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Basic Skills

Answer

In the last spending review the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) secured continued funding of English and maths courses for adults who lack these basic skills. This is funding over 600,000 adults to take maths courses and over 600,000 to take English courses each year, and we are now funding GCSE English and maths qualifications

for adults from the 2012/13 academic year. We have brought in new freedoms and flexibilities whereby further education colleges and providers have a single Adult Skills Budget which enables them to respond to learner and employer needs locally.

Awarding organisations have responded to BIS' call for new unit-based qualifications that are tailored to the differential needs and learning patterns of adults, and which provide the necessary rigour and flexibility to support progression from lower levels towards a GCSE or other training.

New pilots have commenced which are seeking to determine how providers can be funded on the basis of the skills gained by their learners, to incentivise providers to maximise skills acquisition.

As set out in ‘New Challenges, New Chances’, BIS is raising demand for maths improvement working through stakeholders rather than using a top-down approach as has been the case with previous campaigns.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

124597; 551 cc1039-1040W

Session

2012-13

Subjects

Literacy Basic skills

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk