Functional Skills
schools and colleges, exam bodies, the
Qualifications and Curriculum Development
Agency (QCDA), Ofqual and interested
parties such as government, universities and
employer organisations.
Schools want standard tests so they can
help students to pass, the QCDA wants a
rigorous qualification that proves students
have the skills, not just the certificate. Exam
bodies prefer easy-to-mark multiple-choice
assessments, employers want people who are
good at problem-solving not box-ticking,
colleges would like to see consistently higher
pass rates, universities complain about
differentiation.
The biggest danger in assessment is trying to
second guess what will happen. Best advice at
the moment is to forget about the assessment
and concentrate on the teaching and learning
of skills on the basis that if you know the shelf-life, and prices quoted by the kilo, package thousands of others), yet all are based on
skills, it does not matter what the assessment or unit. Last week at the supermarket, I was essentially the same type of comparison, values,
is – you’ll still pass. faced with these options: ethics and prejudices.
• 500g pre-packaged chantenay carrots with We certainly do not walk into the
Blank sheets 1/3 extra for 75p. supermarket with a set of guidance notes
In trying to think about the best way to • 1.5kg smart price carrots of varying sizes and a calculator, so we should not expect our
describe what functional means, I came up for £1. students to do that either.
with this “blank sheets” expression. As we • Loose carrots at 89p per kilo. What this example does show is that the
move towards Level 2, students are going • 750g bag of carrots available on two packs functional part of Functional Skills is diverse
to be faced with a problem. That’s it, just a for £2 with potatoes. and complex, cutting across subject areas and
problem. As we all are in everyday life. • 300g washed, sliced and diced for £1.39 or demanding that students have the ability to
Often the problem will not have a “correct” buy two for £2.50. apply skills in a wide variety of contexts.
answer, very few problems in real life actually • 750g bag of carrots reduced to 59p (best-
do. It certainly will not come with four easy- before same day). Where next?
to-digest choices. Instead, we will be expected • 250g bunch of organic carrots with tops I am pretty confident that the underlying
to come up with a range of options, assess and at £1.89. learning and skills that students will need
compare them, and choose the one that suits • 200g pack of baby carrots imported from to practise within Functional Skills are now
us best depending on the situation. Kenya at £1.49. essentially set.
I am completely confident that assessment
of Functional Skills is going to change.
‘
Forget about the assessment and concentrate
Indeed, it would not surprise me at all if
Functional Skills assessments were changed
on the teaching and learning of skills on the every round, so the focus will always be on the
basis that if you know the skills, it does not
functional aspect of the skills and less on the test.
One thing is certain though, change is with
matter what the assessment is – you’ll still pass
us all the time. Even a change of government
We justify that decision to ourselves or to The functional part of Functional S
others, we base that justification on our own
values, opinions and needs, and often we make
that decision quickly. Crucially, we are rarely
guided towards that decision so we start pretty
much every problem with a blank sheet of paper.
’
will not make a problem go away; it will just
change the problem. And now that we have
kills solved the carrot problem, there’s just the rest
basically means saying what we would choose of our lives to sort out! DD
and why. There is no “right” answer, there is
no “correct” way to approach the problem. • Jonathan Wells in managing director of Guroo,
Making a choice often means balancing a company that develops resources for the 14 to
several issues such as price against quality or 19 UK education sector. He writes and speaks
taste, the absence of chemicals against food extensively about Functional Skills through
An example – supermarket values miles, maybe just how good something looks www.functionalskills.blogspot.com and www.
Think about the bewildering array of options on the dinner table. functionalskills.org. He is also due to take part
that are available in a typical fresh produce aisle Now that we have sorted out carrots, that in the Functional Skills workshop at the Fifth
in a supermarket – two for one; buy one get still leaves the potatoes, apples, frozen peas, National Delivering Diplomas conference on
one half price; low-cost ranges; pre-packaged petrol, electricity supplier, mortgage rate March 18, 2010. See www.deliveringdiplomas.
and loose; premium ranges; reductions for short and choice of university to sort out (among com for more.
20 Delivering Diplomas • Volume 2 No 1 Spring 2010
18-19 functional skills.indd 4 5/3/10 11:38:32
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52