The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Further Education National Training Organisation (FENTO) developed new subject specifications for teachers of adult literacy and numeracy (DfES and FENTO, 2002). These were designed "to ensure that ... all new teachers of adult literacy and numeracy are equipped with the appropriate and relevant knowledge, understanding and personal skills in their subject area". Furthermore, they were intended "to raise the status of the profession and confirm that teaching literacy and numeracy is a professional activity that does not differ in demand or expectation from teaching any other subject area". This article offers a critique of the subject specifications from the perspective of the authors who are experienced adult educators and have spent two years developing university certificates for adult literacy and numeracy subject specialists, based on the specifications. The authors argue that the trouble with the subject specifications for teachers of adult literacy and numeracy is that, while recognising that "factors" or "barriers" influence learners, they have little to say to teachers about what to do with the lives that learners bring with them.