Select Committee Report into Adult Literacy and Numeracy

Another Nick Boles video - this time the Government's response to the adult literacy and numeracy report

Watch Nick Boles talking about the Government's response to the Commons Select Committee Adult Literacy and Numeracy Report.  

Also on this link is the full pdf report detailing all the evidence.  A couple of things that really drew my attention was that the Army is highlighted for the excellent way in which it delivers Functional Skills (ForSkills and Guroo are delighted to be key suppliers to the Army too).  The committee also noted in the conclusion:

• "We reject the blanket acceptance that GCSEs in English and Maths are the gold standard by which schemes and attainment are measured. GCSEs are not always the most appropriate qualification for adults to work towards"
• "There is no silver bullet to solve the issue of adult literacy and numeracy"
• "Also, there needs to be better assessment of the skills that adults have, when they claim unemployment benefit. That is an ideal opportunity to ensure that claimants are assessed for the skills they need to get a job rather than merely their eligibility for benefits."
• "We are encouraged by the deep commitment and achievements of those engaged in adult learning, but are disturbed by the examples of reductions in Government funding for various schemes, which has caused concern and instability for learners and learning providers alike. This is a short-sighted financial saving which will result in long term costs, as any reduction in provision can only make it harder for adults with limited literacy and numeracy skills to gain employment."

A major advance for e-portfolios

A major advance for e-portfolios

We have advance information from ForSkills that SkillsPortfolio, a “full service” e-portfolio system that manages the complete learner journey and progression is being comprehensively upgraded and enhanced for January. It is a direct competitor to OneFile and Smart Assessor replacing paperwork driven systems and is fully compliant with Ofsted and SFA/EFA audit requirements.

Unique in the market, and representing a major cost saving, SkillsPortfolio will come with a complete range of assessment, diagnostic and resources from ForSkills/Guroo covering all aspects of English and maths, an essential part of every learner’s programme.

More next month ....... if you can't wait till then, have a quick look at this 1 minute introduction video.

Adult Literacy and Numeracy Government response

"We reject the blanket acceptance that GCSEs in English and Maths are the gold standard by which schemes and attainment are measured. GCSEs are not always the most appropriate qualification for adults to work towards"
Extract from the conclusions - Select Committee Report on Adult Literacy and Numeracy.

Couldn't agree more - Functional Skills are almost always the most appropriate!

The latest on Functional Skills Dec 14

What's happening with Functional Skills?

Looking at Nick Boles' latest AoC speech gives us the best clue.  

"Those who lack a basic mastery of English and Maths lack the means to navigate successfully through the modern world.

I do understand however that it is not practical or fair to impose the same requirements (as those on full time courses) on students taking courses of less than 150 hours – who are often young carers with a lot on their plates already. While we expect them to receive English and Maths tuition as part of their course, we will be waiving the requirement for them to study for standalone qualifications.

Where I have found your arguments more persuasive is in relation to those students who have not secured D grades in English and Maths GCSEs – and who are unlikely to be retaking their GCSEs while they are at college. I believe it is vitally important that we offer them alternative qualifications that are high quality, consistent, understood by parents, and respected by employers. As you know, Ofqual is undertaking a review of functional skills qualifications and I eagerly await their findings.

The DfE briefing note confirms this by posing the question "Will functional skills be scrapped?"

"No, Functional Skills qualifications will continue to be available for 16-19 students as a ‘stepping stone’ to GCSEs, in apprenticeships and for adults.

Ofqual is currently reviewing Level 2 English and maths functional skills qualifications, and will recommend action to improve these qualifications. This is likely to lead to changes to some Functional Skills qualifications in the short to medium term. Awarding organisations will work with their centres to communicate and explain these changes and what they mean for teachers and students."

So Functional Skills are being reviewed by Ofqual to ensure quality, rigour, understanding, consistency and respect. 

The definitive guide to English and maths at post-16

Post 16 English and maths - the definitive* guide

Choice of qualifications - there are three qualification routes for English and maths that are funded.

• 2015 spec GCSE graded 9-1 with grade 4 broadly equivalent to current C
• 2012 spec GCSE or iGCSE graded A*-G
• Functional Skills at all levels

For all learners with an existing grade E or below - open choice with Functional Skills expected to be chosen by the vast majority of learners.

