Now the fact of the matter is that the literacy rate in the UK is not 80% but to all intents and purposes 100%, or at the very least 99.9%. It is incredibly rare to come across anybody who has been to school in this country who is unable to read a popular newspaper like the Daily Mirror or write a shopping list. Perhaps readers would like to ask themselves the last time they met anybody who could only sign his name with a thumbprint, or by making a cross. Teaching reading at school is generally effective and almost every child acquires some degree of proficiency in reading and writing by the age of eleven.