Essential Skills Wales is the new suite of skills qualifications that will replace the current Key Skills of Communication, Application of Number and ICT, and the Basic Skills of Adult Literacy, Adult Numeracy and Skills for Life ICT from September 2010.

This new suite of skills qualifications will be implemented from September 2010. From that date, Key Skills and Basic Skills will no longer be available in Wales.

DCELLS has recently confirmed that it has secured the agreement of the government departments DIUS (England) and DENI (Northern Ireland) to extend the accreditation of the current Wider Key Skills. Wider Key Skills include Improving Own Learning and Performance, Working with Others and Problem Solving.

DCELLS have published the standards for Essential Skills Wales at entry level 1 through to level 4 in Communication, Application of Number and ICT. Supporting documentation - called Amplification documents - are currently in draft form and are due to be published in Autumn 2009. These, and other supporting documents, will clarify that appropriate procedures are in place for the delivery, implementation and funding of the new suite of skills qualifications.

OCR is working with these available documents in order to ensure that our support for deliverers of these new qualifications is appropriate. It is our intention to arrange training and support events for deliverers to start in the Autumn of 2009 so that preparations can be made for the full implementation of the new qualifications in September 2010.

• Notice to centres - Key Skills accreditation end dates (Wales only) (PDF, 37 KB)
• Notice to centres - Basic Skills accreditation end dates (Wales only) (PDF, 39 KB)
• Essential Skills Wales FAQs (PDF, 734 KB)