University Graduates in England Have the Same Literacy Skills as School-Leavers in Finland
University graduates in England only have the same literacy levels as school-leavers in Finland, new data from the OECD show. The Mail has more.
A study reveals average reading skills among those with a degree here were almost the same as those in Finland who only had school-level education.
The comparison lays bare how the English education system is outperformed by many of those abroad – part of a long-running trend.
The findings are from the latest annual education report of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
It examined reading comprehension test scores of a representative sample of at least 5,000 adults in each of 24 countries to compare skill level.
University graduates in England had an average score of 291, only slightly higher than the 288 scored by Finns who only had a secondary school education.
This is considered to be about the level needed to analyse a long-read newspaper article.
Among Finns who had a degree, the score was 313, the highest in the world.
English graduates were also behind those in Sweden, Japan, the Netherlands and Norway.
However, the score was still above the world average of 283.
Finnish school-leavers beat a host of university-leavers in other countries too, including Italy, Spain, New Zealand and Ireland.
Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education at the OECD, said: “A Finnish high school graduate has pretty much the same skills as an English university graduate, and that’s true for many countries.”
He suggested there could be a disconnect between the skills needed to pass university exams and everyday literacy skills.
Worth reading in full.
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Click bait.
Ok, so not as good as the top country in the world… but well above average.
And what does this metric actually mean? What does being able to analyse a long read newspaper article mean?
Does it mean they understand what the article says? Does it say anything about whether the reader realises that most of what is written in newspapers is establishment propaganda? When they read a Guardian article about climate change does a Finn with a 313 score or a Brit with a 293 score realise the article is sensationalist, pseudo scientific climate change propaganda designed to brainwash the reader into believing humans are causing catastrophic climate change with their CO2 emission?
Probably not.
Fair enough.
I have close family relatives, recent graduates who I know are very much below par when it comes to literacy and indeed numeracy skills yet they allegedly were worthy of 2:1’s. On the whole I believe there is merit in these findings. British education has been dumbed down remarkably in the last thirty years or so. From about the time of a well known scally who was fond of… “education, education, education.”
Coincidence? Of course not.
“What does being able to analyse a long read newspaper article mean?
Does it mean they understand what the article says?”
Well yes! That’s what analyse means.
You illustrate the point.
Disconnection is the noun.
Everyday literacy skill.
Many Universities offer 1 grade ‘E’ or an ‘unconditional offer’ (no A levels at all) to get a place on their courses. It’s bums on seats time in order to collect those fees.
If you can enter a University with minimal A levels, that these findings are unsurprising.
“University graduates in England only have the same literacy levels as school-leavers in Finland”
But lower than elementary school leavers (14) in Victorian England.
My grandfather born 1896 who left school age 14 to work down the pit was quite literate and numerate with beautiful copper plate hand writing. He was typical.
The 19th Century saw a huge surge in demand for literature. Book clubs were formed – precursors to public libraries – books were serialised to make them affordable. News-sheets, pamphlets proliferated. A huge thirst for reading.
Why? The State at that point played no part in education.
Same as my grandfather. Lovely handwriting and with his wages he purchased a set of encyclopaedias and read them. He was a fitter/turner. A wise and clever man.
I wonder how “enriched” Finland has been, compared to the UK.
We’ve imported hundreds of thousands of University Graduates from the 3rd world in the last few years who do not have English as their first language. And they are supplemented by the hundreds of thousands from immigrant families, where the older generation may speak poor English, or not speak English at all.
I’m sure the English education system is inferior to the Finnish one …. but I suspect that’s not the only reason.
Surprised? Not me.
Back in the 1990s, reading the written notes of younger colleagues in their 20s and early 30s (all having achieved apparently reputable A Levels qualifying them for university degreed training), it was clear their literary skills were far below that expected a few decades previously.