Compulsory maths to age 18 - good idea?

Newsletter for post 16 maths and English

For many it is,but for certain categories of learners, it isn't and they face these issues.

• A significant problem area in GCSE is understanding and applying interest rates. Too many learners fail to attempt these questions leading to significant deficiencies in financial numeracy, even where learners pass GCSE at grade C.
• Too much focus at secondary school is applied to "passing GCSE" rather than numeracy to support an active citizenship life.
• 88% of learners who do not achieve level 4 in their SATS at age 11 will go on to fail GCSE.
• A learner who has failed GCSE resit more than twice is very unlikely to be engaged and motivated to pass in the future.
• GCSE Maths is an abstract concept - it is complex maths in a simple context. Whereas real life problems almost always demand simple and straightforward maths in a complex context

AoC and AELP statements

http://sut6.co.uk/l/c.php?c=3966&ct=220341

AoC and AELP statements - helping influence Government spending

The autumn statement by the chancellor is a time when policy statements either stay statements or get an allocated budget for implementation.

It sets the theme for Government spending and is influenced by many things. Both the AELP (on behalf of more than 800 training providers) and AoC (on behalf of colleges) have published their "pre-autumn statement" statement.

The AoC has two key recommendations amongst many other ideas. They are:

• HM Treasury should set a medium-term target to increase spending on education and training to 5% of GDP and direct a share of the additional funding to post-16 education.
• The management of education spending should be reformed to improve efficiency, to allocate funds to areas of greatest need and to provide more predictability.

AELP have prepapred a two page, used at the recent party conferences to outline the main concerns of the training provider sector.

I think it's fair to say the neither are earth shattering but they are worth a read to see how the key sector organisations are thinking as we head towards things like levy implementation in 2017.

Useful videos for tutors of ENGLISH AND MATHS

Latest videos for supporting Functional Skills

These are a selection of "non-ForSkills" videos that we think are useful and crucially, up to date and relevant following the Ofqual review of the exam boards last year.

Welcome to Functional Skills English - a 2 minute animated video that is good to show learners what the Functional Skills curriculum is all about.

Embedding maths in your teaching - a 7 minute animated video that covers examples from several vocational areas.

How to pass English Reading Level 2 - broadly based on the latest Edexcel specification, but relevant across the wider spectrum, a longer 12 minute video that will help tutors prepare their learners.

How the on-line ICT assessment works - a 12 minute demo/webinar video based on the new specification from NCFE.

CPD webinars for tutors of English and maths in Apprenticeships

CPD webinars for those supporting English and maths in Apprenticeships

The ETF, AELP and CETT Academy are running a series of low cost webinars covering key areas of support for English and maths including:

• Engagement
• Contextualisation and embedding
• Learner anxiety and resistance
• Employer support
• Mentoring and motivating

Planning delivery

Roadshow events in November for Functional Skills

What would you like to see at the ForSkills/NCFE regional roadshows

We are planning a rolling programme of roadshow events with the first set scheduled for the week of November 21st. We'll be visiting three locations around the country during the week and we'll be inviting customers as well as those looking to upgrade to SkillsBuilder and SkillsPortfolio.

Each event will feature a range of highly engaging activities including:

• Hands on with the customer engagement team
• Making your investment go further - ensuring that your investment is delivering maximum benefit and value for money
• Learning from others - case study experience.

We'll have a range of subject and qualification experts at each event, but here's the crunch - what would make this event even more valuable for you? Please tell us what you would like to see at the regional roadshows by emailing me direct.

English and maths post-16 related events

Events

Things are starting to get going on the events front so time for a quick update:

Week of November 21st - ForSkills/NCFE regional roadshow
October 27th, Coventry, Apprenticeship Levy Conference
November 28th, London, Vocational Education
December 9th, London, Post-16 Maths and English

GCSE 9-1 assessments

GCSE 1-9 Assessments

The sharp-eyed (mainly colleges) amongst our customers will have seen that the assessments for GCSE now cover the new 1-9 curriculum with even the initial assessment producing a spiky profile and overall level for guidance.

