The government's own Moser report of 1999 found that one in five adults was functionally illiterate (given the Yellow Pages, they could not find the page for plumbers). Jim Knight confirmed last year that 300,000 pupils a year (47%) leave school at 16 without having achieved level 2 in functional maths, while 265,000 (42%) fail to achieve level 2 in functional English. Level 2 is what the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority deems necessary to "participate in life, learning and work". So our education system fails to meet the basic needs of four pupils in 10.