Today’s announcement that the functional skills exit requirement will be made optional for adult apprentices could be transformational to the sector but must be carefully managed to avoid unintended consequences. At Edge, we agree that Functional Skills Qualifications (FSQs) are in desperate need of a rethink. AELP’s report last year, Spelling it Out, Making it Count, supported by Edge, found that the requirement for apprentices to pass Level 2 FSQs has hindered apprenticeship completion rates, in part due to a lack of contextualisation in the delivery and assessment of English and maths.
FSQs should be reviewed, but removing the exit requirement entirely risks throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The development of essential numeracy and literacy skills through apprenticeships is enormously valuable in terms of progression up the apprenticeship levels and/or in work. Maths and English are foundational skills in the workplace, especially in jobs where comprehensive understanding of written materials and numerical data is vital for compliance with safety regulation, accident prevention and assurance of quality standards. Despite assertions, removing the functional skills exit requirement does not necessarily mean employers will stop requesting them as an entry requirement – after all, apprenticeships are jobs and employers have the right to demand certain standards. Even in strictly educational programmes like A Levels, college and schools often require at least a Grade 4 in English and Maths GCSEs.
When one in five adults have low literacy or numeracy, and 63% fewer adults are working to improve these skills than in 2015, this announcement should have come with an accompanying support package for adults with low basic skills to develop them. The latest OECD data has shown that adult literacy and numeracy in the UK has been improving, but this has been driven significantly by rising standards amongst the younger population. Removing the exit requirement for adults alone could worsen this skills gap. In terms of social justice, it is important that we do not entrench or widen divides between those with or without Level 2 maths and English. This change is taking place in the context of an ongoing review into curriculum and assessment, including GCSE resit policy, and a forthcoming post-16 strategy.
We would urge the government to await the outcomes of these reviews before taking changes any further, especially for 16-18 apprentices. As a first step, we would first consider reform of the FSQ and resit policy before removing the exit requirement entirely.