A consultation and the creation of a working group are the first steps that have been taken towards the reform of Functional Skills.

As reported in October’s OCR Policy Briefing, the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) has been commissioned by the government to lead on the reform of English and maths Functional Skills qualifications.

Pye Tait Consulting, in partnership with NIACE, has now been appointed to lead on a consultation to be launched in January.

In addition, a working group has been created with members from AoC, AELP, FSB, HOLEX and UKCES, to have oversight of the reform programme and ensure consultations are effective and “manage opinions to reach consensus”.

The first stage of the reform programme will be completed by August 2016 and, subject to further funding, the ETF plans to produce new core curricula and a continuing professional development programme to support teaching of the new qualifications in 2018.