The Key Skills Qualification is a frequently required component of 14-20 education in England,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. The aim of Key Skills is to encourage learners to develop and demonstrate their skills as well as learn how to select and apply skills in ways that are appropriate to their particular context.
It is generally available in secondary schools (alongside
GCSE
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
s,
A-levels
The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
or other qualifications),
Further Education
Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...
colleges (alongside
NVQ
National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are practical work-based awards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are achieved through assessment and training. The regulatory framework supporting NVQs was withdrawn in 2015 and replaced by the ...
, as part of Apprenticeship training or other equivalent vocational or academic courses) and other places of learning (sometimes alongside other qualifications and sometimes independently). The qualifications can be taken at levels 1-4.
The
Department for Children, Schools and Families
Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education. DCSF was replac ...
in England and th
Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skillsin Wales define Key Skills as "a range of essential skills that underpin success in education, employment, lifelong learning and personal development". The DfES website states that the Key Skills Qualification is offered as a response to concern from employers about lack of essential skills in young recruits and as part of the response to the 1996
Dearing Report
The Dearing Report, formally known as the reports of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, is a series of major reports into the future of Higher Education in the United Kingdom, published in 1997. The report was commissioned by ...
. Key Skills qualifications at levels 2-4 attract
UCAS
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS ) is a UK-based organisation whose main role is to operate the application process for British universities. It operates as an independent charity, funded by fees charged to applicants an ...
br>
Tariff pointsfor University admissions. The UCAS tariff is a points system used to report achievement for entry to higher education (HE) in a numerical format.
Subjects
Key Skills Qualifications are offered in six areas:
*Communication
: speaking, listening, reading and writing skills
*Application of Number
: interpreting information involving numbers, carrying out calculations, interpreting results and presenting findings
*Information Communication Technology
: finding, exploring, developing and presenting information including text, images and numbers
*Working with others
: includes process and
interpersonal skills
A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called social ...
to support working cooperatively with others to achieve shared objectives, work cooperatively and have regard for others
*Improving own learning and performance
: developing independent learners who are clearly focused on what they want to achieve and able to work towards targets that will improve the quality of their learning and performance. The standards include process skills, e.g., target-setting,
planning
Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is consi ...
, learning, reviewing and interpersonal skills, e.g., communicating own needs, accepting constructive feedback, negotiating learning opportunities and support
*Problem solving
: encouraging learners to develop and demonstrate their ability to tackle problems systematically, for the purpose of working towards their solution and learning from this process. Three types or combinations of problems are dealt with: diagnostic problems that depend primarily on analysis to arrive at conclusions, design problems that depend mainly on synthesis to create a product or process, and
contingency problems that typically involve
resource allocation
In economics, resource allocation is the assignment of available resources to various uses. In the context of an entire economy, resources can be allocated by various means, such as markets, or planning.
In project management, resource allocation ...
and gaining the cooperation of others, e.g. when organising an event
The first three Key Skills are sometimes referred to as the 'main' Key Skills. They incorporate the basic skills of
literacy
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...
and
numeracy
Numeracy is the ability to understand, reason with, and to apply simple numerical concepts. The charity National Numeracy states: "Numeracy means understanding how mathematics is used in the real world and being able to apply it to make the bes ...
. The remaining three are often referred to as the 'wider' or 'soft' Key Skills.
Assessment arrangements for Key Skills vary between England, Wales and Northern Ireland (see below). Key Skills may be examined in a variety of ways including internal, external or set tasks. Internal assessment means the production of a portfolio of work demonstrating satisfaction of the Key Skills targets. The Internal assessment (portfolio) must be internally verified and externally moderated. External assessment consists of a test or examination in the subject, often in formal examination conditions. Set tasks are similar to portfolios without the flexibility of the latter.
Levels and progression
The Qualifications are offered over four levels: level one, two, three and four. These levels correspond to the levels used for other qualifications within the national qualifications framework. Progression to a higher level is characterised by:
- greater autonomy from the individual in deciding how they will apply their skills to suit different tasks and problems
- greater demands made by the situation in which the skills are applied
- use of a wider range and more complex techniques.
Key Skills Level 1 helps candidates to develop the basic skills that are important for key skills competence, and recognises their ability to apply these skills in meeting given purposes within routine situations. Level 1 is broadly related in terms of level of demand, to GCSE grades D-G or National Curriculum level 5.
Key Skills Level 2 builds on level 1 by requiring candidates to extend their basic skills. It recognises their ability to take responsibility for some decisions about how they select and apply these skills to meet the demands of largely straightforward tasks. Level 2 can be broadly related, in terms of level of demand, to GCSE grades A*–C.
Key Skills Level 3 marks a shift from straightforward tasks to being capable of responding to the demands of more complex activities. Candidates need to demonstrate more explicit reasoning ability and personal responsibility in making decisions about how tasks are organised. Level 3 can be broadly related, in terms of level of demand, to an A grade at A level
The higher levels, levels 4 and 5, describe those skills relevant to technical and professional situations and higher level study.
