Basic Skills Online - Entry Level 3 - Literacy Standards

Speaking and listening - At this level, adults can:

listen and respond to spoken language, including straightforward information and narratives, and follow straightforward explanations and instructions, both face to face and on the telephone.
speak to communicate information, feelings and opinions on familiar topics, using appropriate formality, both face to face and on the telephone.
engage in discussion with one or more people in a familiar situation, making relevant points and responding to what others say and to reach a shared understanding about familiar topics.

and will be expected to:

listen for and follow the gist of explanations, instructions and narratives in different contexts.
listen for detail in explanations, instructions and narratives in different contexts.
listen for and identify relevant information and new information from discussions, explanations and presentations.
use strategies to clarify and confirm understanding (eg facial expressions or gestures.)
listen to and respond appropriately to other points of view.
speak clearly to be heard and understood using appropriate clarity, speed and phrasing.
use formal language and register when appropriate.
respond to a range of questions about familiar topics.
express clearly statements of fact and give short explanations, accounts and descriptions.
make requests and ask questions to obtain information in familiar and unfamiliar contexts.
follow and understand the main points of discussions on different topics.
make contributions to discussions that are relevant to the subject.
respect the turn-taking rights of others during discussions.

in familiar formal exchanges connected with education, training, work and social roles.

Reading - At this level, adults can:

read and understand short, straightforward texts on familiar topics accurately and independently.
read and obtain information from everyday sources.

and will be expected to:

trace and understand the main events of chronological, continuous descriptive and explanatory texts of more than one paragraph.
recognise the different purposes of texts at this level.
recognise and understand the organisational features and typical language of instructional texts (eg use of imperatives and second person.)
identify the main points and ideas, and predict words from context.
understand and use organisational features to locate information (eg contents, index, menus.)
skim read title, headings and illustrations to decide if material is of interest.
scan texts to locate information obtain specific information through detailed reading.
relate an image to print and use it to obtain meaning.
recognise and understand relevant specialist keywords.
read and understand words and phrases commonly used on forms.
use a dictionary to find the meaning of unfamiliar words.
use first and second place letters to find and sequence words in alphabetical order.

in texts such as forms, notes, records, emails, narratives, letters, diagrams, simple instructions, short reports.

Writing - At this level, adults can:

write to communicate information and opinions with some adaptation to the intended audience.

and will be expected to:

plan and draft writing.
organise writing in short paragraphs.
sequence chronological writing.
write in complete sentences.
use correct basic grammar (eg appropriate verb tense, subject-verb agreement.)
use punctuation correctly (eg capital letters, full stops, question marks, exclamation marks.)
spell correctly common words and relevant keywords for work and special interest.
proof-read and correct writing for grammar and spelling.
produce legible text.

in documents such as forms, notes, records, e-mails, letters, narratives, simple instructions, short reports.