For all apprenticeships and traineeships irrespective of existing grades - open choice with Functional Skills expected to be chosen by the vast majority of learners as exam windows for GCSE are so restricted at 2 per year.

For all adults 19+ irrespective of existing grades - open choice of Functional Skills or GCSE.

Learners on all courses of less than 150 hours - should study maths and English but qualification is not specified.

Learners starting now on all full time courses with an existing grade D are expected to follow 2012 GCSE. This is guidance, not a funding requirement.

Learners starting Sept 2015 on one year full time courses with an existing grade D are expected to follow 2012 GCSE.  This is a funding requirement.

Learners starting Sept 2015 on two year full time courses with an existing grade D are expected to follow 2015 GCSE. This is a funding requirement.

*until the next policy speech, election or Government interpretation.  Excludes specific course rules such as EYE and pathfinder apprenticeships. 

Links to useful video and webinar recordings for Functional Skills

Useful tutorial and practical videos

ForU Functional Skills Exam success in English writing

ForU Functional Skills Exam success in English reading

ForU Functional Skills Exam success in maths

ForU Functional Skills Reading between the lines tutorial (English L1/2)

ForU Functional Skills Fractions tutorial (Maths E3)

ForU Functional Skills Punctuation tutorial (English L2)

ForU Functional Skills Maths learner journey

ForU Functional Skills English learner journey

Guroo Tutorial clips compilation

Guroo Introduction to Guroo 

ForSkills Introduction to SkillsBuilder 

ForSkills Introduction to SkillsPortfolio

ForSkills "How to" videos

ForU User interface

ForU Tutor and admin roles

ForU Logging out

ForU Accessing offline assessments

ForU Browsing the ForSkills resources

ForU Adding a new diagnostic

ForU Saving time with MyPins

ForU ForSkills credits

Recorded training and information webinars

All previous webinars are recorded and available anytime for playback - login as a guest and the password is password.  Simply click on the links below and don’t forget, if you’d like to have your own 1:1 webinar looking at how ForSkills/Guroo can help you support Functional Skills, just call us on 0191 305 5045 or email info@guroo.co.uk and we’ll take it from there.

GCSE assessment and diagnostic

Functional Skills assessment and diagnostics

Ofsted and Functional Skills

Functional Skills Policy Update

Functional Skills in the Revised Common Inspection Framework

Evidencing e-learning hours in maths and English

Evidencing e-learning hours

One part of the e-learning conversation is the percentage of time that learners can/should/do spend using on-line learning.  This is a subject that has been raised by Feltag who recommended (October 2013) that a portion of funding is allocated according to the amount of e-learning content in publically funded programmes.

At For Skills/Guroo, we've been doing quite a lot of research on behalf of customers into e-learning use for English and maths we've come up with some interesting stats.

• For Skills and Guroo customers collectively recorded 3 million hours of e-learning
• The marginal cost of e-learning delivery is significantly less than £1 per learner hour
• "Upper quartile" users of e-learning in maths and English target 5 hours in assessment/review with an additional 15 hours for e-learning resource use

SkillsPortfolio - the UK's best regarded and most cost effective "full service" e-portfolio solution - is perfect for tracking e-learning usage across all qualifications, not just English and maths.  

Functional Skills - stability is the watchword

Functional Skills - stability seems to be the watchword

After all the announcements, stability seems to be returning to English and maths provision now. Glenys Stacey (Ofqual Chief) has responded to Nick Boles (Skills Minister) and her message is that, whilst there is always some areas for improvement, stability is equally important and Functional Skills is viewed positively.

On a similar theme, Charlotte Bosworth (Director of skills & employment at OCR) also writing in FE Week, makes a convincing argument for Functional Skills over GCSE, again saying the case for re-branding is not clear.   

Our own findings relating to the name are below! 

And just a reminder that although we've already had nearly 200 responses to the 2014 Functional Skills Annual Survey - if you haven't done yours yet - please do it now.

