Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Functional Skills newsletter Sept 24th

September 24th - the Functional Skills newsletter
What a busy Autumn!  The focus on English and maths has really taken hold and confidence in Functional Skills is at an all-time high (more on this based on the survey in the next newsletter).  And the evidence is much more than anecdotal, Guroo are recording website usage levels more than five times higher than this time last year with more than 5000 initial assessments being completed each week.
So a packed newsletter this week with features about politics, 16-19 accountability measures, events and as always, links to the ever popular webinar series.
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
16-19 Accountability Consultation
The Government published a 10 week consultation on how new 16-19 accountability measures will be applied to FE and Sixth form colleges.  
The consultation indicates there will be 5 key measures in new 16 to 19 performance tables covering attainment, destinations, completion, progress, and combined attainment and completion.
A key driver in developing the tables is a new measure to show how well post-16 providers do in helping young people get a C or better in English and maths. As of this academic year, all young people who go into post-16 education without a grade C in those subjects must continue to study them until they get at least Level 2 in Maths and English, typically following the Functional Skills route.
Pearson publish a very useful summary of the current position. Pearson Policy Watch
And the Government Press release from 13 September is here.  Government Consultation
Apprenticeship recruitment, traineeships and politics
There has been a lot of political comment about Apprenticeships and Traineeships recently.  The excellent linkedin group run by Lindsay McCurdey and available at tracks many of the political developments, some of which are summarised below.  
Some FE Colleges are requiring applicants to already have a grade C GCSE in maths and English before accepting an application.  Original comment by Jonathan Wells based on a FE Week investigation. 
At the Labour Party conference, a new policy was proposed where employers who recruit a “tier 2” employee from outside of the EC would then have to create an Apprenticeship opportunity in the same area of work.  
On the negative side of Traineeships, reports of employer abuse over working hours and no pay from FE Week.
On the positive side of Traineeships, OCR celebrates the first 25 successful trainees. This video gives the learners perspective of the pilot.
World of Learning Conference
The conference and exhibition season starts shortly with the first major event of the year being held at Birmingham NEC on 1/2 October.  Guroo will be exhibiting on stand J100 featuring their all new Exam Practice solution, the unique Pay As You Go pricing option and all visitors will be able to collect the brand new Learner Journey Poster. 
Apprenticeships4England have announced 4/5 March as their conference date and again, Guroo is one of the sponsors of this event.
We're expecting a January date for the next All Things Functional Event organised by EMSKills and don't forget Learning Technologies/Learning and Skills in January. 
Wednesday Webinar at 4.00pm

"The Learner Journey" is Wednesday's webinar with Jonathan Wells, on Wednesday 25th September at 4pm.  Join us and get your free poster!
A look at the complete Learner Journey.  And as a special "treat", everyone who joins us live on Wednesday will be sent a brand new, full colour, A0, pre-production Learner Journey poster.  But even with this enticement, we know that many more people enjoy coming back for the recording afterwards, so if you want to join or just want to watch the recording, just drop an email to info@guroo.co.uk
Join us on Wednesday 25th September at 4pm.
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 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.

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Monday, 9 September 2013

Colleges introducing a Catch 22 for Maths and English?

A report in FE Week this morning suggests that a significant number of Level 2 Apprenticeships being advertised, require the applicant to have already passed GCSE A*-C in Maths and English.

Is this so the providers (Colleges in the main) can avoid having to teach English and maths, specifically Functional Skills?  Forgive me, but surely, this is the purpose of 16+ Learning Providers?

If providers are allowed to sidestep this requirement and cherry pick the students they want to teach presumeably because it takes less time, pass rates are better and therefore they get more money for doing less, then we'll be faced with an even bigger and ever growing problem of NEETS.

Carrying this policy forward, it will mean that far from RPA being raised to 17 then 18 as an inclusive measure and ALL 17 and 18 years olds continuing to study Maths and English, it will go the other way - ONLY those with GCSE A*-C at age 16 will be able to take part in further education because those without this will be rejected at the application stage.

So come on BIS, SFA and other interested parties, get this sorted quickly.


