation are aligned to good practice, has actively trialled and explored innovation and has helped to inform national basic skills developments. This embedded model has proved its worth for the Army and the Agency. Other organisations could well benefit from such an approach to kick start and help sustain their own corporate basic skills improvement programmes. We standby to assist with advice and support'.

Skills Minister Phil Hope concludes: 'This report is essential reading for large-scale employers who want to improve their employees' skills. We recommend that all employers interested in improving the skills of their staff contact the Learning and Skills Council’s 'Train to Gain' scheme to find out how they can help their company to progress and enhance productivity by securing the training that best meets their needs.'

For further information, or to arrange interviews, contact the Basic Skills Agency Press Office. Telephone 020 7440 7788, mobile: 07979 240936, email: valeriem@basic-skills.co.uk.

Notes for editors

Army basic skills provision: whole organisation approach, lessons learnt - is available to download from the Basic Skills Agency website at www.basic-skills.co.uk. Hard copies are also available, free of charge - see the website for details. A survey of Army learners and managers was conducted for the Basic Skills Agency by GfK NOP during 20 November - 1 December 06. An overview of the results – based on a sample of 443 Army personnel stationed in the UK and overseas - are available on the Basic Skills Agency website at www.basic-skills.co.uk.

Interviews are available with a range of Basic Skills Agency and Army spokespersons. To arrange an interview contact the Basic Skills Agency. Telephone 020 7440 7788, mobile: 07979 240936, email: valeriem@basic-skills.co.uk.

Interviews with Army personnel can also be arranged through the Army Press Office. Contact Sophie Bonner, tel: 020 7218 6758, email: sophie.bonner169@mod.uk.

The Army - Basic Skills Agency partnership was established in 2000 with a jointly-funded, full-time secondment of an Agency development officer since 2001 working within the Army's Educational and Training Services HQ to advise on the development of Army basic skills policy and its implementation across the Service.

The Basic Skills Agency is interested in finding, developing and disseminating good practice in literacy, language and numeracy. For further information on the Agency's priorities see the website at www.basic-skills.co.uk.

The Army's Directorate of Educational and Training Services – DETS(A) - provides education to serving personnel wherever they are based around the world, whether in barracks or on operations. It provides, through a network of Army Education Centres, a broad range of educational opportunities including advice and guidance, courses for promotion, personal development and Basic Skills. For more information see: www.ets.mod.uk.

The Leitch report - Prosperity for all in the Global Economy: World Class Skills – was published on 5 December 2006. The report recommended that the UK to become a world leader in skills by 2020. This means increasing skills attainment at all levels by 2020 so that:

• 95% of working age adults have basic skills in both functional literacy and numeracy - rising from 85% and 79% respectively in 2005;
• More than 90% of adults are skilled to GCSE level or to vocational equivalents - rising from 69% in 2005;
• The number of Apprentices in the UK is boosted to 500,000 each year, with improved quantity, quality and esteem for intermediate skills; and
• More than 40% of adults are skilled to graduate level and above - up from 29% in 2005.

The report stresses that 'economically valuable skills' must be delivered through a demand-led approach, facilitated by a new culture of learning, and an appetite for improved skills amongst individuals and employers. To attain these goals, the system must become more efficient, responding to market needs, and Government, employers and individuals must all engage and invest more in skills development.

Copies of the report can be obtained from the Review website at: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/leitch.

The Train to Gain Scheme was launched across England by the Learning and Skills Council to help businesses get the training they need to succeed. The service offers skills advice and matches business needs with Further Education and training providers. For more information see the Train to Gain website at: www.traintogain.gov.uk.