As with ALL assessments from ForSkills, and unlike other providers, our assessment system is fully adaptive so learners are not asked irrelevant questions at the wrong level plus all our questions are taken from a bank.

Why is this important? It means that learners sitting next to each other never get the same questions AND when the same learner repeats the assessment to measure progression, it's a different test!

ForSkills SkillsBuilder - simple, straightforward, fair and reasonable, that’s what we‘re trying to achieve in helping you upgrade to SkillsBuilder.

Make an Enquiry

Newsletter 16 th Sept - edition 234

Another great weekly newsletter this week.

Lots of coverage of English and maths in the post-16 sector with articles on the Governments Skills Plan, Functional Skills reform and a job vacancy for English and maths engagement officer at ForSkills.

GCSE re-sit policy fails more than 70% of learners

GCSE re-sit policy fails more than 70% of 17 year olds

A very good piece of analysis was published by FE Week following the release of GCSE results data last week.

Just 27% of 17+ learners who took GCSE English achieved grade C or above leaving 93,000 failures who have wasted another year with Mark Dawe of AELP saying “Surely this is evidence enough that hitting students over the head with the same form of learning and assessment is not the way forward."

Maths was even worse with more than 120,000 failing again - just over 50,000 learners managed to turn their D into a C+.

The implications of the re-sit policy means that providers cannot offer the best or most appropriate qualification for many learners - the figures now show how big that problem really is.

Levy and FS reform - more

Apprenticeship levy funding video by SFA

SFA have released a 15 minutes video of a presentation by Una Bennett, the SFA's Deputy Director for Funding.

If you're used to the very high quality ForSkills training and resource videos, (more than 550 subscribers now, making the ForSkills channel by far and away the most popular in the sector), then you're probably going to be disappointed at the sound quality and relative dynamic method of presentation delivery, but all the information is there.

Click here for a link to the video.

Functional Skills Reform Programme

The final stage of the first phase of the Functional Skills Reform Programme gives awarding organisations, practitioners and others the opportunity to comment on proposals for the subject content for maths and English Functional Skills qualifications.

The opportunity to comment on the proposed subject content for Functional Skills represents the final stage of the first phase and is open until September 12th.

With revised qualifications due to be introduced in just 2 years time, now is a great time to get involved.

ForSkills summer update

It's been a busy summer at ForSkills!

On the company side
ForSkills is now part of the NCFE group. NCFE is a major Awarding Organisation well known throughout the sector for innovation, brilliant customer service and a fantastic organisation to work and for! ForSkills will continue to operate as autonomous company but with the backing and financial strength of a major educational charity behind us.

Maths and English
Assessments and diagnostics covering the new GCSE 9-1 specification have been released to support all customers who start delivering these in September.

Mobile
The ForSkills Go app now includes SkillsBuilder We have added a number of videos for SkillsBuilder (as well as general help and tips videos). These are linked to a learner’s Individual Skills Plan so they will be directed to the videos linked to the topic areas they need to work one.

New Sampling Plan Overview in SkillsPortfolio
We have added a Sampling Plan Overview grid that allows IQAs to see which types of evidence and units they have sampled evidence across from the planned sampling periods. This new grid also allows IQAs to plan the units and evidence type they wish to sample in the future and allows them to see quickly and visually where they have verified according to their plan.

Jonathan Wells

ForSkills, Guroo and NCFE

Apprenticeship Levy Update

Apprenticeship levy update consultation

You can't have missed the news about this. The Government published a discussion paper giving information for all employers on the proposed apprenticeships funding support package that will operate in England from May 2017. It includes how much employers will be able to spend on each apprenticeship and the rules employers will need to follow.

The lists of individual apprenticeships show you the proposed funding bands that will apply from May 2017. It is important to note that this is a consultation and the final support package will be confirmed in October 2016.