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Tuesday, 3 September 2013

Functional Skills or GCSE now compulsory for 16/17 year olds

"250,000 school leavers each year suffer a huge impairment to life and work"
The Government confirmed on Monday that 16 year old school leavers who hadn't passed GCSE maths and English at grade C or above would be expected to continue studying the subjects.  Skills minister Matthew Hancock said the requirement to keep studying English and maths was not about re-sitting exams but about continuing to develop these essential skills.
"For those who fail to get a C at GCSE, it's a huge impairment to their future life, their ability to participate not just in work but also as a citizen," he said.  BBC report and video interview with Matthew Hancock.
Whilst the major news stories focussed on GCSE re-sits, the Government announcement re-enforces the importance and value of Functional Skills in the learner journey.
"Those who have not achieved a C or better in GCSE maths or English will ideally study GCSEs. However, they may take other qualifications – including functional skills and free-standing mathematics qualifications accredited by Ofqual - as a stepping stone to GCSE study.
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Monday, 2 September 2013

Functional Skills Exam Practice from Guroo
Contact Guroo on info@guroo.co.uk or 0191 305 5045 for more information.
Guroo 3.1 is now live featuring "Exam Practice".  Guroo customers on the "All Inclusive" price plan automatically received free access, everyone else can add the system independently and cost-effectively, including those who use alternative products such as BKSB.  
"Exam Practice" is unique, all questions have been developed by Functional Skills examiners, they feature full mark schemes for tutors, feedback options and even secure file upload and review for ICT questions.  Best of all, it is offered as a completely standalone option so even non-Guroo customers can simply add "Exam Practice" to their existing portfolio of resources. 


At the heart of the EP system is a bank of 72 exam style questions.  Key features of the questions include:
  • ·         12 questions at two levels (Level 1 and Level 2) and in each subject (Maths, English and ICT) – note that 4 questions in each level/subject are available at launch
  • ·         A number of scenarios are offered at both levels to give the learner (and tutors) an understanding of the differences in expectations between levels
  • ·         Each question is designed to have 15 marks and take 20 minutes
  • ·         On screen tools include a clock, calculator, drawing tools and secure file upload system for data-files and applications
  • ·         Scenario always includes mark allocation guidelines to support learners.
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Tuesday, 16 July 2013

Functional Skills newsletter - annual survey

July 16th - the Functional Skills Annual Survey 2013
It's that time of year again and over the summer we hope to collect and analyse several hundred responses to the 2013 Functional Skills Annual Survey.  
This is a 10 minute, 20 question (and many questions are short with just one answer option) view of the Functional Skills market with sections on:
  • Preparedness and confidence
  • Awarding organisations
  • Resource and initial assessment providers
  • Functional Skills in the curriculum 
It is the third time we have run the survey and many questions are the same or similar so we can track changes over time.  We are lucky to have sponsors for some of the questions to fund both a prize draw and make a charity donation to encourage as many responses as we can.  The results of the survey will be published in the Autumn in this newsletter.
Simply click here to go to the Survey Monkey page to complete the survey.
Please note that only a limited number of questions are "must answer" so even if you only have experience in one area, you can skip those questions which don't apply.  Your views will still count and if you leave your contact details you will be entered into a prize draw for a Samsung Galaxy Tablet.

As always, your comments and thoughts are appreciated - the editor of the newsletter and survey is Jonathan Wells - jwells@guroo.co.uk
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Tuesday, 2 July 2013

July 2nd Functional Skills Newsletter

July 2nd - the Functional Skills newsletter
This week, we have summarised the possible effect of the spending review and put this into the wider context of a significant drop in apprenticeship starts.  With thanks to EMSkills, we have a link to the latest funding guidance including the guidance on QCF progression Qualifications for 19+ adults. 
Plus we have been asked to let readers know there are opportunities for Functional Skills Assessors with CL Partners, so we have, and finally we have updated links to all the webinar recordings - now the most popular method of viewing our webinars.
As always, your comments and thoughts are appreciated - let us know what you'd like us to cover in the newsletter by emailing the editor - jwells@guroo.co.uk
As always, your comments and thoughts are appreciated - let us know what you'd like us to cover in the newsletter by emailing the editor - jwells@guroo.co.uk

A new streamline funding system for adults

The introduction of QCF "Progression Qualifications" for adults with low credit values has caused some confusion in the funding arena.
The SFA guidance has been updated to include 1 and 2 credit awards in English and maths worth respectively £50 and £100 for 19+ learners.  The full document can be downloaded here.
And many thanks to EMSKills, for they have produced a very simple one page guide to funding shown below.  If you'd like it in A4 format, just click here to access this.
EM Skills provide this information in good faith but do not accept any responsibility for decisions taken. (This information is correct at the time of writing)

