Tuesday 8 July 2014

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.  
  • 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.

No comments: