A PISA survey report in 2013 found that in almost every country in the developed world younger adults performed better than older people, with the biggest gaps seen in South Korea, Finland and Spain. These nations have dramatically improved basic skills in the last few decades.
However,
the report said, ‘In England and Northern Ireland, the differences in
proficiency between younger and older generations are negligible. Although
young people in these countries are entering a much more demanding labour market,
they are not much better equipped with literacy and numeracy skills than those
who are retiring,’
‘in fact, England is the only country where the oldest age group has higher proficiency in both literacy and numeracy than the youngest.’
B. Lenon, Much promise: successful schools in England (2017), 93
