Skills For Life, since 2001 the United Kingdom's national adult basic skills strategy, aims to improve literacy, numeracy, or English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) skills among people over the age of 16. Basic skills programs may be full- or part-time and are delivered in colleges, community venues, neighborhood learning centers, adult education centers, or the workplace. Local councils are responsible for the planning, funding, and delivery of services. Skills For Life targets groups in society that are prone to social exclusion and for whom low basic skills are a barrier to employment. The strategy has targets of improving the literacy and numeracy skills of 750,000 adults by 2004 and 1.5 million by 2007. Skills For Life has published national standards for literacy and numeracy and curriculum documents for literacy, numeracy, and ESOL. A national qualifications and assessment framework for literacy, numeracy and ESOL has been established as well as national tests. Research has begun in basic skills teaching and learning and effective approaches to teaching workplace skills. A national qualifications framework for teacher training and professional development is being developed. The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education's (NIACE) role is to advocate on behalf of adults who are under-represented in all forms of adult learning. (Contains a list of NIACE's projects, contacts, and a list of resources and websites.) (SLR)