Functional Skills Newsletter 8 June

Our bi-weekly look at the world of Functional Skills.

This week we have stories that include support for the IT Diploma from IBM,

The IT Diploma gets IBM support. A piece in this weeks Sec-Ed on page 7 written by the General Manager of IBM Europe. What caught my eye was the nicely rounded last paragraph phrase "don't just tell me about this idea, but show me how the idea is useful and how it is applied". Very functional indeed!

47 become 65. We said that accreditation would speed up and it has. The Ofqual site now lists 65 accredited Functional Skills qualifications and we even spotted another few more being offered by a collective of smaller awarding bodies here led by the IMI.

More support for the basics from Wales. A piece in the TES Welsh edition reports that "Employers are extremely concerned that a significant proportion of young people still leave 11 years of compulsory education without being able to read and write to the standard required for employment or to undertake simple arithmetical calculations" Any thoughts on where this may be heading?

Did you know that the top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not even exist in 2004? One of the many assertions in this 5 minute youtube video. We can't vouch for the veracity of the content but it raises some interesting points about how fast things change.

Changes in priorities (1). Last month we asked for your opinions on post-election changes. Becta and QCDA had already been tagged for deletion so no surprises there, but we're hearing indications that the next area in the spotlight may be ... qualifications! Are there too many, what are the cost implications, who is in the firing line? Lets keep this one going - your contributions very welcomed either on or off the record!

Functional Skills resources from Guroo

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