Making Sense of Functional Skills Newsletter March 20th

March 20th - the Functional Skills newsletter

This week we have a plethora of positive policy announcements and news about Functional Skills, a useful timetable of dates as the switchover to Functional Skills gets ever closer, some useful information about funding, and details of the Wednesday Webinar programme with a link to the incredibly popular recordings.

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Functional Skills - press and policy

The level of interest in Functional SKills has increased significantly and we expect it will continue to increase as we head towards the summer when Functional Skills replaces Adult Basic Skills and Key Skills (see the timetable story below for full details). This week, we have summarised recent policy and press comment below:

Pupils should learn maths through doing it - BBC News

"One reason why children struggle with maths is that it's taught backwards ...(students) don't see how it is relevant to their lives. It is presented only through abstract concepts, rather than in terms of experiences". Click here for the full story.

Ofsted chief in literacy warning - The Independent

"There can be no more important subject than English. It is at the heart of our culture and literacy skills are crucial to pupils' learning for all subjects. Yet too many pupils fall behind in their literacy early on. In most cases, if they can't read securely at seven they struggle to catch up as they progress through their school careers.

As a result, too many young adults lack the functional skills to make their way in the modern world." Click here for the full story.

The future of youth employment - The training zone

"Education fails so many young people because it measures only examination competence rather than focuses on the vocational skills required for young people to gain employment and the need to work on their own personal development." Click here for more.

House of Commons BIS Committee on Apprenticeships

"The Government took the decision to replace Key Skills in English and maths with Functional Skills, ensuring apprentices were supported to attain more stretching and transferable qualifications in these skills which are so vital for progression."

"From Academic Year 12/13 all Apprenticeship providers will be required to provide opportunities to support Apprentices in progressing towards achievement of Level 2 functional skills"

"NAS to require all Apprenticeship providers to offer Functional skills in English and Maths at level 2 to all intermediate apprentices, and publish their progress towards achieving this."

Click here for the full 92 page report.

AELP Special Interest Group on Functional Skills

"The meeting was the best attended SIG (Special Interest Group) that the AELP had ever run."

"It was therefore a happy surprise to discover that rather than having to stamp down on the prophets of doom, I was surrounded by people who are taking a very positive and realistic approach to the introduction of Functional Skills."

"... there were also plenty of success stories from the growing number of providers who are switching to Functional Skills before the deadline on 31st August. Moreover, the Awarding Bodies indicated that pass rates were continuing to rise and that Private Training Providers were easily outperforming colleges and schools."

Click here for the report from a member.

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Functional Skills funding

While the future of Functional Skills is secure, what isn't clear is how the funding will work. We know some things. For example, The Government have already announced that all 16-24 year olds without a level 2 in maths and English will be "fully funded" and that career development loans will be commonplace for those aged 25+. Click here for a link to the SFA statement.

But we don't know what "fully funded" means in £ terms. As we understand it for 2012/13, Functional Skills remains an "unlisted qualification" which means that it doesn't carry a standard level of GLH and therefore funding.

This means that providers negotiate and agree with their funding providers what they actually need to provide Functional Skills teaching and learning. We understand that the average for each subject at level 2 is 50-60 GLH, considerably more than the 35 hours allocated to Key Skills and ABS at a similar level.

Discussions about Functional Skills funding continue - it is mentioned several times in the BIS paper in the article above and it will be a hot topic at this weeks Literacy and Numeracy conference - details below.

Literacy and Numeracy conference - defining and tackling the challenge. This is a one day conference organised by NTRL and held at Aston University, Birmingham on Wednesday 21st March. It will focus on the current challenges facing teaching in literacy, numeracy, Functional English and Functional Maths and will give providers an opportunity to share ideas and practice in order to respond to the challenges as Functional Skills replace Key Skills and Adult Basic Skills in the next few months. The conference will be chaired by Prof Lorna Unwin with speakers from IOE, Guroo, BIS, LSIS and Ofsted. Please mention this newsletter if you book.

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A reminder about Key Dates for the change to Functional Skills

Several AO have published earlier dates than those below - please check with your AO.

Functional Skills is already part of all Foundation Learning programmes.

Functional Skills replaces Adult Basic Skills in August 2012. The last date for registration is therefore August 31st 2012 and the last date for certification August 31st 2014 so students have two years to pass.