Access to the survey is here. Headlines from the update include:

• No change for English and maths. Training providers received £471 for each of these qualifications, as now when an individual is working towards an apprenticeship standard. This will come direct from the government and will not be deducted from an employer’s digital account.
• STEM (Science, technology, English and maths) pathways will receive funding increases.
• The training costs of 16-18 years old in small companies will be fully met by Government with additional incentives for certain categories of apprentice.
• The Government will pay 90% of the additional costs when the "levy pot" has been used providing the employer meets the 10% in cash.
• Significant changes to funding rates, which are being replaced by negotiated rates.
• New training register will be compulsory.
• Employers can use levy funds to retrain workers in new skills, even if they already have prior qualifications.
• Large employers with have a "digital account" at launch.

Small employers will have to pay 10% of training costs

Produced by Jonathan Wells
ForSKills
Guroo 
And now NCFE too!

Functional Skills reform programme

Functional Skills Reform Programme

As part of the Functional Skills Reform Programme, alongside the revision to the national standards for adult literacy and numeracy, ETF have also published draft subject content for maths and English Functional Skills qualifications.

The opportunity to comment on the proposed subject content for Functional Skills represents the final stage of the first phase and is open until September 12th.

Meanwhile, the opportunity to comment on the second draft of the revised standards for literacy and numeracy is open until this Friday 19 August - that's 5pm TODAY!

Jonathan Wells

ForSkills and Guroo and now part of the NCFE group too!

Reform Programme for Functional Skills

Functional Skills Reform Programme

Continuing to the next stage of the Functional Skills Reform Programme, ETF launch the consultation on the draft revised Standards for literacy and numeracy. These draft Standards will be available for feedback from 4th – 25th July.

The questionnaire and a link to both sets of Standards (along with FAQs) are available here: Participation from anyone with an interest in Functional Skills qualifications is welcomed by ETF and PyeTait.

I've read them and what jumps out to me is the extensive "real-life" nature of the examples given and the detail by which the standards are described.

It does show that Functional Skills reform programme is progressing well and I'm confident we'll end up with a rigorous, up to date and valuable set of qualifications moving forward.

Ofsted video about skills development in apprenticeships

Janet Rodgers, Ofsted's National Lead for Apprenticeships talks about developing skills on apprenticeships.

This video is part of a series from Ofsted's national leads, focusing on their specialisms and key issues in these areas.

Videos supporting maths and English skills GCSE and Functional Skills

Videos supporting learners in Functional Skills

Probability supporting maths level 1/2 and GCSE.

Writing a letter supporting English level 2 and GCSE - starts with a 2 minute clip from a real telephone complaint.

Possessive apostrophes supporting English at level 2 and GCSE.

Areas of different shapes supporting maths at level 2 and GCSE.

Complex sentences supporting English and entry 3 and level 1.

@if functions in Excel supporting ICT at level 2.

Negative numbers supporting maths at level 1 and level 2.

Suffixes supporting English at Entry 2 and Entry 3.

And finally, a slightly different take on how maths can be used to solve real life problems. This video is from the hugely entertaining and informative TED TALKS that last around 18 minutes. It looks at the maths behind dating with three top tips!

Ofsted focus on English and maths

Ofsted focus on maths and English

FE carry some very interesting data this week about the focus on maths and English applied by Ofsted in their FE inspections and how this is affecting "grades".

The number of inspections since September is up 25% to 51, with data researched by FE Week showing that almost 20% of Colleges have been given Grade 4 - inadequate.

And the major cause in many cases is maths and English. The full article makes an interesting read.

We also noticed a piece on the BBC Education website which raised a smile. I'm not certain how relevant it is the majority of law abiding hard working people in the UK, but the underlying message is very clear. We won't say more, except click here. 

Traineeships and the digital economy

Traineeships and the digital economy

It's generally accepted that Traineeships haven't had the impact that we all thought they would.

