Functional skills are practical skills in English, Maths and ICT that help learners gain the most out of work, education and everyday life.

To access documents and information related to these qualifications, please click on the qualification name.

Functional Skills assessment update

We listened to your feedback throughout the pilot and so, now that the qualifications are accredited, we've increased our assessment sessions for the next academic year. There will be one session every month from November 2010 through to July 2011 inclusive.

This will give you more flexibility in delivering our functional skills qualifications to suit you and your learners.

We've maintained a flexible five-day assessment window from our functional skills pilot for our accredited functional skills qualifications for first teaching from September 2010.

Don't forget – our Entry Level assessments for English, Maths and ICT and English Speaking, Listening and Communication at Level 1 and Level 2 are available on demand.

View the assessment information and dates

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Overview

These qualifications have been introduced to address government and employers' concerns over raising standards in basic literacy and numeracy, for learners of all ages, as outlined in the 14-19 Education and Skills White Paper by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

OCR has been at the forefront of developing Functional Skills assessments, influencing regulatory decisions and taking the lead in terms of truly functional assessment. This experience, backed up by extensive research and evaluation from the three year pilot, gives us a unique perspective and insight into what functionality means to assessment design.

Functional skills will give learners a practical grounding in how to apply Mathematics, English and ICT skills to everyday situations, with a strong focus on explanation and problem-solving, rather than abstract concepts and recall. Our assessments reflect this belief, using real-life contexts that allow learners to apply their skills in a variety of situations.

Become an OCR approved centre

New to OCR functional skills?

If you do not currently deliver either our functional skills pilot or Key Skills qualifications and want to teach our functional skills qualifications from September 2010, you'll need to complete the simple approval form for vocational qualifications.