About one per cent of the adult population in the UK can’t read at all. Far more (about 22 per cent) can’t read well enough, whether it's to get the job they want, to perform competently in a job, to help their children with homework or to understand the labels on the food they buy — in other words, to function adequately in their daily lives.

This is a problem because society expects people to be able to read. A huge amount of communication involves reading. The World Wide Web is mostly words. Teletext and many television programmes assume that you can read words on the screen. More technology has in fact increased the amount of reading that we need to do.

Jobs that don’t require reading are scarce. Many people who can’t read well find themselves on the wrong side of the labour market.

Being able to read is not a ‘natural’ skill like being able to walk. It has to be taught. It has little to do with the ability to think. Most people can learn to do it, or improve at it, with the right kind of help.