Curriculum and Assessment Developments at Key Stages 3 and 4

Functional Skills

Another development linked – as mentioned in the previous section – to the introduction of new GCSE criteria, is the introduction of so-called Functional Skills. In one sense, however, Functional Skills are already with us, given that, in theory, they are embedded in the Programmes of Study witin the new National Curriculum. The Functional Skills standards for English cover Entry Levels 1, 2 and 3, Level 1 and Level 2 (there will, in theory, be a Level 3 in the future). Level 1 can be thought of as Key Stage 3, whereas Level 2 is the standard required for any pupil wishing to be awarded a Grade C at GCSE. Though the Functional Skills are embedded within the Programmes of Study (and will similarly be written into the new GCSE specifications), the current plan is that they will be assessed discretely, and pilots have been running since September 2007 to trial a variety of assessment methods. From 2008, the Functional Skills will be trialled in the first wave of Diplomas, and by 2010 the plan is that they will be 'rolled out' nationally.

The Functional Skills standards for English can be viewed on the QCA website at http://www.qca.org.uk/qca_15565.aspx, but a more useful document – Resources to support the pilot of functional skills: The teaching and learning of Functional English – can be obtained from the Quality Improvement Agency's (QIA) website at http://excellence.qia.org.uk/pdf/TandLEnglishHT281107.pdf.

The implications for English teaching and English departments when Functional Skills 'go national' will become clearer in the future. A critical question will be the manner in which the skills need to be assessed. If the insistence on a discrete text survives the pilot, the pessimist might fear the kind of 'teaching to the test' inspired by the SATs – indeed, given that the award will be available to 14 year olds, there may even be the danger of the tests being taken at the end of Year 9. Though there is much still to be resolved in this area, the whole notion of what constitutes 'functional' English, as opposed, one assumes, to 'dysfunctional' English is well worth student teachers exploring.