Skillswise is the BBC website for adults who want to improve their basic skills in reading, writing and maths. Skillswise aims to become a thriving web community of learners and tutors.

The Skillswise website is based on the Adult and Literacy and Numeracy Core Curriculums for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. When the curriculum for Scotland is published we will ensure that there are also activities on the site relevant to this. (In the meantime, please see our notes on using Skillswise within a Scottish context).

All materials on the site are aimed at students who are studying at Level 1 of the new curriculums for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as this is the level of the new national tests in England and Wales. This equates to Intermediate 1 in Scotland.
For the UK except Scotland, the Basic Skills levels are Entry Level 1, 2 & 3, and Level 1 and 2. Although Skillswise has received lots of requests to provide materials for students at Entry Level, all of our resources are currently focused on completing modules to complement the rest of the curriculums at Level 1.

Skillswise isn't a course, it is a resource from which learners and tutors can dip and adapt. The site aims to provide a revision resource for students and tutors and to continue building an online community where learners and tutors can share their learning and teaching experience.

We launched the pilot site in Autumn 2001 and launched 'for real' in March 2002. These launches were timed to coincide with the Skillswise television programmes. These programmes are still occasionally repeated on the Learning Zone.

The site isn't finished and will keep growing, so if you’ve got an idea, why not share it? You can let us know what you think here.

Back to 'About Skillswise'