Less than 10% of 19-24 year olds who completed a traineeship then went onto to an apprenticeship, a figure that certainly shocked me.

This week, FE Week carries an analysis of research into some of the key reasons why.

Traineeships may be missing the point, on a similar theme; a BBC report about the digital economy also indicates issues.

Whilst 90% of all jobs require "digital skills to some degree", 12.6 million adults lack basic skills and 5.8 million have never used the internet at all.

"Digital exclusion has no place in 21st Century Britain," the Commons Science and Technology Committee said. "While the government is to be commended for the actions taken so far... stubborn digital exclusion and systemic problems with digital education and training need to be addressed as a matter of urgency in the government's forthcoming digital strategy," it continued.

Edition 226 newsletter

News

Where are traineeships heading? News that less than 10% of 19-24 year olds who complete a traineeship, subsequently progress to an apprenticeship is putting the programme under threat with calls for a review of the programme.

After three years of reform, says Baroness Wolf in her evidence to the Commons committee on education & skills. She suggested that the focus on numbers was holding back reform of the process.

Students aged 16-18 with a grade D GCSE on study programmes will have two more chances to re-sit their "old style" GCSE in 2016/17 after the SFA confirmed an additional re-sit window for June 2017. Students who are genuinely on courses to progress their skills will continue to be funded, but those simply re-sitting exams will not.

The impact of the levy will affect SMEs too. The government is introducing a new Apprenticeship Levy from April 2017, which will affect larger businesses and require smaller firms to make upfront cash payments for training. Under government proposals, any smaller company with around 110 or fewer staff, who don’t pay the levy, will find themselves having to pay thousands of pounds up front for each apprentice they take on to cover the cost of accredited training.

Schools are worried too about the new maths GCSE. Half way through the teaching programme for the new cohort, Professor Anne Watson has said "that while the eventual plan is for a “more numerate population” her “expectation is that first of all there is likely to be a mess due to the scale and pace of the imposed change.”

Support materials for ForSkills customers

Support materials from ForSkills

These are all available to everyone, old customers, new customers and non-customers alike.

Paper based initial assessment booklets for maths, English and ICT costing £1 each.

Paper based screeners for maths, English and ICT costing 30p each.

A3 learner journey posters that are available free of charge on request.

Report of the results of the 2016 maths and English survey, free on request.

Published research report - The positive effects of using e-learning resources on the success rates and progression of learners, free on request.

A wide range of free videos accessed via the ForSkills YouTube channel.

Get in touch. If there's anything you'd like.

edition 225 of the newsletter

This week we focus on videos, specifically videos that help learners and tutors with Functional Skills. We've chosen three examples for maths (Pythagoras), English (Implicit meaning) and ICT (@if functions) and made them all available on the ForSkills YouTube channel.

Also this week, we have a couple of links to some interesting apprenticeships articles. Next week, I get a break as for many (including me) it's holiday time - back mid-June!

ForSkills YouTube Channel - click to subscribe. 70,000+ views, 100+ videos with over 100,000 minutes watched and a fast growing subscriber list, and it's all free - what's not to like?

As always, feel free to contact Jonathan Wells, the editor of this newsletter on 0191 3055045 or jonathan@forskills.co.uk

World class apprenticeships

An academic research report by Mieschbuehler, R. and Hooley, T of the University of Derby has been published.

The aim of this research was to identify world-class apprenticeship standards and to make suggestions as to how these could be applied to the English system.

By ‘world class’ we mean that the standards described are acknowledged to be among the best in the world. Thirteen indicators for world-class apprenticeship standards were identified through the research and these have been divided into four sub-sections: (1) training, (2) skills and expertise, (3) recognition and (4) progression

Click here to access the report.

Oliver Trailor of Runway Training posted an article on LinkedIn about his experiences of Apprenticeships - just a page or two and worth a look.