UK Uni Graduates Have Same Literacy Skills as Finnish School-Leavers
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.
See more here dailysceptic.org
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W. Dranoel
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Thanks to dumbing down of the school curricula so that the thick — or ‘University Challenged’ as those of greater reading age call them — can earn an A* grade too and thereby not feel left out.
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