This Government is committed to ensuring that adults get the maths and numeracy skills which they need to build successful careers and support their families, We have put maths (and English) at the heart of our reforms to further education and we continue to fully fund maths courses up to and including GCSE, to help adults achieve their first Level 2 qualification. We are improving the quality of the maths teaching workforce, rewarding the best providers and ensuring learners are stretched to achieve the best they can.

We have embedded maths into our major work focused programmes, in recognition of its importance for securing work and progressing in work. From the 2014/15 academic year all intermediate apprentices who have already achieved Level 1 will be required to

work towards achieving a Level 2 in maths as well as English. The traineeship programme for unemployed 16-24 year olds combines work preparation and a job placement with a course of study in maths (and English).

In recognition of the fact that many unemployed adults lack maths skills, from the Autumn we will be piloting a requirement that from day 1 of a claim, 18-21 year old claimants of Jobseekers Allowance with maths skills below Level 2 improve these skills through a course of blended, online and face-to-face support alongside looking for a job.

We are also improving the quality of the Further Education maths workforce. As part of a £15m scheme during 2013-15 we are offering bursaries of up to £20,000 to help attract the best and brightest maths graduates to teach in Further Education. We support a maths enhancement programme which will train up to 2,000 existing maths teachers to enhance their knowledge and skills to teach this subject. In January 2014 we announced further measures including a “golden hello” scheme offering a bonus of £7,500 to maths graduates in their second year of teaching; a recruitment incentive scheme offering £20,000 to providers for taking on a specialist maths graduate teacher and a subject knowledge enhancement scheme to enable highly qualified graduates who have the skills and aptitude to teach but need to develop some specific maths skills before they start teacher training.

We have set high expectations for our young people so they are clear about the importance of studying English and maths alongside their other choices. Our reforms to schools and further education will improve the quality of the teaching workforce, reward the best providers and ensure learners are stretched to achieve the best they can.

Since September 2013, all young people aged 16 to 19 who have not yet achieved a grade C or above in English and maths at GCSE are continuing to study these subjects whether they are at school or college. Where a student might not be ready to study towards a GCSE, he or she can take other qualifications ranging from entry level to level 2 depending on the student’s prior attainment. These interim qualifications include functional skills, English for Speakers of Other Languages or free-standing mathematics as stepping stones to GCSE. Students with complex learning difficulties and/or disabilities are excluded from this requirement where appropriate.

Some young people learn English and maths best within a vocational setting. As a consequence we are ensuring that good-quality English and maths provision are at the heart of traineeships and apprenticeships. All young people undertaking a traineeship will be required to study English and maths, unless they have already achieved Level 2.

All intermediate apprentices will be required to work towards achieving a Level 2 in English and maths from 2014/15.

We fully fund English and maths courses, up to and including GCSE, for adults who lack these skills. There is a wide range of provision to enable adults to learn in the way that suits them, including workplace learning, community learning, traditional college courses and online learning. Unemployed people with poor English and maths are required to train to bring their skills up to the level expected by employers.

We are also taking steps to improve the quality of teaching and learning and in August 2013 we announced a package of support to increase the numbers of specialist teachers of English and maths in the further education sector. Key features include £15 million of initial teacher training bursaries to match those offered in the schools sector; English and maths continuous professional development programmes to upskill existing literacy and numeracy teachers to teach to GCSE level; and dissemination of best practice in the teaching of English and maths and students with special educational needs.

We will continue analysing the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development International Survey of Adult Skills and will consider whether further action is necessary.