How are functional skills structured?

As qualifications, functional skills are expected to range from Entry Level to at least Level 3, with a key milestone at Level 2 (seen as the minimum general functionality for life, learning and work).


Functional skills at Level 2 will become a requirement for certificating a GCSE at A*-C. Functional skills are also a compulsory element of the Diploma. They will also exist as qualifications in their own right for all learners for whom a full GCSE  is not appropriate, irrespective of their age.

What is the likely content?
The draft standards for Entry Level, Level 1 and Level 2 are available on QCA's website.  The standards will inform the content of the qualifications that the awarding bodies will develop in each subject and at each level.  The standards are likely to evolve to reflect feedback from both trials and piloting.  However, the basic premise on which they were written, that learners need to be able to function in literacy, numeracy and ICT in order to be successful in their personal and working lives, will remain at the heart of the standards.  The standards for Level 3 are expected to be developed in due course.

What are the fundamental requirements for learners to be successful in functional skills?
The main requirement driving functional skills development is the need to ensure that learners can ‘do the basics’.  This is fundamental to the initiative and will continue to drive delivery and assessment.  Therefore, practice across the curriculum will be an imperative for centre success so that learners are given continual exposure to ‘the basics’ whenever appropriate.

How will functional skills be linked with qualifications other than the Diploma?
It is expected that functional skills development will be a feature of all programmes for all learners, especially for those without a Level 2 qualification.  Therefore, it is anticipated that learners will study functional skills as part of BTEC or NVQ  programmes.  The occupational nature of BTEC and NVQ qualifications make them an ideal vehicle to develop functional skills with an applied focus.