Functional Skills Questions and Answers

What is the timeline from Key Skills to Functional Skills?
· Key skills (English, Maths and ICT) expired on 31 August 2010 except as part of an Apprenticeship which go on to 30/09/12
· The last certification date for Key skills (English, Maths and ICT) is 30 September 2013
· Wider Key skills have been extended to August 2012
· From Sept 2010 Functional Skills are a component part of all 4 national suites of qualifications

What Functional Skills are IMI Awards offering?
IMI Awards is working with a group of other awarding organisations to offer a more flexible Functional Skills solution to our centre network, who predominately offers vocational qualifications.

The following Functional Skills are offered by IMI Awards and are available for registration now:
English Entry Level 3,  Level 1 and Level 2
Maths  Entry Level 3, Level 1 and Level 2
ICT  Level 1 and Level 2

There are no plans for anything higher than level 2 for Functional Skills, and ICT Entry Level 3 will be available soon.


How are Functional Skills assessments delivered?
IMI Awards offer an on-demand service for our Functional Skills onscreen assessments. The on-screen assessments are available to schedule anytime up to six weeks in advance.  Assessments are provided via an on-line on demand system that allows centres and employers to plan assessments at a time that suits them and the learner.  There are also paper based alternatives where required. For assessment and results release dates and the paper assessment dates for English and Maths, please click here

Results release:
Results are not on-demand and will be available on the below dates:
07/03/2012
25/04/2012
08/06/2012
18/07/2012
30/08/2012
17/10/2012
05/12/2012

Why aren't the results immediate if it's on-line on demand?
The candidate will enter their responses into an on-line system (via a link on the IMI Awards website) for each of their Functional Skills assessments.  Each assessment then follows a process of manual marking, standardisation and awarding (pass mark setting) before the results can be sent back to the awarding body.

What do the functional skills assessments look like - what do they consist of?
The assessments requires the learner to use their processing skills - each assessment presents the learner with a real life scenario and they will be asked to perform task based, or task and test based assessments and provide responses.  This can involve the use of the PC, calculator, dictionary etc. as they would in a work placed scenario, but it will still be conducted in an exam/test environment with invigilation required. Sample assessment material and practice on-screen assessments are available on the IMI Awards website. (Please note if your screen resolution does not show the entire practice on-screen assessment press F11.)

How long will each assessment take?
 Maths    1.5 hours
 English Reading & Writing 1.5 - 2 hours
 ICT    2  hours

Reasonable Adjustments:

Centres are permitted to give 25% extra time for a reasonable adjustment without seeking prior permission. In these cases, centres are required to keep records for inspection. 
If more than 25% additional time is required, the centre will need to notify IMI Awards.

What if the learner fails, how soon can they re-sit?
You will have to wait for the results (see Results release above). The system will not allow a candidate to sit the same paper.  Tohelp learners prepare for their first assessment, there will be  practice  papers which will let them get used to the assessment environment, typing responses and also provide assessors with high level feedback on the learners abilities.


How many times can a learner take a re-sit?
As many times is required for the learner to pass.  However you will need to check with IMI Awards regarding re-sit fees. It is important to note that the apprenticeship will not be complete without the Functional Skills elements. 


Are there any exemptions / relaxations allowed?
The SASE have stated that only for Level 2 Apprenticeships when a learner has an A* to C grade in the relevant GCSE.  The exemption/relaxation will be allowed but it will clearly be stated in their apprenticeship certificate.


Who will issue our certificates?
Once confirmation has been received that a learner has passed their assessment and the certification has been claimed, IMI Awards will issue the certificate in the normal way.


What is the registration fee?
The registration fee is £12.50 for each subject and level.

Do assessors / lecturers need to have specific qualifications for delivery of Functional Skills?
No, where they have been teaching /assessing key skills they will have the necessary level of knowledge to deliver functional skills.  However we do recommend that staff and assessors take one of the practice tests to ensure they are familiar with the methodology before delivery to learners.


What teaching materials are available to assist in the delivery?
The Functional Skills criteria document can be found on the IMI Awards website (see below for details).  We also have sample assessment material and schemes of work to assist our centres with the delivery.


What is the guided learning hours for Functional Skills?
45 hours per route per level.


Next steps
Over the coming weeks and months we will continue developing various supporting materials.

In addition, we will continue to work on aligning our core processes to ensure that our centre network encounters a streamlined set of arrangements as they progress with offering Functional Skills.