EAL (Excellence, Achievement & Learning Limited)

Functional Skills

Our Functional Skills qualifications are unrivalled in their flexibility, helping learners in England to gain fundamental practical skills in English, mathematics, and information and communication technology (ICT) to function confidently, effectively and independently in all areas of life.

• English assesses three seperate components: reading; writing; speaking, listening and communicating (SLC)
• ICT assesses three interrelated areas: using ICT systems; finding and selecting information; developing, presenting and communicating information.
• Mathematics assesses three interrelated skills: representing; analysing; interpreting.

Combining onscreen and paper-based options, our Level 1 and 2 qualifications are available on-demand through regular assessment windows.  Our aim is to move to a year-round on-demand model and Entry Level offering during 2011.

Functional Skills replaced Key Skills for non-apprentice learners in England from September 2010.  They are also accepted for Apprenticeship frameworks and are due to replace Key Skills for apprentices in England from September 2012.

Flexibility and support
In contrast to Key Skills with portfolios and multiple choice onscreen exams, Functional Skills assessments are more task-based and modelled on real life situations.  Each exam features a number of open questions with a variety of ways of solving them.  The learner has to work out how to solve the task first and then choose the method they feel appropriate.

We offer flexible assessments, with the option for paper-based or onscreen assessments for mathematics, English reading and English writing.  English SLC is a test of spoken English, while ICT is a paper-based exam with tasks carried out using a computer.

We provide our recognised Centres with check-sheets to monitor learners' progress from initial assessment to meet the relevant criteria.  We also offer a standardisation DVD to help Centres run internal SLC assessments.

Useful resources
The Functional Skills Support Programme ran until August 2010, and its website offers a range of materials to prepare practitioners, leaders and managers to support Functional Skills.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency also published a variety of resources, along with information on UCAS and achievement and attainment table (ATT) points for Functional Skills.

Key Skills and Basic Skills

Available at Levels 1 to 3, our Key Skills qualifications are assessed through a combination of multiple-choice onscreen exams and evidence gathered in portfolios.  On-demand availability of exams means that they can be scheduled at a time to suit the varying needs of employers and learners.  We also provide assessment recording documents to help with building portfolios, helping delivery partners to save time and ensure consistency.

Our portfolio covers:

• application of number *
• communication *
• information and communication technology (ICT) *
• improving own learning and performance
• problem solving
• working with others.

* These qualifications have been replaced by Functional Skills for non-apprentice learners in England, and by Essential Skills Wales for all learners in Wales.

These qualifications are relevant at all levels of employment, from trainees and employees to senior managers.  They give learners the confidence to apply a range of skills to meet the demands of both straightforward and complex tasks.  Successful learners will be equipped with the tools to work flexibly in a range of situations and take personal responsiblity for their performance.

We also offer Basic Skills qualifications covering adult literacy and adult numeracy for learners involved in a wide range of training programmes both in and out of the workplace.  Their purpose is to improve confidence in these areas giving learners the ability to progress in education, training and at work, as well as using these skills effectively in their personal lives.

Essential Skills Wales

Our Essential Skills Wales qualifications are designed to provide learners in Wales with the fundamental skills to support their personal and professional development in education, training, work and life in general.  

We offer Essential Skills Wales qualifications at Levels 1, 2 and 3, as well as Entry Levels 1, 2 and 3, covering:

• application of number 
• communication 
• information and communication technology.

Suitable for a range of learners including apprentices across all sectors of industry, these qualifications replaced the equivalent Key Skills, Basic Skills and Skills for Life qualifications in Wales from September 2010.  In due course, the suite will also include the current Wider Key Skills of Improving own Learning and Performance, Working with Others and Problem Solving from September 2012.

Standards, evidence and support
As Essential Skills Wales qualifications are a means of showing competence, we recommend that they are delivered in the workplace and embedded in everyday activities or other learning programmes.  Our assessment recording documents are specially tailored to support the skills standards, progression evidence and progression skills guidance which are provided by the Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills.

These qualifications are assessed through a portfolio of evidence that is internally assessed and externally verified by EAL.

Developed on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government, teaching resources from the Key Skills Support Programme can still be used  to support the delivery of Essential Skills Wales.