| John Hayes, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, announced yesterday at the Association of Learning Providers (ALP) conference that key skills in Apprenticeship frameworks will be extended until March 2011. This means that you now have the choice of offering either functional skills or key skills to your learners until 31 March 2011.
The Minister stressed that this is a temporary measure to allow more flexibility for providers while they finalise their preparations for delivery of functional skills from April 2011, when the new Apprenticeship frameworks are due to come into force.
Please note that this is not a postponement of functional skills, but rather a period of dual running alongside key skills.
We're delighted that this decision has been made, as it will give us more time to work closely with you to ensure a smooth transition to functional skills. As part of this transition, we will continue to offer free training programmes and a comprehensive range of tutor and learner resources to support you in the delivery of functional skills.
As we are already accredited to offer functional skills in all subjects at all levels, if you do wish to implement functional skills, either on a trial or full basis, you can do so from September 2010.
For the full announcement, please visit the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills website.
Contact us
To find out more about our functional skills offer:
- email fsdevelopment@edexcel.com
- call 0844 576 0028, or
- visit www.edexcel.com/functionalskills. |