Spending review brings possible gain now but pain later
The spending review and recent announcements from the various departments about current spending brought a mixed bag of news this week.  The TES reported that "New figures for the first nine months of the 2012-13 academic year show a 6 per cent drop in overall apprenticeship starts compared with the previous year, and more worryingly a 13 per cent drop in starts for 16- to 18-year-olds."   
In the spending review, for the curriculum year 2015/16, the BIS Department funding is being cut by 6% and that means that the FE and Skills sector will see around £260m taken from their budgets.  That's the bad news and compared to the Education Department (ring fenced budgets) it certainly appears bad, but the general opinion from comments such as FE News is that it could have been worse.
Why - well spending on 19+ Apprenticeships is being maintained in real terms.  Matthew Hancock (Minister for Skills) said "In tough times, this is a positive outcome for skills with funding for 19+ apprenticeships protected and the extension of traineeships to those between 19 and 24".  But he added that funding for the 16-19 sector will be reformed to "improve value for money".
FE Week has full details of the extension of traineeships to the 19-24 sector.
Wednesday Webinar at 4.00pm
"Exam practice" is Wednesday's webinar with Jonathan Wells.
Last time we ran a webinar on exam practice it was really popular on playback.  We've implemented many of the changes and suggestions so this week, we'll have a further look at exam practice using English and ICT as examples this time.   
So this week's webinar is a brief look at how this is developing and comments and suggestions will be most welcome.  "Exam Practice" is aimed at both customers and those thinking of becoming customers. As always we find that many more people enjoy coming back for the recording afterwards, but if you'd like to be live, just drop an email to info@guroo.co.uk
Join us on Wednesday at 4pm.
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 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.

Guroo group and user admin
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Tuesday, 18 June 2013

Functional Skills News - Conference papers, initial assessment, AELP survey and webinars

June 18th - the Functional Skills newsletter
This week we have news of research into Functional Skills Initial Assessment based on independent research of the results of more than 700 learners by a large FE College.  The paper covers the research itself, the analysis and data, the implications and how the research has influenced how initial assessment has been developments.
We also have a news report about how Ofsted is looking to extend the focus on progression that we're already seen coming through in post 16 education into performance league tables.
And with less than two weeks to the "All Things Functional" conference and exhibition in Birmingham, we're got updated news on speakers and highlights of the show including the first public view of the brand new Exam Practice routines on Guroo's stand.
Plus we have updated news of events and links to all the webinar recordings - now the most popular method of viewing our webinars.
As always, your comments and thoughts are appreciated - let us know what you'd like us to cover in the newsletter by emailing the editor - jwells@guroo.co.uk

 

All Things Functional Curriculum Conference

‘Really enjoyed it and found the conference a good use of my day. High quality resources appreciated.’  Angela Tchetchner, Leicester College.
‘Very informative conference. I can’t wait to share my findings with my team.’  Monica Marongiu, College of North West London.
A very successful day in Birmingham on Friday with key notes from NIACE, Walsall College and Ofsted, more than 100 delegates and the promise of a further conference in November.  Downloads of all the presentations are available here and the picture below shows Cathy Vaissieres of Guroo the evening before as the Guroo stand build was being completed.

Functional Maths achievement still causing concerns
The initial assessment white paper based on comparative research data by a major FE college and more than 50,000 completed initial assessments using Guroo is now fully available from www.guroo.co.uk  Simply click to download from the information bar at the top of the screen.
One of the most interesting parts of large scale research is looking at the national picture.  David Hughes of NIACE, speaking at the "All Things Functional" event in Birmingham last week, said "We need to stop the attitude of it's OK to be bad at Maths".  We couldn't agree more but we also know there is a long way to go.
How do we know that - the graph below shows the average initial assessment score across 20,000 maths assessments was working towards L1, a result that on average is 0.4 levels below the equivalent English result and 1.5 levels below the Government's longer term target of Level 2 for all Apprenticeships.

So far, so good say AELP members
LSIS and AELP have released a further study entitled "Functional Skills - six months into delivery".
It's a generally supportive view that shows significant progress has been made and Functional Skills has found support amongst AELP members.  One thing did catch our attention and that was the take-up of GCSE provision which based on the survey of 93 organisations was just 2% as a stand alone qualification and 1% as part of an apprenticeship.  
In terms of success rates, Functional Skills are proving to be more rigorous than Key Skills, with early results showing 17% of providers finding success rates have increased with 44% the same and 39% decrease.  

Wednesday Webinar at 4.00pm
"Exam practice" is Wednesday's webinar with Jonathan Wells.
The Guroo team are in the middle of developing an extensive exam practice system which will feature more than 70 x 15 mark (20 minute) Functional Skills scenario questions, all with mark guidelines for learners and marking templates for tutors.  
This week's webinar is a brief look at how this is developing and comments and suggestions will be most welcome.  "Exam Practice" is aimed at both customers and those thinking of becoming customers. As always we find that many more people enjoy coming back for the recording afterwards, but if you'd like to be live, just drop an email to info@guroo.co.uk
Join us on Wednesday at 4pm.
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 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.

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