Functional Skills Qualification
The Functional Skills Qualification is a frequently required component of post-16 education in England. The aim of Functional Skills is to introduce practical, real-world abilities focusing on English, maths, and digital skills for everyday life and work. They provide a foundation for progression into employment or further technical education and develop skills for everyday life and critical thinking. Functional Skills are generally available in sixth form colleges, further education colleges, and tertiary colleges.[1]
Functional Skills qualifications provide reliable evidence of a student's achievements against demanding content that is relevant to the workplace. They need to provide assessment of students' underpinning knowledge as well as their ability to apply this in different contexts.[2]
Subjects
[edit]English
[edit]- Reading: understanding and extracting information from texts. Analysing information, evaluating sources, and separating fact from opinion. Practice in checking if a source, article, or piece of everyday media is reliable, accurate, and trustworthy. Understanding why an author wrote a text, who the target audience is, and what underlying message they are trying to push.
- Writing: spelling, grammar, punctuation, and clear document composition.
- Speaking, listening, and communicating: active listening skills, engaging in discussions and expressing ideas clearly when constructing arguments.[3]
Maths
[edit]- Using numbers and the number system: arithmetic, fractions, decimals, and percentages.
- Common measures, shapes, and space: calculating areas, volumes, and handling units.
- Handling information and data: reading charts, graphs, tables, and working out averages.
- Applying logic with numerical reasoning to figure out practical everyday dilemmas, such as household budgeting, scheduling, and measuring.[4]
Digital
[edit]- Using devices, online research, online safety, search skills, fact checking, digital communications, and creating documents safely.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Functional Skills qualifications: requirements and guidance". GOV.UK. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ↑ "Criteria for Functional Skills qualifications". GOV.UK. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ↑ "Functional Skills". City & Guilds. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- ↑ "Functional Skills qualifications: requirements and guidance". GOV.UK. 1 May 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- ↑ "English Functional Skills: subject content". GOV.UK. Retrieved 24 July 2026.