What's in a name (re-brand)

With more than 100 responses making this survey result "significant" in statistical terms, the winner of the "choose a new name for Functional Skills" survey is:

1st   Functional Skills

2nd  Skills for Life

3rd   Essential Skills

4th   Skills for Work

Functional Skills was well out in front too, also rans in the name stakes in order of popularity were Everyday (Skills), Working, Vocational, Work, Practical, Crucial, Useful and Relevant with some votes also cast for Fun (Skills), Applied, Enabling, Living, Foundation, Core and Progression.

We also asked whether we should refer to Functional Skills as maths and English or something else and an overwhelming 80% chose English/maths over Literacy/Numeracy and numbers/words.

Nick Boles support for Functional Skills

2.5 minute video clip of Nick Boles talking about maths and English.

Good to know that Functional Skills and GCSE are the ONLY two routes for maths and English quals - For more, consult the ForSkills and Guroo websites.

Functional Skills Newsletter Oct 15th

The Functional Skills Newsletter for October 15th

Lots of news about support for Functional Skills this week, we've done our best to summarise the key parts but suffice to say that the Government sees Functional Skills as the key complimentary qualification in English and maths to GCSE.   Sure, there's work to do to refresh and update Functional Skills, but we think this is a great opportunity and we fully support it at Guroo.

Have your say in the 2014 Annual Survey - there is a free text question at the end where you can add your comments and thoughts and apart from the initial 4 "demographic" questions, there are none you have to answer, we make a contribution to your choice of charity and you can personally win a new tablet if you leave us your name and email address.  Click here to contribute.

As well as Government support and surveys, there's also a very busy events and conference season, we have details of all the key events below.

As always, we aim to send this newsletter out every two weeks, your comments and thoughts are always appreciated - let us know what you'd like us to cover in the newsletter by emailing the editor - jwells@guroo.co.uk

Government Support for Functional Skills

The Government has always maintained it has supported Functional Skills, but reality, mostly emanating from DfE under Gove, was that GCSE was heavily promoted by DfE and BIS had to fall in behind - until now. Nick Boles, the new Minister of State for Skills for both DfE and DBIS has provided clear, unambiguous support for Functional Skills.  FE Week has had some great coverage recently starting with the first announcement at the Conservative Party conference.

This has been followed up a week later with a letter from the Minister to Ofqual in which he said “Functional Skills will continue to be one of the types of qualification that learners have available to them as they progress towards GCSE attainment. For students that are not able to achieve a GCSE they must provide a reliable test of their literacy and numeracy skills."  

Roger Francis, well respected commentator on issues about maths and English in the sector, then put forward his views in another FE week piece - and very sound views they are too.

And in the same week, we then had a call from those involved in the early years qualifications that Functional Skills should be re-called.  It was the announcement by Gove about this qualification requiring GCSE passes on entry that started speculation.

Have your say.  The annual survey is also running now and the last question is a free text question where you can have your your say - simply click here to take part.

Events, exhibitions and conferences

The autumn is always a busy time of the year with lots of events on, here are just a few that Guroo are involved in.

Developing skills to deliver English, maths and ESOL - organised by EMSkills and located in Derby on October 23rd.  Always popular and informative, with good support from all suppliers and a range of expert speakers. Jonathan Wells of Guroo is chairing this event.

Meeting new standards in teaching, learning and assessment - organised by Optimus education, located in Birmingham on 27th November.

Apprenticeships4England, a major event and one not be missed is in London on March 3/4 and open for bookings now.  Guroo is a key supporter and sponsor of this event and the headline speaker is of course Nick Boles, Minister for Skills.

The AELP Autumn Conference including a key theme of English and maths changes in employment and skills programmes - 15th October in Birmingham and Guroo is on stand 8.

Please complete the 2014 Functional Skills Annual Survey

It's the fourth year of this important survey, around 20 questions, about 15 minutes of your time, and apart from the first few demographic questions, none of them are "must complete". So you can take your time, skip the ones you don't know about, but get your opinion in on the ones you do.  The results are published widely, we know they influence policy so have your say now!

Simply click here for your link.  

The survey is completely confidential, you do not need to leave your name, but if you do, you could win a new Galaxy Tab 3 and every participant can nominate one of four charities to receive a donation.  Please take a few minutes to contribute.

Functional Skills confirmed by Government

http://feweek.co.uk/2014/10/03/functional-skills-handed-lifeline/ 

Government confirms that GCSE isn't right for everyone, re-affirming Functional Skills as the route of choice for vocational learners.

FE Week exclusive.

2014 Functional Skills Annual Survey

Please take 15 minutes to complete this years Functional Skills Annual Survey.  It's similar to previous years,we don't insist you answer every question and it's completely confidential - make your views count - the results of the survey are published widely.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7VHBC9J

Isn't that a cool stand at World of Learning

Guroo Assessment and Skills on J20 - 30 Sept and 1 Oct.
Everything you need for Functional Skills and GCSE assessment, diagnostics, resources and exam practice in maths and English.

English and maths in the news

English and maths in the news - Ofsted, BBC, Business Select Committee.

A number of articles have appeared over the last few days all to do with improving the quality and quantity of English and maths teaching for post-16 learners.

The Commons Business Select Committee reported that an "alarmingly high" proportion of adults in England lacked a good grasp of reading, writing and maths.  Suggestions made included assessing the the English and maths skills of jobseekers "at the earliest possible stage of unemployment benefit claims" to provide an "an ideal opportunity to inform people of training available to help them gain the vital skills they need."  

So although the Government has pledged free training for any adult up to GCSE, those with limited skills in core areas are often excluded as they are not aware this support exists.

The quality of teaching in English and maths is not good enough, careers guidance is weak and local authorities aren't tracking progress effectively, according to Ofsted’s Director for Further Education and Skills, Lorna Fitzjohn.

On the subject of English and maths the report states "Although all of the providers surveyed are aware of the English and mathematics GCSE requirements of the 16 to 19 study programmes and understand and agree with their importance, very few of them met the requirements adequately, particularly FE colleges and independent learning providers. For example, far too many learners were on provision, often in functional skills, that was not higher than their prior attainment."  

Read about the Guardian's take on the same story here.

Events Autumn 2014

Events, exhibitions and conferences

The autumn is always a busy time of the year with lots of events on, here's just a few that Guroo are involved in.

Developing skills to deliver English, maths and ESOL - organised bscheduledy EMSkills and located in Derby on October 23rd. 

Meeting new standards in teaching, learning and assessment - organised by Optimus education, located in Birmingham on 27th November.

World of Learning exhibition - a key exhibition and conference at the NEC, Birmingham on 30 Sept/01 Oct.

The AELP Autumn Conference including a key theme of English and Maths Changes in Employment and Skills Programmes - 15th October in Birmingham

The e-vocational conference organised by Assessment Tomorrow and to be held in Leeds on 19th November

NIACE Consultation

Consultation on implementation of GCSE reforms for adults and apprentices

Don't forget to respond by Sept 30th - NIACE are managing a consultation process with a close date of September 30th about the issues surrounding effective implementation of the new 2015 GCSE qualifications for adults and apprentices.

Click here for a link to the NIACE consultation page so you can take part.

Functional Skills and GCSE offers

Guroo offers and recent developments

Order in September - get 15% more licences for free!  Rules - the offer applies to everyone whether extending, renewing, returning or new customers both large and small.  And don't forget that with Guroo all you pay for is each learner licence once, and once only.

• Tutor licences, set-up and even webinar based training are all included free.
• Learner licences do not end after 1 year, we do not bill you again for the same learner if they take 13 months to complete.
• Guroo licences cover unlimited access to everything - assessment, diagnostics, ILP, GCSE, Functional Skills, screeners, exam practice, resources and even external links.

And just a reminder that Guroo pricing is open and fair, and you can try Guroo before you buy - free of charge naturally.

What's new - a brief selection of new Guroo additions from summer 2014.

• GCSE assessment and diagnostic for maths and English
• GCSE/FS screener test 
• Tutorial videos covering English apostrophes, paragraphs and planning

Exam tips tutorial videos for FS maths and FS English reading & writing

Govt confirms rules on Functional Skills and GCSE choice for post-16 learners

For learners on an Apprenticeship programme, the funding rules and guidelines are very simple. Learners are expected to follow Functional Skills qualifications until 2020.

The same rules apply to Adult learners - Functional Skills is the qualification of choice and is a fully funded qualification for those without a level 2 until 2020.

