Our free, online English, Maths and ESOL Conference, the must-attend event for essential skills practitioners across England, this year tackled the most pressing issues in essential skills in the wake of a change of government.

The change of government following this year’s general election creates a major opportunity to ensure that adult literacy, numeracy and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) are high on the new Government’s agenda for skills.

At our English, Maths and ESOL Conference 2024 we discussed this and more. Each year, the conference, which has been running for over 20 years, is a forum for policymakers, providers, practitioners and researchers to discuss a a range of issues in essential skills.

This year, we were grateful for contributions from: the WEA, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), the University and College Union (UCU), Research and Practice in Adult Literacies (RaPAL), the Department for Education, University College London’s Institute of Education, National Association for Teaching English and other Community Languages to Adults (NATECLA), the Bell Foundation, West Midlands Combined Authority, Migration Yorkshire, Education720, Get Further, Anglia Ruskin University and the Education and Training Foundation (ETF).

New OECD survey data, expected in December, will provide a valuable update on England’s essential skills needs and identify any changes since the 2013 survey revealed that 9 million adults in the UK have low literacy and/or numeracy skills.

The scale of the challenge is likely to remain large. The previous government can point to positive initiatives, such as embedding English and maths in technical education and apprenticeships for young adults, and investment in the Multiply adult numeracy programme. Yet participation in adult literacy and numeracy courses declined sharply in the period, as investment in adult education and skills halved.

The English, Maths and ESOL Conference 2024 tackled these issues. Participants benefitted from:

• Learning more about the new OECD PIAAC survey and what the results could mean for essential skills policy
• Insights from adult essential skills experts on the latest developments in policy and practice

Speakers included