Ofqual boss Glenys Stacey has said qualifications should remain “as stable as possible” as Skills Minister Nick Boles looks at a Functional Skills rebrand.
Ms Stacey replied to a letter sent early last month by Mr Boles, in which he said Functional Skills would “continue to be one of the types of qualification that learners have available”.
In her letter, Ms Stacey welcomed the minister’s “clear statement about the importance you attach to Functional Skills qualifications”.
But, she added: “The brand of a qualification is important. It takes some years for qualification titles to become understood and trusted, particularly by employers and others who are not close to the education system.
“In general, our view is that we should keep the qualifications system as stable as possible, to allow qualifications time to prove themselves.
“We did a small survey of employers and others recently and found that employers in the survey had a broadly positive view of Functional Skills qualifications, as do colleges and other providers.”
See page 22 for an expert piece by OCR’s Charlotte Bosworth and visit feweek.co.uk for more, including a link to the letter in full.
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