Functional Skills replaces Key Skills in all Apprenticeships in September 2012. The last date for registration is therefore September 30th 2012 and the last date for certification September 30th 2013 so students have just one year to complete.

From September 2012, all 16-24 apprenticeships programmes will be a minimum of 12 months so it looks as though it will be a very brave Apprentice Provider that seeks to enter students for Key Skills after Easter.

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The Functional Skills Wednesday Webinar

It's a return to the webinar this week for Andy and Simon from Guroo Technical Support who will be doing a session called:

"Guroo 2.1 Communication tools including messaging, task setting and user feedback systems"

Email info@guroo.co.uk and we'll send you the link on Wednesday.

It's a session that's relevant for all customers and indeed those who are thinking of joining Guroo, so join us at 4.05pm on Wednesday 21st March for another informative technical webinar.

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Replay previous webinars at the links below. Simply enter your name and use guroo as the password.

Future Developments in Guroo

Initial and Diagnostic Assessments

Reporting and tracking tools in Guroo 2.1

Guroo 2.1 User and Group Admin

Functional Skills Policy, Rumour and Opinion

Introduction to Guroo 2.1

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Please Plus One us on Google follow us on Twitter @guroofs and like us on Facebook at guroo.functionalskills. The next newsletter is likely to be Tuesday April 4th - if you have anything you'd like us to know about, just get in touch jwells@guroo.co.uk

Making Sense of Functional Skills Newsletter Feb 21st

February 21st - the Functional Skills newsletter

This week we have confirmation that Functional Skills replaces Adult Basic Skills from August 2012 and also confirmation of funding availability for Functional Skills from Entry Level to Level 2 for all adults, a repeat of the Functional Skills events piece that was so popular last week, a lovely quote from a TES forum and what's on Wednesday's webinar plus links to the previous recordings this term.

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Functional Skills replace Adult Basic Skills at Level 1 and Level 2 from August 2012

News from BIS confirms that Functional Skills will be fully funded and will replace Adult Basic Skills from August 2012.

"BIS wrote to Awarding Organisations in January 2011 to confirm that it will no longer be funding the centrally held test bank which supports Adult Basic Skills (ABS) qualifications and Key Skills Communication and Application of Number qualifications at Levels 1 and 2. Ofqual has confirmed that the operational end-dates of these qualifications mean that no new enrolments will be taken beyond August 2012 for ABS Certificates and September 2012 for Key Skills qualifications. The certification end-dates are August 2014 and September 2013 respectively"

The BIS advice goes on to say about Entry Level

"It is expected that providers will offer either Functional English and Maths qualifications at entry level or whatever new qualifications are available that provide a coherent progression pathway for learners from entry level upwards."

Underlining the importance that the Government places on adults progressing towards GCSE using Functional Skills, the section about funding says:

"We will fund GCSE English and Maths qualifications for adults from August 2012. Functional English and Maths qualifications from Entry level up to and including Level 2 will also be funded."

Click here for a direct link to the statement made on 15th February.

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Major Functional Skills events It feels as though the interest in Functional Skills is growing exponentially and we had a lot of people contact us about the events we publicised last week. So here's that story and links again. Managing Functional Skills: 2012 and Beyond. This is a national conference aimed at the FE sector and taking place at Alveston Manor, Stratford Upon Avon on 5/6 March. A comprehensive programme of speakers include EDI, Guroo, Virgin Media and major Colleges; the aim is to get managers and practitioners up to date with best practice in this rapidly changing environment. Initial Assessment and Diagnostic for Functional Skills. An excellent example of how Functional Skills is growing; this event is purely about giving you an opportunity to view the initial assessment and diagnostic tools available for Functional Skills. This is a hands on session where participants will be able to sample what is on offer from the various organisations providing these tools, such as Tribal Group, Mindset, PMetrics, BKSB, Guroo, Skills in Sight Project, and Forskills. The exhibition is 10-1 with optional peer group exchange to discuss your expereince between 2-3.30. The event will be held at The Gallery and Gallery Bar, Beacon Building, Staffordshire University, Beaconside, Stafford, ST18 0AD. Contact Tina Richardson for more details. Making a reality of Functional Skills is a new conference just announced by LSIS/AELP who are keen to ensure all members are fully prepared and equipped to take on the delivery of Functional Skills in September 2012. It is free to attend and aimed at all providers of Functional Skills in post-16 education. It takes place on 26 March at the Congress Centre, Great Russell Street, London. You can register your interest by contacting AELP. When you do, please mention this newsletter!

