These qualifications are suitable for anyone over the age of 16 years who wishes to develop and demonstrate their skills in literacy and/or numeracy.

Read the overview text below for more information about Skills for Life (Basic Skills).

This page lists all current qualifications for Skills for Life (Basic Skills). To access documents and information related to Skills for Life (Basic Skills), click on the qualification name.

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Overview

Basic Skills are suitable for anyone over the age of 16 years who wishes to develop and prove their skills in literacy and/or numeracy.

At Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3) candidates are assessed by a mixture of OCR-set and marked tasks and Centre-assessed and OCR-moderated work. At Levels 1 and 2 they are assessed by the National Basic Skills tests.

OCR's Basic Skills qualifications have been developed to recognise achievement in Adult Literacy (including Spoken Communication) and Adult Numeracy.

The National Basic Skills Tests at Levels 1 and 2 use the same tests as those for Key Skills in Communication and Application of Number at Levels 1 and 2. Candidates who achieve a National Basic Skills test at Level 1 or 2 can use this as a proxy for the associated Key Skills test in Application of Number or Communication at the same level.