| 1980 |
ALBSU formed, replacing ALU |
| 1980 |
Estimate of 85,000 adults in ABE tuition |
| 1981 |
In 1981 there were still over 23,000 volunteers actively involved in adult literacy and basic skills provision. |
| 1981 |
Employment and Training Act led to the creation of YTS, The Youth Training Scheme. |
| 1981-88 |
ALBSU Training weekends |
| 1981 |
Adult literacy in industrialised countries: International seminar organised by the ICAE-ALBSU-NIAE with support from UNESCO, he British Council and the DES. |
| 1982 |
Research conducted by the Further Education Unit (FEU) and a publication called "Basic Skills" showed how reading, writing, verbal and aural skills could be part of a vocational curriculum. The Government, through Manpower Services Commission (MSC), picked up on this and projects like the Lee Centre in London and resulted in the Avon Motor Project to improve basic literacy and numeracy in a vocational context. |
| 1982 |
Cockcroft Report Mathematics Counts major report into the teaching of maths. |
| 1982 |
Only 15% of ABE programmes have access to computers for use with students. |
| 1984/5 |
ALBSU were given the remit for "English as a Second Language" |
| 1985 |
Swann Report. Education for All major report (following on from 1981 Rampton report) looking at education in a multiracial Britain. |
| 1985 |
"Adult Literacy - the first decade 1975-85" (1985) ALBSU |
| 1985 |
Research and Practice in Adult LIteracy (RaPAL) was founded. |
| 1985 |
More than 300,000 people were estimated to have received help with reading and writing in England and Wales. |
| 1985 |
TOPs courses replaced by Job Training Programme (JTS) Reduction in full-time pre-TOPS places. |
| 1986 |
National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ) formed |
| 1987 |
Report on "Workbase" the NUPE Trades Union and Skills Project set up in 1978 published, outlining achievements and issues in providing basic skills training for manual workers. |
| 1987 |
A MORI poll was commissioned by the TV programme "World in Action". This showed that 44% of adults and 52% of teenagers could not understand a simple fire notice. Just over 25% overall had difficulty filling a simple form and over 25% could not subtract £1.80 from £5.00. This made it difficult for people to get back in to employment or to train or retrain for work. Linked to publication by ALBSU of first NCDS research report. |
| 1987 |
Specific Grants for INSET (In-Service Training) |
| 1988 |
The best LEAs are providing for about 4% of the number of people estimated to be in need of basic skills provision, the worst providing for only 0.05% of the estimated number of adults in need in their area. |
| 1988-92 |
The Secretary of State, Kenneth Baker, announced £300,000 funding to establish 11 pilot Open Learning Centres in inner city areas emphasising the use of IT in basic skills learning. Later in the year the Department of Education and Science made a further £3,000,000 available through the Education Support Grant (ESG) to extend the idea to other areas of England and similar arrangements were made in Wales. |
| 1993 |
Open Learning Centres Report published. Almost 40,000 people had used the centres and 57% of students attracted to the 83 OLCs were new to adult basic education. |
| 1988 |
The "Education "Reform" Act affected the organisation and governance of schools, colleges of further education and higher education. The Act also set a national curriculum for schools and weakened academic tenure. The Education Reform Act imposes a duty on local education authorities to "secure the provision in their area of adequate facilities for further education". ALBSU's response to the Act was to point out that the definition of "a learning difficulty" embraces most basic skills provision and was therefore important for LEAs to provide adequate facilities for basic skills in their strategic plans. ALBSU also proposed that basic skills i.e. "literacy, numeracy and second language provision" should be allocated a specific "programme area" as a subject classification. |
| 1988 |
MSC Abolished, Training Commission briefly replaces it |
| 1989 |
The BBC was a major partner with ALBSU in the "Basic skills accreditation initiative" City and Guilds launched a Certificate in Communication Skills "Wordpower" which was quickly followed by "Numberpower" Two new BBC series "Stepping Up" and "Step Up to Wordpower" were broadcast and an ALBSU publication "Step Up to Wordpower" published. |
| 1989 |
National Training Targets for Education and Training developed by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). |
| 1989 |
Inner London Education Authority abolished. |