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really nice quote from a TES forum

This is a very recent posting and I picked it up as I was following a thread that was discussing a comparison between Edexcel and C&G assessments.

I hate to say this but I actually quite like Functional Skills!! Perhaps it's just me but they seem to make more sense than anything else out there. This is borne out by students recognising where a lot of the processes and calculations are actually used in "real life" (well, some of the time anyway!)

Well said and so nice to see a completely independent and unsolicited quote!

Click here for the full sequence of messages - the quote is in post 4.

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The Functional Skills Wednesday Webinar

It's a return to the webinar this week for Andy and Simon (the main guys behind support@guroo.co.uk) who are hosting the session entitled "Reports and Reporting in Guroo 2.1".

How to get the most out of reports in Guroo. This session will help you uncover the information contained within Guroo and how to use it in your teaching and administration. We’ll look at the reports available from Initial and Diagnostic Assessments as well as the monitoring and tracking reports that follow your learners’ progress through Guroo’s Teaching and Learning Materials.

Email info@guroo.co.uk and we'll send you the link on Wednesday.

So if you're a customer (or would like to be) join us at 4.05pm on Wednesday 22nd February to learn reports and reporting, plus (at the end of the session) any other support questions you have.

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Replay previous webinars at the links below. Simply enter your name and use guroo as the password.

Initial and Diagnostic Assessments

Guroo 2.1 User and Group Admin

Functional Skills Policy, Rumour and Opinion

Introduction to Guroo 2.1

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Please Plus One us on Google follow us on Twitter @guroofs and like us on Facebook at guroo.functionalskills. The next newsletter is likely to be Tuesday March 6th - if you have anything you'd like us to know about, just get in touch jwells@guroo.co.uk

Making Sense of Functional Skills Newsletter Feb 7th

February 7th - the Functional Skills newsletter

This week we have news about several major events in Functional Skills that coincide with a very big up-turn in interest and activity in the market for Functional Skills. We also report on the Functional Skills Forum organised by MindLeaders, some lovely eco-friendly news from Guroo and full details of this weeks webinar and last weeks recording.

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Major Functional Skills events

Our lead story this week is all about three Functional Skils events, all aimed at slightly different areas of the market.

Managing Functional Skills: 2012 and Beyond. This is a national conference aimed at the FE sector and taking place at Alveston Manor, Stratford Upon Avon on 5/6 March. A comprehensive programme of speakers include EDI, Guroo, Virgin Media and major Colleges, the conference aim is to get managers and practitioners up to date with best practice in this rapidly changing environment.

Initial Assessment and Diagnostic for Functional Skills is an opportunity to view the initial and diagnostic materials and tools available for Functional Skills. This is a hands on session where participants will be able to sample what is on offer from the various educational organisations providing these tools, such as Tribal Group, Mindset, PMetrics, BKSB, Guroo, Skills in Sight Project and Forskills. The exhibition is 10-1 with optional peer group exchange to discuss your expereince between 2-3.30. The event will be held at The Gallery and Gallery Bar, Beacon Building, Staffordshire University, Beaconside, Stafford, ST18 0AD. Contact Tina Richardson for more details.

Making a reality of Functional Skills is a new conference just announced by LSIS/AELP who are keen to ensure all members are fully prepared and equipped to take on the delivery of Functional Skills in September 2012. It is free to attend and aimed at all providers of Functional Skills in post-16 education. It takes place on 26 March at the Congress Centre, Great Russell Street, London. You can register your interest by contacting AELP, please do mention this newsletter.

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Report on the recent Functional Skills Forum

We're delighted to report on MindLeaders second Functional Skills Forum held on 19^th January 2012 at the British Library in London. The forum featured speakers spanning the entire field of delivery, from the National Apprenticeships Service and Sector Skills Councils to employers, training providers, curriculum development and educational training providers.

The Wbl sector has been slow to accept Functional Skills so it's really good to say it was an overwhelming positive day where more than 60 delegates from the WBL sector enjoyed excellent presentations from People 1st, Whitbread, NAS, QCDA, Guroo and Mindleaders.

A full report is available here.

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A little bit of fun - perhaps even a world record?

We not only say we're eco-concious at Guroo, we actually take positive action and do something about it!

Here's the Guroo team outside our super low carbon building in Houghton-le-Spring with our latest veheicle - the 100% electric Peugeot iOn - the same one that was mercilessly derided on Top Gear by James May.

