New to teaching Functional Skills?
Why are Functional Skills being introduced?
Success in work – in response to calls from employers to tackle the skills gap, Functional Skills in English, ICT and Maths are intended to produce a workforce that is enterprising, productive and equipped to compete in business.
Opportunity in education – as part of the government's reform of education for 14 to 19 year olds, better functional skills will open doors to further and higher education for more learners.
Fulfilment in life – these basic, practical skills are vital to the personal development of all learners and will equip them to deal with everyday tasks and problems at home and in the community.
How will Functional Skills be taught?
The current arrangement for Functional Skills is that they will be introduced to the new secondary curriculum from September 2010 in a number of ways. They will be:
- embedded and assessed as part of the new GCSEs for English, ICT and Maths
- components of the Diplomas and Apprenticeships qualifications
- available to all schools, colleges and students as stand-alone qualifications
- integral parts of the Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 programmes of study.
Schools and colleges will still need to teach Functional Skills if they teach any of the following:
- GCSE English, ICT or Maths
- Diplomas or Apprenticeships
- Functional Skills as stand-alone qualifications
- National Curriculum programme of study at Key Stage 3 and/or Key Stage 4.
Please note: AQA intends to offer entry level Functional Skills once the qualification goes live.
Functional Skills and GCSE achievement
The link between achieving a Functional Skills Level 2 pass and the attainment of a GCSE at Grade C or above has not been established. So, a Level 2 pass in Functional Skills will not be a hurdle for students in achieving a A*–C grade in GCSE.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) have said they will offer strong incentives for schools and colleges to enter young people for a stand-alone functional skills qualification, particularly through the proposed new School Report Card.
AQA leads the way
The main pilots are running through until 2010, but we have already amassed a wealth of resources and experience in Functional Skills, to add to our existing expertise and help you through this change.
I'm a big fan of what I've seen so far in the pilot work.
Ian Wroe, Head of Maths, Counthill School, Oldham
Accreditation timeline
| Autumn 2009 | Final requirements (regulatory criteria) available from QCA/Ofqual. |
| Winter 09/Spring 10 | Dialogue between Awarding Bodies and QCA regarding accreditation submission. |
| Spring 2010 | Awarding bodies submit Functional Skills specifications to QCA. Ofqual accredit specifications |
| September 2010 | First teaching begins. |
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