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.
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