There is more complexity with 16-18 learners on fulltime courses.  From September 2014, learners should follow the course that is most appropriate to them - whether that's GCSE or Functional Skills.  In most cases, this will be Functional Skills, but where a learner has already achieved a grade D GCSE, it's likely that Ofsted will be keen to explore the reasons behind the choice.

From September 2015, the position is clear, for 16-18 year olds on a full time study course (not an apprenticeship), they will be funded to follow GCSE if they have an existing grade D or Functional Skills if they have grade E-F or nothing at all.

So in summary:

• Apprentices and adults study Functional Skills until at least 2020.
• 16-18 year olds in full time study follow Functional Skills unless they have an existing grade D at GCSE.

Why 2020 - GCSE examinations are not and will not be "roll-on, roll-off" programmes of study until at least 3 years after the first exams of the new 2015 specification GCSE which is first examined in 2017.  Subject to policy and indeed Government changes, 2020 could easily be 2022 or 20125 or more! 

NIACE are managing a consultation process with a close date of September 30th about the issues surrounding effective implementation of the new 2015 GCSE qualifications for adults and apprentices.

Click here for a link to the NIACE consultation page so you can take part.

The Guroo guys after the Stockton Ratrace on Sunday 24th August!  Neil, Simon, Andy and Jonathan

BIS confirmation that Functional Skills stays in all Apprenticeships till at least 2020

Just had direct confirmation from BIS that GCSE is NOT a requirement of Apprenticeships and Adult Learning until 2020, Only by then will Awarding Organisations have had the chance to develop with suitable on-line assessments.

So Functional Skills STAYS as the qualification of choice for all Apprenticeships and Adult Learning.

There was some talk that learners with a grade D must take GCSE - this only applies to full time  courses for students aged 16-18 with a grade D at GCSE from August 2015.  They will be expected and funded to retake GCSE. 

Guroo has a fantastic solution for Functional Skills!

Clarification of Functional Skills and GCSE positioning

Clarification of the latest Government announcements about Functional Skills and GCSE in apprenticeships and adult learning.  As I understand it, and because GCSE only has two assessment windows until at least 2020, Functional Skills remains the qualification of choice in Apprenticeships and other “roll-on roll-off qualifications” such as adult learning.

From August 2014 - all learners without grade C maths and English who undertake a full-time course (typically at FE College) must choose Functional Skills or GCSE.  

From August 2015 - those taking a full-time course with existing grade D, do GCSE, others can choose Functional Skills or GCSE. 

Irrespective of dates, whilst apprentices can choose GCSE where the provider offers it, Functional Skills will remain the qualification of choice until 2020 for apprentices and adults.  

Hope this helps to clarify the position - Jonathan Wells at Guroo. 

Functional Skills newsletter

Latest newsletter here featuring analysis of Ministers exchange of letters with Ofqual and Providers of Functional Skills and GCSE Assessment, diagnostics and resources comparison table.

Maths and English - Minister letter

Ofqual and Minister letter exchange

Matthew Hancock (Minister for Skills) and Glenys Stacey (Chief Executive of Ofqual) have exchanged letters this week about learners in the post 16 sector who have not yet achieved good passes (grade A*-C GCSE) in English and maths.  

Read the full details of the Ministers letter here and below the three key points and dates are summarised.

• From August 2014, learners must either follow either GCSE or Functional Skills maths and English qualifications and this will be a condition of funding. 
• From August 2015 the condition of funding will be amended so that students with a existing grade D GCSE will be taught GCSE with others following Functional Skills or other stepping stone qualifications.
• Functional Skills will be extended to remain in Apprenticeships until at least 2020 giving Awarding Organisations the chance of developing on-line assessments for GCSE that can be taken anytime.

Ofqual responded with the following comments:

• We welcome your recognition of the important role that Functional Skills qualifications will continue to play....
• (For GCSE maths and English) - In order to ensure so far as possible a smooth transition, the qualifications (and assessment windows) need to remain steady, both before and for a period after first awarding in 2017 but we will certainly consider with exam boards and others whether it might be possible in the longer term to offer more than one assessment window each year without compromising standards.

So there we have it.

From next month - all learners without grade C maths and English must choose Functional Skills or GCSE.

From August 2015 - those with existing grade D, do GCSE, others do Functional Skills. 

Functional Skills remains the qualification of choice until 2020 for apprentices and adults.

