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Action in Northern Ireland

The International Adult Literacy Survey (1996) showed that around 24% of the working-age population of Northern Ireland were operating at the lowest levels of literacy. The response was the Essential Skills for Living Strategy (2002), which is critical to the continued growth of the Northern Ireland economy.

The Northern Ireland Civil Service as an employer ran a pilot Essential Skills programme in 2007, which transformed the futures of 300 support grade staff providing messenger, security and reception services for NICS buildings. The reform initiative, Workplace 2010, meant these staff needed to develop new skills to give them greater flexibility and more chance of successful redeployment.

The pilot, supported by Government Skills, provided staff with a comprehensive package of training covering IT, communication, literacy and numeracy. These essential skills opened up different career pathways for people, helping them to move from support grades to administrative roles.

Over three quarters of the eligible staff applied for lateral transfer and most of them benefited from the training. The success rate in terms of those selected for redeployment is close to 100%.