The information requested is not collected centrally. However, Home Office statistics show that 37 per cent. of prisoners had reading skills below level 1, 43 per cent. had numeracy skills below level 1, 46 per cent. had spelling skills below level 1 and 62 per cent. of prisoners had punctuation skills below level 1.
Source:
Prison Statistics for England and Wales 2002
The Home Office publication “Through the Prison Gate”, 2001 recorded that 52 per cent. of male prisoners and 71 per cent. of female prisoners had no qualifications.