Prison education

Learning unlocked: The rise of functional skills in prisons

Nearly half of prisoners arrive without qualifications, yet functional skills achievements in prisons are rising fast through a blend...

Jessica Hill
Mark Dewell
Adult education, English and maths

Adult functional skills axe makes change for under-19s more vital

There’s already evidence of employers favouring over-19s so we must look now at improving the functional skills offer for...

Jessica Hill
Kerry Boffey
Day in the life, Long read

Averil Young, senior lecturer and union rep

Averil Young reveals how she makes numbers meaningful to construction students – and is building up young women and...

Jessica Hill
Jessica Hill
English and maths

Use reform to tailor functional skills to industry needs

We use our expertise to determine minimum literacy and numeracy levels for each apprenticeship we offer

Jessica Hill
Mike Worley
Apprenticeships, Long read

Lessons from our apprentices

The Association of Apprentices convened a roundtable for apprentices to tell us about their training and views on current...

Jessica Hill
Jessica Hill
Apprenticeships, English and maths

Do we really need functional skills anyway?

In truth, the value of numeracy and literacy has fallen now that you can learn practical skills from online...

Jessica Hill
Tim Leunig
Apprenticeships

Functional skills qualifications have never been essential

Good riddance to functional skills qualifications in adult apprenticeships – it’s been putting off learners and employers in their...

Jessica Hill
Ben Rowland
Apprenticeships

Making the case for functional skills in apprenticeships  

Let's not forget just how vital functional skills are, for tackling inequality as well as boosting growth

Jessica Hill
Heather Akehurst
Apprenticeships

Functional skills for adults are too vital to give up on

Adult literacy and numeracy rates are already woeful, let's not make them even worse by scrapping functional skills for...

Jessica Hill
Stephen Evans