Short Article

The Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey gives insight into how literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills are distributed across the New Zealand adult population.

Key findings of the 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey

• New Zealand adults with greater literacy and numeracy skills were more likely to have higher levels of education. For example, the average prose literacy score of individuals with a tertiary education was 65 points higher than for adults with only lower secondary schooling.
• There was less variation in skill among individuals with higher levels of education. For example, the 5th to 95th percentile range of the document literacy scores for adults with only secondary schooling was 191 points. The comparable range for those with only upper secondary education was lower at 160 points, while for the tertiary educated the range was 151 points.
• There is a small proportion of New Zealand adults with only lower secondary education whose skill level is above the average score for those with a tertiary education. Also around 20 percent of adults with upper secondary had a skill level above the average score for those with a tertiary education.

Literacy skills

The Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey showed that the average prose literacy scores of New Zealand adults increased strongly as the education level of individuals increased (see Figure 4.16). Prose literacy is the ability to read and understand continuous texts (such as news stories, editorials, brochures and instruction manuals). The prose literacy scores of New Zealand adults with a tertiary education ranged from 219 points (5th percentile) to 359 points (95th percentile). This compared with a range for those with only lower secondary schooling starting at 129 points (5th percentile) through to 303 points (95th percentile).

About the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey

The 2006 survey was conducted with a representative sample of New Zealand adults aged between 16 and 65 years living in private households.    The survey was conducted over the period starting in May 2006 through to March 2007.

The survey measures literacy and life skills in the adult population at national and international levels.  It measures prose literacy (which covers continuous text found, for example, in books and newspapers), document literacy (which covers discontinuous text such as graphs, charts and tables), numeracy (which covers mathematical and numerical information) and problem-solving (which covers analytical thinking, reasoning and logic).  For information on the survey's five 'cognitive levels' refer to here.

The distribution of prose literacy scores of adults with only upper secondary schooling overlapped substantially with that of adults with a tertiary education. Nevertheless, the average prose literacy score of people with only upper secondary schooling was 25 points lower than for those with a tertiary education and this difference was statistically significant.

Interestingly, the higher performers in prose literacy among those with only lower secondary schooling had scores slightly above the mean score for adults with a tertiary education, suggesting that these adults would be capable of undertaking tertiary education.

Figure 4.16: Prose literacy scores of New Zealand adults by level of study

Key for Figures 4.16 to 4.19

Document literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills

The 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey also measured people's competency in document literacy, numeracy and problem-solving. Again, as would be expected, people with higher levels of education had higher skills than adults with only lower or upper secondary schooling (Figures 4.17 to 4.19).

The average scores of people with a tertiary education, when compared with those of adults with only lower secondary schooling, were higher by 72 points for document literacy, by 77 points for numeracy and by 65 points for problem-solving.

Comparing the skill levels in document literacy, numeracy and problem-solving of people with a tertiary education with those of people with only upper secondary schooling showed that the gap in skill level was reasonably narrow. That is, the mean scores achieved for these competencies by people with only upper secondary schooling were each less than 30 points lower than for adults with a tertiary education. However, as was the case for prose literacy, these differences were nevertheless statistically significant for each competency. This finding suggests that, in general, additional education is associated with greater skills.

The survey scores for document literacy – the ability to read and understand, for example, charts, maps, tables and timetables – have been graphed in Figure 4.17 by level of study.

Figure 4.17:  Document literacy scores of New Zealand adults by level of study

The average document literacy scores of New Zealand adults varied widely across the education levels of individuals. For example, the 5th percentile for adults with only lower secondary schooling was 113 points and the 95th percentile for adults with a tertiary education was 369 points. In addition to confirming that people with higher levels of education had higher skills, the survey also showed that people's skill competency varied less among adults with higher levels of education. For example, the 5th to 95th percentile range of the document literacy scores for people with only lower secondary schooling was 191 points, on average, and the comparable range for those with only upper secondary education was lower at 160 points. For the tertiary educated this range was 151 points.

Again, it is noteworthy that in each area of skill measured in the survey, there is a small proportion of New Zealand adults with only lower secondary schooling whose skill level is above the  average score for tertiary educated New Zealand adults. Similarly, there is a considerable number of adults with upper sercondary education whose skill level is above the average score for those with tertiary education.

Figure 4.18: Numeracy scores of New Zealand adults by level of study

The average numeracy scores of New Zealand adults also varied widely across the education levels of individuals. For example, the 5th percentile for adults with only lower secondary schooling was 119 points and the 95th percentile for adults with a tertiary education was 371 points. The skill competency among adults with higher levels of education varied less but the differences were smaller than for document literary skills. The 5th to 95th percentile range of the numeracy scores for people with only lower secondary schooling was 178 points and the comparable range for those with only upper secondary education was, again, lower at 169 points. For those with a tertiary education this range was 162 points.

The problem-solving scores of New Zealand adults varied across the education levels of individuals as follows: the 5th percentile for adults with only lower secondary schooling was 126 points and the 95th percentile for adults with a tertiary education was 365 points. Looking at the score variation within education levels, the 5th to 95th percentile range of the problem-solving scores for people with only lower secondary schooling was 176 points, on average, and the comparable range for those with only upper secondary education was lower at 156 points. People with tertiary education had the same problem-solving score range (156 points) as those with only upper secondary education but their scores were 12 to 20 points higher.

Figure 4.19: Problem-solving scores of New Zealand adults by level of study