But here in the North East, the electric vehicle infrastructure is excellent so we took the plunge and managed to get the team (all 9 of us available on the day plus the kangaroo) in the car - with room to spare!

Click here for the full story.

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The Functional Skills Wednesday Webinar

We have new voices on the webinar this week as Andy and Simon are taking the session entitled "Admin using Guroo 2.1" otherwise known as "All you ever wanted to know about supporting Guroo but never quite got round to asking". Email info@guroo.co.uk and we'll send you the link on Wednesday.

So if you're a customer (or would like to be) join us at 4.05pm on Wednesday to learn about group admin, how to set-up data, getting the best of reporting and answers to all those frequently asked support questions.

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Replay previous webinars at the links below. Simply enter your name and use guroo as the password.

Functional Skills Policy, Rumour and Opinion

Introduction to Guroo 2.1

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Please Plus One us on Google follow us on Twitter @guroofs and like us on Facebook at guroo.functionalskills. The next newsletter is likely to be Tuesday February 21st - if you have anything you'd like us to know about, just get in touch jwells@guroo.co.uk

Making Sense of Functional Skills Newsletter Jan 24th 2012

January 24th - the Functional Skills newsletter

In this week's issue we report on some really shocking numbers concerning maths in the skills for life sector, Guroo have some fantastic January offers to celebrate the start of 2012(launched at BETT but available for everyone), we have summarised details of four key events coming up in the next few weeks and of course details about the ever-popular Wednesday Webinar series.

The numbers continue to climb.

The recently published Skills for Life Survey has some truly terrifying numbers in it.

5.1 million adults of working age (15% of the population) lack functional literacy skills which is pretty bad, but the same survey highlights that an astonishing 16.8 million aduts (that's 49%) are functionally innumerate, operating at E3 or below. Not only is this number very large; it's getting worse, as it's increased from 14.9 million in the last 8 years.

But perhaps the biggest shock is that just 21.8% of the adult working population are at level 2+ in numeracy; only 1 in 5 are considered to have met the current minimum standard.

So these figures perhaps give us a big clue as to why there is such a lot of focus on Functional Skills across all age groups as English and maths become part of the core entitlement, and the reason why new performance tables in sectors including FE and WBL will show how providers are performing at level 2 English and Maths.

Great deals on Functional Skills resources available now!

Guroo has changed the way in which it sells its Functional Skills Solutions. Now, you buy learner licences that stay with the learner for as long as they are with you.

Plus all previous and existing customers are already fully registered so there is no set-up fee and no minimum subscription period - all you do is buy the appropriate number of student and tutor licences and that's it - full access to a massive range of teaching and learning resources plus the only Initial Assessment and Diagnostic system developed and written specifically for Functional Skills.

New customers can take advantage of a half price January establishment fee so get your skates on and act quickly. As an example,

• A typical secondary school who has been a previous subscriber supporting their bottom two sets can pay as little as £450
• A training provider with 150 apprentices and a few tutors would pay just £4.95 per person for full access to everything in Guroo
  
• A large college using the 5 minute levelling tool plus on-line diagnostic tests in all three subjects can do so for less than £1 a student

Call or email us now on 0191 305 5045 to place your order, have a chat about what you need or to book a free on-line demo with our friendly and expert support team.

Functional Skills related events coming up in the next few weeks

The Learning Technologies and Learning Skills conference and exhibition is on at Olympia, London this week - Wednesday and Thursday. Expect a big focus on SfL related developments and funding across all age ranges.

Sector Training are running Managing Functional Skills a residential conference on 5/6 March in Stratford Upon Avon. A varied agenda that includes the practical aspects of delivery and some great speakers from EDI, Guroo, Virgin, Ofsted and leading FE colleges.

Making Apprenticeships Work is scheduled for Wednesday 7th March in London. Three key themes are:

• IAG and post 16 options
• Employer engagement
• Standards, structure and quality

Initial and Diagnostic Tools for Functional Skills is the name of an open event at Staffs Univiersity on Monday 27th February. Contact Tina Richardson for more details about this event which will feature all the main suppliers including Guroo, BKSB and Forskills.

Do you have an event that includes Functional Skills? Let us know and we'll include your details here.

