Functional Skills maths continues to be in the news in 2024, more so than Functional Skills English and Digital. So far, in the space of two months we have seen an update to the Condition of Funding announced by the DfE, a report into the cost of delivering Functional Skills in apprenticeships from AELP and feedback from Ofqual to the level of difficulty for Functional Skills maths. In addition to this, as if this wasn’t enough, we have recently had the AAC Conference and the AoC English and Maths Conference and the AELP English and Maths Summit is just on the horizon. All of this keeps Functional Skills, and post 16 English and maths in general, very much at the forefront of post 16 education.

Pearson’s Keynote at the AoC English and Maths Conference looked at all of this from the viewpoint of how we could support providers plus some future gazing as to what the Advanced British Standard (another thing keeping post 16 English and maths in the public gaze) might bring. We started at looking at the issues facing FE Colleges in their delivery of English and maths and the same key points are underlining the issues:

• Staffing
• The use of non-specialised teaching staff
• Timetabling
• Learner Motivation

What came across very clearly at the conference was that the changes to the Condition of Funding would not provide solutions for these longstanding issues. While the increase in prescribed teaching time for English and maths (three and four hours a week respectively) is a laudable attempt to improve outcomes, it does fail to address the key issues: where are the staff coming from, how will it be timetabled and will more of the same improve learner motivation? David Hughes, AoC Chief Executive wrote that the increase in teaching hours would require 400 extra English teachers and 800 extra maths. With the competition from schools for staff, these will not be easy to come by. The removal of the 5% leeway as part of this policy did make delegates believe that the new policy felt more stick than carrot.

Over at the AAC conference, the English and maths buzz was about the report by the AELP (Spelling it out, making it count) looking at the cost of delivering Functional Skills which stated that for many the cost outweighed the funding. Their recommendations made interested reading too (more contextualisation and more scaffolding in maths) and some of the support that Pearson offers goes some way to supporting learners in this respect.

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Across both conferences there was also talk of Ofqual’s report on Functional Skills maths that stated that the qualifications were performing at the level that was expected. While many delegates did feel the qualifications were too difficult, the Ofqual report needs to be considered against the standards that apply to Functional Skills. Against these standards, the qualifications are performing as expected. What the report does not cover is whether the standards themselves are, in themselves, too difficult, something that is not in the remit of Ofqual.

With all this on board, the Pearson keynote drew out our continued support for teaching and learning to engage learners and to improve success rates. We have our new set of Functional Skills delivery CPD sessions after the Easter holiday, looking at Teaching The Fundamentals of Level 1 and 2 English and maths.

Teaching the Fundamentals Functional Skills English (Level 1 and 2) Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar

This session provides a detailed look at what learners need to know and be able to produce to be successful in their assessments at Level 1 and 2. Covering both reading and writing, this session will allow tutors to:

• Understand what is being assessed and how
• Develop teaching techniques that support learner success
• Create a marking guide for writing linked to how Pearson’s Functional Skills assessments are assessed

Thursday 18 April 3:00pm - 4:00pm

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Teaching the Fundamentals Functional Skills English (Level 1 and 2) Organisational Features

This session provides a detailed look at what learners need to know and be able to produce to be successful in their assessments at Level 1 and 2. Covering both reading and writing, this session will allow tutors to:

• Understand what is being assessed and how
• Develop teaching techniques that support learner success
• Understand how organisational features can be used to present information effectively
• Understand how organisational features can be used to extract information from texts

Thursday 25 April 3:00pm - 4:00pm

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Teaching the Fundamentals Functional Skills English (Level 1 and 2) Language Features and Vocabulary

This session provides a detailed look at what learners need to know and be able to produce to be successful in their assessments at Level 1 and 2. Covering both reading and writing, this session will allow tutors to:

• Understand what is being assessed and how
• Develop teaching techniques that support learner success and build their vocabulary
• Understand how language features and techniques should be used for different audiences and purpose

Thursday 2 May 3:00pm - 4:00pm

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Teaching the Fundamentals Functional Skills English (Level 1 and 2) Fact, Opinion, Bias, Formal and Informal Language

This session provides a detailed look at what learners need to know and be able to produce to be successful in their assessments at Level 1 and 2. Covering both reading and writing, this session will allow tutors to:

• Understand what is being assessed and how
• Develop teaching techniques that support learner success
• Develop understanding of how writing style and different types of language can be used to improve reading and writing techniques

Thursday 9 May 3:00pm - 4:00pm

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Teaching the Fundamentals Functional Skills English (Level 1 and 2) Skills for Speaking, Listening and Communicating

This session provides a detailed look at what learners need to know and be able to produce to be successful in their assessments at Level 1 and 2. Covering discussions, short talks and presentations, this session will allow tutors to:

• Understand what is being assessed and how
• Develop teaching techniques that support learner success

Thursday 16 May 3:00pm - 4:00pm

> Register for this event

Sandwell College Approach

While at the AoC Maths and English Conference, it was great to meet up with old friends (always a pleasure to see former colleagues and it was great to have Sheila Rai support with the keynote address) and to learn of practice across the sector that support learners. There were several sessions that caught my eye throughout the day, and hopefully there will be an opportunity to share more throughout the year. One session that did look good was delivered by Jeremy Taylor from Sandwell College on Effective Delivery of Functional Skills that Positively Impacts on GCSE Resits Results. I had a chance to catch up with Jeremy after his session to discuss the contents.

What Jeremy and his team have put in place at Sandwell College is incredibly impressive. As Jeremy is keen to point out, Sandwell is not an affluent area, it is ranked twelve in the list of most deprived local authorities in England. That being said, the results of their hard work is plain to see. Learners that start at the college on Functional Skills (grade 2 GCSE learners and below in reality) fair better in their eventual GCSEs than those that go straight onto the GCSE programme. And we are not talking small numbers here either. The results for GCSE English are 5 percentage points better and, even more amazingly, the results for GCSE maths are 10 percentage points better.

So how does Sandwell College do this. The starting point is a robust initial and diagnostic assessment. The learners will also take a Level 1 paper to see if they could get Level 1 in two years regardless of their starting point. The learners have tutorials where the key is to understand their previous experiences and their behaviours, to get to know the learners. The whole point is to look at the learner’s journey over their entire college time, not just the year they are in.

The learners are streamed in the college and not just by vocational area. That means they are taught with learners at their level. Each level has dedicated teachers, teachers that specialise in teaching that particular level of learner. The schemes of work are modified to suit the learners, some will be on a faster track than others, but each learner will receive content from the next level in every class. There is also the potential for in year progression, meaning learners can progress at their speed, often quicker than their peers at other colleges.

Finally, Jeremy’s team has a dedicated attendance officer who works consistently with the learners to ensure that they are there to get the best education they can get.

All of this makes Jeremy and Sandwell College advocates for Functional Skills. They know that it can support their learners to achieve the best that they can achieve. This is the kind of thing that should be making the news.

Chris Briggs, Product Manager Post 16 English, Maths and Digital Skills, Pearson