Functional Skills

Students Support

What are Functional Skills?

Functional Skills are practical skills in English, mathematics and ICT that help learners in every day settings, including education and training. They are part of the full range of 14-19 and post -19 programmes. All learners on full-time courses will have functional skills as part of their programme of study. They aim to increase achievement in all learning, improve employability and provide a sound basis for progression to further study or training.

Functional Skills will also help develop other important skills such as team work, presentation and problem solving.

Assessment will be based mainly through practical tasks, such as scenarios with questions in a limited time, where you will be able to demonstrate your skills and problem solving techniques.

Functional Skills are common to all our lives. They help make sense of daily life, from working out which deal is best value, to writing an application letter or surfing the internet. They are about using English, maths and ICT in everyday situations.

They are essential for:

getting the most from education and training
personal development of all young people and adults
developing employability skills

Why develop skills?

Learners who study to improve their skills often find that they are better equipped to successfully complete their vocational courses and progress to employment or higher education.

Employers have already told us they value people with practical skills and knowledge that can be used in a range of real-life situations to work out solutions to everyday problems.

Universities have told us that developing functional skills as part of the curriculum and learning routes mean young people and adults entering higher education are more able to focus right away on their course and can cope with what comes their way.

How you can develop your skills

You will have the opportunity to develop your skills when you study at the College. You will study either maths, English or ICT depending on your course. You will study at a level that suits you. Your learning aim will be set after an initial assessment period during which you will identify your skills strengths and the areas which you need to develop.

Functional Skills can be studied at entry level up to level 2. The level you will study at will reflect the outcomes of the assessment period at the start of the academic year.