The ability to communicate in the most commonly-used language where you live and the ability to understand quantities and use numbers are vital skills for life.
In other words, English (here in the UK) and maths.
Stephen Evans and I agree, emphatically on this (as we do on many other things).
But does this mean English and maths functional skills qualifications should be compulsory for the completion of an apprenticeship programme?
Equally emphatically – no. And I’m delighted that the government has started to change this, initially, as announced this week, by removing the requirement for apprentices aged 19 or above.
Five key reasons why:
1) Written tests, however ‘functional’ in intent, are a crude method for assessing real-world language and numeracy capabilities. They are, after all, only functional when used and evidenced in the real world, outside of a test centre and away from a test paper (by the way, I am as sceptical about English and maths GCSEs as markers of competence as I am about functional skills exams)
2) Truly functional skills are best included in their respective standard: if you can’t calculate how many bricks you need, how much hair dye to mix or understand the dispensing instructions on a medicine then you won’t be a competent bricklayer, hairdresser or care professional; should Skills England check and strengthen these in all standards? Absolutely.
3) If English and maths qualifications (as opposed to the skills themselves) were so essential, then we should insist on all other qualifications having them as an exit requirement as well. Why is it only apprenticeships? A-levels, T Levels, even PhDs do not need them as standard – is that because we assume people already have English and maths? Or do we (despite our best protestations) still ultimately cling to a belief that academic qualifications are still ‘best’ and that vocationally competent apprentices should nonetheless have to do something academic as well?
4) Perhaps in an ideal world, in which there was lots of spare money and tonnes of teachers available, we would insist on everyone getting not just their apprenticeship but English and maths too. We are not in an ideal world though, and at the moment, where the choice is between having no apprenticeship and no functional skills or having an apprenticeship and no functional skills, I choose the second of these. In this choice, the person has a job, even a career, is motivated and is almost certainly accruing English and maths skills as a by-product of all the other benefits. The other alternative means they have none of these things (but we have maintained our academic standards!)
5) If you have struggled with English and/or maths for 11 years at school, then it is likely that you don’t have the full range of pathways ahead of you. Certainly, there will be plenty of people lining up to tell you how difficult you are going to find it. So how cruel is it that, just at the point when you are finding your vocation in life and where formal English and maths qualifications, for the first time, don’t matter so much – people then deliberately insist on you having to stick with the very source of your classroom misery, formal English and Maths? No wonder it is putting off learners and employers from apprenticeships in their droves.
Finally, English and maths are vital skills that all should have. But they are not the only ones: empathy, problem solving, conceptualising and clarifying instructions, self-awareness, self-evaluation, digital skills and many others are just as important. I would like to see us collectively engage on how we best inculcate these essential skills for life (the strapline of National Apprenticeship Week, after all) as much as I would like to see us hone our approach to language and numeracy skills. The government has been really sensible in this first step, and – as the overwhelming reactions to my posts about this on social media suggest – will have made a massive difference to the life chances of thousands.
Therefore, make it an entry requirement for the standards where English and maths are essential.
To allow some wiggle room, employers and/or providers could override the pre-requisite and then would be accountable for the decision.
As it is, just removing it as an exit requirement is a wild west free for all with no accountability. It will send ripples through achievement rates for years and, with publicly available data, it will be impossible to determine what is the ‘FS relaxation effect’ and what are the true underlying quality improvement gains.
If relaxing exit requirements is the path, then to test rigour in decision making and prevent this becoming a contentious and divisive issue, the DfE should commit to publishing achievement rate data with a flag to denote whether FS were in the apprentices’ programme. That, at the very least, would provide transparency as to whether this is the best path, not obscure insight of wider quality improvement and provide a degree of accountability.
A thoughtfully made case for a move that is more commonly seen as “this is just too difficult for ITPs to deliver well”.
This policy move is probably a good example of what it means in practice for the Government to prioritise growth above all else. Whether one thinks that is a good idea or not is a different matter, but interesting to see them grasp the nettle and make hard choices on trade-offs like this, rather than pretending we can always have our cake and eat it as a nation.
Optimising growth in the short to medium term isn’t always compatible with optimising other aims (eg1. educational flourishing, eg2. environmental sustainability) in the long term. Making these trade-offs is the business of serious Government.
When there is zero accountability, they cannot be described as hard choices, merely choices or an experiment. That notion holds for any colour of government, position of power or influence.
Accountability is the business of serious leadership.
I agree, you can see why the decision has been made though I don’t agree with it. I don’t like the way this piece makes the case by rubbishing functional skills though. Functional skills are not academic qualifications, they’re useful and they are perfectly achievable for most apprentices, when employers and training providers put in proper resource and support.
I am so pleased that my efforts to instill the importance of maths and English in industry and careers are so readily dismissed by those who have never worked with kid who have disengaged with education and how they are a passport to becoming fully rounded in their careers going forward… why have I even tried?
Students in secondary schools who are struggling with maths and/or English may well give up before they are 16 thinking these qualifications are not essential for the type of work they may want to do. This is not a positive attitude and almost smacks of ‘dumbing down’.
They may become bored, disruptive etc in class, doing no-one any favours.
Please do not rush into this without putting something in its place that will give the young people an open pathway to the future.
Every qual will and should have a specific literacy and numeracy skill…just build them in..if a trades person cannot use measure and calculate materials etc or follow rams or specifications then they are not competent…there needs to be enough to ensure a level of autonomy in any job.
Fantastic news that the government are making a positive step to support young people who learn in a different way. Hopefully this will move down to 16 year old school leavers who want to do a college course or apprenticeship.
Not every student has the ability to pass Maths or English at GCSE level but conversely not every student has the ability to use Maths and English in a practical way.
Some form of assessment could be put in place when applying for a trade based college course which could be verbal or practical. This would determine suitability for a specific career or training rather than relying on a one size fits all test like a GCSE.
I work with SEND students, many of whom, may not pass any GCSE courses but can do bricklaying, joinery, electrical installation, cooking and many other things that some mainstream students may struggle with. A single piece of paper shouldn’t prevent these students and many others like them from using these skills to forge a future career.