Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many non-remand prisoners are classified a illiterate; and how many such prisoners there were in each prison in each of the last 10 years.

There is no formal definition for illiteracy but English at Level 2 is defined as the desirable level for day-to-day life. Mandatory English and maths assessments for newly-received prisoners (except individuals who have been assessed recently, and those who already have maths and English at Level 2) were introduced from academic year 2014/15. The outcomes for the English education assessments in 2014/15 are published online at the FE Data Library (link below).

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473764/feandskills-OLASS-participation-english-and-maths-assessments.xls