The Functional Skills Wednesday Webinar

We can't do a live one this week I'm afraid. And judging by the amazing response of previous weeks that will be a disappointment for many. Jonathan and Stewart are in London presenting at the Learning and Skills show, so this week it's impossible to run the webinar.

But don't despair we'll be back on Wednesday 1st February at 4.05 when Jonathan will be presenting a "Functional Skills Policy and Market Perspective" his personal view of the current state of the nation as related to Functional Skills.

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Replay last week's webinar at the link below. Simply enter your name and use guroo as the password.

Introduction to Guroo 2.1

Making Sense of Functional Skills Newsletter Oct 25th

October 25th - the Functional Skills newsletter

In this issue, we have the results of the Functional Skills Annual Survey, more about Initial Assessment and Diagnostic solutions, news from DfE, BIS, Apprenticeships and Chambers of Commerce, events coming up and links to some new resources for Functional Skills.

Results of the Functional Skills Annual Survey

It taken a little while but the results of the survey conducted at the end of last term are now fully available. More than 300 responses make this survey the largest and most important of its kind. We've put a full copy of the survey for free download here.

The survey covers confidence, where Functional SKills are used, an analysis of Awarding Organsiations chosen and an analysis of the value of the newesletter. The box below shows some of the ket findings; read the full report via the link above.

Functional Skills Initial Assessment and Diagnostic Initial Assessment and Diagnostics is the most notable new feature in version 2.1 of Guroo's Functional Skills subscription service, released this week. Designed specifically for Functional Skills, the Guroo Initial Assessment uses question content and structures that test specific skills against the official criteria, and the Diagnostic results provide links to the Guroo resources that develop the required skills. The system uses randomised questions to support repeat assessments, and adapts to the learner's answers to indicate a final level between "Working towards Level 1" and "Working at Level 2". The Sales Bit: Guroo are guaranteeing no price increases for new subscriptions taken out in October and November, so depending on your priorities you can view this as great resources with free Initial Assessment, or a great price on Initial Assessment with free resources! Guroo staff are standing by to give you a quick (or in-depth) online demonstration at a time that suits you. Call them on 0191 305 5045, or email sales@guroo.co.uk More from the DfE, BIS, Apprenticeships and Chambers of Commerce Functional Skills are the talk of town all of a sudden. First we had the DfE consultation which stated: "For those who need more intensive support to move towards achieving a C grade GCSE providers are best placed to determine what will meet their needs and enable them to progress. Based on level of rigour, assessment arrangements, skills taught and views of employers, the qualifications that we recommend to providers are: functional skills and free standing maths qualifications." The National Chambers of Commerce have now weighed in with calls for changes to the skills training system in report entitled "Skills for Business:More to Learn?" It takes a similar line to recent CBI studies in calling for higher standards of English and maths plus a need for softer skills such as work ethic, problem solving and communcation. There's more here. Meanwhile, over at the National Apprenticeship Service, a major row is brewing over the number of 12 week programmes being advertised. The general view is that it isn't possible to deliver a quality learning programme that includes Functional Skills in anything less than a year. FE Weeks carries a nice summary of the issues. Michael Gove may very well be preparing the ground for significant changes to the way in which performance tables are measured. In his 5000+ word speech at Ofqual, he again emphasised the problem of equivalence to "easy to pass assessments" post-Wolf and indeed indicated that he expects to see published results drop as a new realism is brought in that is based on rigour. Resources for Level 1&2 Functional ICT from CIA Training - and why not try these RAF resources on skillsworkshop to see if your students can apply their skills in a completely "novel" situation? CIA Training, specialists in developing ICT resources, have just published ICT Functional Skills - a student workbook for Levels 1&2 ICT Functional Skills based on the "Big Planet" theme park. Click here for more information. The RAF and Army are both moving to Functional Skills for all their English and maths requirements up to level 2. The link below is taken from the RAF pre-recruit training course. Now we know that many of our readers will have no idea what an "ML824 Sunderland" is, but what a great way to test your students' skills in a completely novel sceanrio! Please Plus One us on Google follow us on Twitter @guroofs and like us on Facebook at guroo.functionalskills. The next newsletter is likely to be Tuesday November 8th - if you have anything you'd like us to know about, just get in touch jwells@guroo.co.uk

Making Sense of Functional Skills Newsletter October 11th

October 11th - the Functional Skills newsletter

In this issue, we have a DfE consultation that positively recommends Functional Skills, initial assessment and diagnostic news from Guroo, more DfE consultations including funding per student rather than per qualification, further events in the 14-19 calendar, and a page from BBC Skillswise that shows that no matter how much money you spend and how many checks are made, we all make blindingly obvious errors!