Key Skills Level 4 requires candidates to have substantial autonomy and responsibility for managing activities and for identifying how the key skills relate to their situation. It recognises ability to develop a strategy for using key skills over an extended period of time, monitor and critically reflect on progress and adapt strategy, as necessary, to achieve the quality of outcomes required.
At Key Skill Level 5, there is a single standard (personal skills development). This standard requires candidates to apply their key skills in communication, working with others and problem solving, in an integrated way, in order to improve their own learning and performance in managing professionally challenging work.
Source:
QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
The Key Skills Qualifications Standards and Guidance, 2004.
Key Skills Awards
According to the UK National Statistics office, up to September 2006, almost 2.2 million Key Skills qualifications had been awarded. There were 692 thousand awards of Key Skills qualifications in 2005/06 alone. 522 thousand of all Key Skills qualifications were for main Key Skills, up 19 per cent on the previous year. 170 thousand of all Key Skills qualifications were for wider Key Skills, up 61 per cent on the previous year.
The most popular key skills continue to be communication awards (206 thousand awards in 2005/06 compared to 150 thousand ICT awards. Application of Number is still the fastest growing main Key Skill qualification, up by 27 per cent on the previous year to 166 thousand
Since their introduction as a Qualification in 2004, the wider key skills continue to grow. Between 2004/05 and 2005/06, there was an increase of at least 60 per cent in the number of awards for each of the wider Key Skills such that wider Key Skills accounted for almost a quarter of awards of all Key Skills qualifications in 2005/06, compared with around a
fifth in 2004/05.
Source: [Department for Education and Skills
rsgateway/DB/SFR/ AWARDS OF KEY SKILLS QUALIFICATIONS: 2005/06 SFR 14/2007.
England
Schools generally determine the level of entrance dependent on past achievement. Those who achieved under grade C at
GCSE
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
in the corresponding subject (English, Mathematics or Information Technology respectively) are asked to take the corresponding level two Qualification. Those who achieved over grade C at
GCSE
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
are recommended to take level three or four.
Those who take the corresponding subjects at AS/A-level (or equivalent) are generally excluded from the external assessment in that subject, as the completion of the corresponding subject certifies the academic achievement required.
By 2010 the main three key skills will be replaced by Functional Skills in England, which will form part of the new Specialised Diploma Framework. The wider key skills will continue to be accredited.
Proxy
Students with a GCSE (or equiv.) up to grade D in the subject associated to the Key Skill (i.e. IT, English or Maths) are exempt from taking the test for level 1 and can be entered for a proxy, this means that only the portfolio need be completed. The same applies to level 2 Key Skills if the student has a GCSE (or equiv.) grade C or above.
The exception to this is Key Skills ICT where a proxy makes the student exempt from both the test AND the portfolio. It is important to establish the correct level to be aimed for initially, especially when it comes to ICT.
Wales
In Wales Key Skills have been replaced with
Essential Skills Wales
Essential Skills Wales (ESW) is a suite of skills qualifications, available in Wales. Each Essential Skills Wales qualification is equivalent to an E grade at GCE AS-Level (Three Essential Skill Wales qualifications is equivalent to a D grade at ...
(ESW) (as of September 2010.) Essential Skills Wales is the suite of skills qualifications which replaced the previous Key Skills of Communication, Application of Number and ICT, and the Basic Skills of Adult Literacy, Adult Numeracy and Skills for Life ICT. These skills can be achieved through the medium of Welsh or English.
Scotland
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
has a separate
Core Skills
Core or cores may refer to:
Science and technology
* Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages
* Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding
* Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber
* Core, the central ...
qualification. One of the main aims of Higher Still qualifications in Scotland is to develop the capabilities people need to be responsible members of society. All students at all levels must obtain qualifications in all five Core Skills if they wish to obtain a Scottish Group Award. The Core skills enable people to put their knowledge and understanding into action.
The
Five Core Skills
5 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
5, five or number 5 may also refer to:
* AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era
* 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era
Literature
* ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram
* ''5'' (comics), an awar ...
are:
*Communication
: Oral and Written Communication
*Numeracy
: Using Graphical Information, Using Number
*Information Technology
: Using Information Technology
*Problem Solving
: Critical Thinking, Planning and Organising, Reviewing and Evaluating
*Working With Others
: Working With Others
See also
*
Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification
The Welsh Baccalaureate ( cy, Bagloriaeth Cymru), or Welsh Bacc, is an educational qualification delivered in secondary schools and colleges across Wales. The Welsh Government says that it gives broader experiences than traditional learning p ...
*
Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) is a 'hands-on' option for students in Years 10, 11, and 12 and is a credential awarded to secondary school students who successfully complete year 11 and 12 in the Australian State of Victoria si ...
References
External links
Directgov: Key Skills qualificationsEdexcel: Key SkillsWelsh Baccaluareate and Essential Skills Wales site
{{Authority control
Standardised tests in England
Standardised tests in Wales
Standardised tests in Northern Ireland