GCSE or Functional Skills?

GCSE or Functional Skills - how will you help your learners choose (please complete this (very, very) short survey)

The GCSE/Functional Skills debate continues.  It's an area that Guroo is constantly monitoring - our GCSE Maths Number, GCSE Maths Algebra and GCSE English Writing assessments are being tested now (first release just days away) with GCSE English Writing, GCSE Maths Shape/Space and GCSE Maths Handling Data all due for release by the end of July in good time for September enrolment.

But here's another option we are considering - how do you decide which route is right for your learners, and how do you show evidence to backup that decision?

We've already been asked about this, we'd like to know what you think so please complete our three question survey about this here.  

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Choosing_between_GCSE_and_Functional_Skills

AELP Support for Functional Skills

AELP support Functional Skills

The national AELP conference is underway with lots of discussion on funding, employer led training demand and the integration of Government initiatives.

One of the more interesting comments came from Ingeus who were referring to their skills data and the claim that a person with good English, maths and ICT skills is THREE times more likely to re-enter the labour market - we're surprised it's just 3x! 

In relation to maths and English, the AELP manifesto for 2015 recognises the absolute importance of having good English and maths skills but questions whether GCSE is the best route to show this.  AELP will therefore continue to lobby for the retention of Functional Skills until the new (2017) GCSEs are proven to provide the Functional Skills required and to be delivered flexibly and on demand.

MyGuroo self assessment for Maths and English

www.myguroo.co.uk has been re-launched.

MyGuroo is a very simple to use self assessment for Functional Skills and GCSE maths and English.  It takes around 40 minutes to complete each test, at the end you get to download a full diagnostic and each test credit costs just £1.95.

What more can be said - very easy, very simple, very accurate, very useful!

Sample diagnostic report shown below!

Reading between the lines tutorial videos

To access this video free of charge simply click here.
It is a 5 minute tutorial video that mixes computer graphics with animation and voiced over by a subject expert.
Functional Skills covered include Level 2 English, fact, opinion, bias and implicit meaning.
Uploaded by Jonathan Wells of Guroo May 2014.
 

Where's the news?

Normally I get to write a newsletter every two weeks - but this week I can't find anything sensible to write about!
Hey, ho, I shall have a week off - Jonathan

Guroo Curator™

Guroo Curator™ is almost ready to launch

Guroo Curator™ is a brand new part of Guroo 4.0 due for release quite shortly and as always, immediately available free of charge to all Guroo customers with all inclusive licences.

We've called it Guroo Curator™ to reflect the effort we have applied in searching and selecting free publicly available content for presentation that we think is high quality, consistent and relevant to Functional Skills and GCSE.  We've then tagged the content to the skills criteria so they will appear in all Guroo searches and added both an explanation and rating.

With Guroo Curator™, we're making your job of finding good quality additional resources easy, as well as adding new resources linked to those parts of the Functional Skills and GCSE skills that can be hard to address using e-learning.

So here's where you come in - we can't possibly search and review everything out there, so please let me know what resources you suggest we link into Guroo Curator™.  Simply email me with a URL and a few details and we'll take it from there.

Jonathan Wells

Guroo Ltd - the UK's best provider of Functional Skills Solutions (officially)!

Funding rates for maths and English from Entry Level to Level 2.

Funding rates for maths and English from Entry Level to Level 2.

The SFA has produced a document that lists all provision for which public funding has been approved for 2014/15.  The full document is available here but for simplicity, the funding rates for popular Functional Skills and GCSE qualifications are listed below.

• £941 for Entry Level Functional Skills qualifications in maths.
• £724 for Entry Level Functional Skills qualifications in English.
• £724 for Level 1&2 Functional Skills qualifications in maths.
• £724 for Level 1&2 Functional Skills qualifications in English.
• £724 for GCSE qualifications in maths.
• £724 for GCSE qualifications in English.
• £336 for Functional Skills qualifications in ICT at all levels.
• £300 for free standing maths qualifications at Level 2.

On a separate but related subject, Ofsted are very keen to see "stretch and challenge" in programmes of study so it's crucial to ensure that a rigorous and credible initial assessment is taken by learners prior to selecting the level of course.  Guroo provides exactly that, either as a standalone test or as part of a full resource programme.