DfE consultation recommends Functional Skills

We've been hinting that we were expecting positive guidance from DfE and BIS about Functional Skills for a while. The first of those announcements has now been made.

The DfE consultation entitled "study programmes for 16-19 year olds" published on 6th October and ending 5th January follows Professor Alison Wolf's report. One of the key elements of that report was to recommend that students aged 16-19 who did not have an A*-C GCSE pass in English and maths should continue to study those subjects through to age 19.

In response to that recommendation, DfE says:

6.3 It is clear that providers will need to adapt their English and maths offer depending on the needs of students. For example:

• Some young people will need an immediate, focussed intervention to turn a near miss into a GCSE pass at the first opportunity
• Some may require more intensive help over a longer period (and possibly taking other qualifications en route to act as stepping stones to the GCSE)
• Some, for whom GCSE success is a long way off, might be better served by taking other qualifications or programmes.

6.4 For those who need more intensive support to move towards achieving a C grade GCSE providers are best placed to determine what will meet their needs and enable them to progress. Based on level of rigour, assessment arrangements, skills taught and views of employers, the qualifications that we recommend to providers are: functional skills and free standing maths qualifications.

So there we have it, the DfE recommends Functional Skills as the qualification of choice for students progressing towards GCSE, or unlikely to achieve GCSE. Click here for the link directly to the consultation paper.

Functional Skills Initial Assessment and Diagnostic

Initial Assessment and Diagnostics is the most notable new feature in version 2.1 of Guroo's Functional Skills subscription service, released this week.

Designed specifically for Functional Skills, the Guroo Initial Assessment uses question content and structures that test specific skills against the official criteria and the Diagnostic results provide links to the Guroo resources that develop the required skills.

The system uses randomised questions to support repeat assessments, and adapts to the learner's answers to indicate a final level between "Working towards Level 1" and "Working at Level 2".

The Sales Bit: Guroo are guaranteeing no price increases for new subscriptions taken out in October and November, so depending on your priorities you can view this as great resources with free Initial Assessment, or a great price on Initial Assessment with free resources! Guroo staff are standing by to give you a quick (or in-depth) online demonstration at a time that suits you. Call them on 0191 305 5045, or email sales@guroo.co.uk

More from the DfE

The annoucement about Functional Skills wasn't the only piece of news from DfE this week. Several other consultations were announced by Schools Minister Nick Gibb that affect the whole of post 16 education, including changes to funding so that schools and colleges will be funded on a per student basis rather than per qualification.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

The current funding system is plagued by perverse incentives that have diverted some students towards weaker qualifications.

Every student should be taking courses which give them the best chance of succeeding in life.

The current system incentivises schools and colleges to load too many students with low-quality, small or easy qualifications, often in random combinations, that employers do not value.

These reforms will ensure young people are given the information they need to take the courses that benefit them, and that all courses available broaden rather than narrow their options.

It is time the system was fairer and simpler – and worked in favour of young people.

He added:

Too many young people are dropping English and maths before they have secured a good grounding. These vital subjects are critical to the economy and as a country we need all our young people to be fluent and comfortable in these basic skills.

http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/inthenews/a00198873/gibb-simpler-fairer-funding-system-to-improve-post-16-education

14-19 events coming up

LEACAN is the national education network for local authorities and those working across the 14-19 agenda.

The Winter Forum on Friday 2^nd Dec at Leamington Spa, brings together professional peers and colleagues and will be addressed by high calibre national colleagues including the Rt Hon. Estelle Morris; Tim Oates, Cambridge Assessment and Chair of the Expert Panel, National Curriculum Review; Jon Coles, Director General for Education Standards, DfE and Steve Besley, Head of Policy, Pearson.

Guroo will be there of course and the event is open to non-members at £250. If you would like to book or know more please contact Susanne.wait@leacan.co.uk

Another event where you'll find the Guroo team is at "The Future of Apprenticeships" in London on November 24th. Click here for a link to the full programme. This is an event that Guroo will be attending as exhibitors.

Come on BBC Skillswise, even with all the cuts, you can surely do better than this!

We noticed this on the recently re-launched BBC Skillswise site. As they say in BBC land - answers on a postcard please.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/quiz/ma10mult-l1-quiz