With City and Guilds Functional Skills courses popping up everywhere we want to ask, do we really need Functional Skills? With sites like International Home Study now offering functional skills, they are more accessible then ever.
What are Functional Skills?
City and Guilds Functional Skills are life Skills that help you through everyday life and help you with employment and furthering the education you already have. You receive a Functional Skills qualification showing that you have a minimum grasp on English, Maths and ICT. There are four levels of Functional Skills which are entry 1, entry 2, entry 3, level 1 and level 2. Entry level 1, 2 and 3 tends to be for people who are just entering learning. Level 1 is the same as getting a GCSE D-G grade or between a 1-4. Level 2 is between GCSE grade A* – C or 4-9. Functional Skills was brought in September 2012 to replace Key Skills level 1 and level 2 qualifications. This is part of a government initiative to improve English, Maths and ICT.
In the current education system if you get below a C/4 in your Maths, English or ICT GCSE you can complete Functional Skills instead of resitting your GCSEs. If you decide to do an apprenticeship Functional Skills is commonly taught alongside the trade you are learning. This will make you more employable and give you more chance of landing a job after the apprenticeship.
When might we use it?
We use English and Maths every day in our life most the time without even realising it, so to have these Skills really helps you to be free and independent in the world we live in today. They are also equivalent to GCSEs making them great for employment and can be a good alternative to GCSEs. Making you more employable and receive more opportunities. Employers tend to look for City and Guilds Functional Skills as this is what is taught most commonly around.
What age group is this for?
Functional Skills are usually introduced to people in GCSE and taken throughout college. However Functional Skills can be taken at any time, and you can even find City and Guilds Functional Skills online courses making it more flexible for you.
City and Guilds Functional Skills
City and Guilds offers Functional Skills to a variety of different academic settings. City and Guilds support many types of vocations. Founded in 1878 at The City and Guilds of London Institute and was founded by the City of London and 16 livery companies. This is to promote the standard of technician education.
For English you will learn to contribute to discussions, present information, understand pieces of writing, compare pieces of writing and create pieces of writing to get ideas across clearly.
In Maths you will learn to understand and solve simple problems, use Maths to check information and interpret numbers in real-life situations.
ICT will show you how to use computers to help you in life and work, to use folders to store information, the best way to find information and how to use computer programmes to present information in the best way.
Final Thoughts!
As we can see from the above, there are many skills to be achieved from functional skills courses and if you are looking for an awarding body who is a credible choice City and Guilds Functional Skills may be the way forward.
