Key statistics

The following statistics may be useful to journalists writing about Beanstalk, education or literacy.

About Beanstalk

In 2011-2012 we helped 6,400 children in over 1,100 primary schools through the support of over 2,100 reading helpers
It costs Beanstalk £322 to provide a year’s worth of one-to-one literacy support to one child - this is equivalent to just 88 pence a day.

1 in 8 children left primary school in 2012 unable to read to the required standard - approximately 71,000 children ¹
22% of men and 30% of women with literacy equivalent of a seven year old live in non-working households ²
70% of pupils permanently excluded from school have difficulties in basic literacy skills ³
25% of young offenders are said to have reading skills below those of the average seven year old ⁴
60% of the prison population is said to have difficulties in basic literacy skills ⁵
48% of prisoners are at, or below, the level expected of an 11 year old in reading ⁶
1 in 5 Only 1 in 5 prisoners are able to complete a job application form ⁷
48%According to the London Evening Standard “half of the juveniles arrested during the summer riots were educational failures. Government figures show that 48 per cent of those arrested by police were unable to read or write by age 11”. ⁸

£81B An estimated total of £81.312 billion is lost to the UK economy each year, amounting to 3.75% of the nation’s GDP ⁹
£95 The average cost per day of providing a prison place¹⁰