English and maths spending fallen 40% since devolution, research finds

Spending on English and maths training for adults has fallen by about 40 per cent since skills devolution, a think tank’s analysis has found.

According to a Learning and Work Institute (L&W) report published today, adult essential skills learning has “fallen off a cliff edge” since devolution and annual participation has halved over the last decade.

The briefing, published for international literacy day, shows the average annual spend on English fell from £135 million in the three years before devolution began in 2019-20 to an average of £81 million across the last five years – a 40 per cent drop.

Maths saw a similar decline, with annual spending falling 37 per cent, from an average of £155 million pre-devolution to £97 million.

Achievement has also fallen by 52 per cent to 111,000 per year for English between 2016-17 and 2023-24, and 53 per cent for maths, to 110,000. Alex Stevenson, deputy director at L&W said that since devolution, neither devolved nor non-devolved areas have managed to “buck the trend” of declining participation in maths and English with their share of the “decreasing” adult skills fund pot.

He added: “It’s more a sense of a lack of prioritisation on adult maths and English, rather than taking the opportunity of skills devolution to innovate and get more adults engaged in learning these essential skills for life and work.”

The data compiled by L&W also found that English and maths spending has decreased less in devolved areas than in non-devolved areas, potentially reflecting local policy changes such as per-learner funding rate uplifts. However, participation has fallen “at a similar rate” in both devolved and non-devolved areas.

The briefing comes amid national funding rates per qualification remaining “largely unchanged” over the past decade and follows a two to three per cent cut to the national adult skills fund (ASF) budget in 2025-26.

Promising to prioritise low literacy and numeracy rates, Greater Lincolnshire’s Reform UK mayor Andrea Jenkyns has cut public funding for ESOL courses from the ASF in her region from the start of the next academic year.

Competing priorities

L&W’s research was based on government spending data and freedom of information responses from mayors with devolved adult skills.

It asked for data on all regulated literacy and numeracy learning aims up to and including level 2, including GCSE English and maths, but excluded non-regulated learning aims, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), and the Multiply numeracy programme, which was not funded through ASF.

The exact reasons for falling English and maths spending from the ASF are “complex” and not explained in L&W’s data.

These could include the need to stimulate learner demand for English and maths courses, the “stigma” of having low skills, and lack of awareness of legal entitlements to fully funded courses.

Adult skills providers and commissioners also have to balance a range of learner demands with their limited funding allocations, including ESOL, which is reportedly in “high demand” in areas like London and the West Midlands.

While Multiply “may have” contributed to learners being enrolled on non-regulated learning that doesn’t appear in L&W’s data, it may also have supported learners to progress into ASF programmes.

DWP and DfE have been contacted for comment.