New qualification pioneered in Nuneaton
Pioneers in a new way of learning have successfully gained qualification and picked up their certificates.
The voluntary learners from Employment Training Warwickshire (ETW), Grove Road, Nuneaton, have now collected their functional skills certificates after taking part in the trials earlier this year.
All of the learners who took part did so on a voluntary basis and the feedback gathered has helped to develop the standards to be used in the three-year pilot which got underway last month. The full qualification will be introduced for first teaching in 2010.
Cllr Chris Saint, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, said: “Functional Skills are practical skills in English, mathematics and information technology and are vital to the personal development of all learners aged 14 and above. The functional skills qualification will be widely available in schools, colleges and the workplace and will be a standalone qualification.”
The full GCSE qualification will require both GCSE and functional skills to be gained before accreditation can be awarded from A* - C from 2010.