LSIS: the Quality Improvement Agency (QIA) and the Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL) have now come together to form the new sector-led organisation dedicated to supporting excellence and leadership development in the further education and skills sector. An Introduction to Skills for Life

2 Aims To ensure that everyone in the organisation knows about Skills for Life as an integral part of Train to Gain. To ensure that all staff talk positively and with confidence about: -what Skills for Life covers -how it fits within Train to Gain -who might benefit from developing their English and maths skills -SfL qualifications.

3 Skills for Life – clarifying definitions Skills for Life, basic skills, key skills. Literacy, language and numeracy (LLN). The functional English and maths skills used in everyday life and work at all levels up to and including Level 2. ESOL – English as a Second Language (language and literacy).

4 Skills for Life qualifications National Certificates at Entry Level, Level 1 and Level 2 Multiple choice tests at L1 and L2 – the same as the Key Skills tests and the same format for all awarding bodies On line or on paper Entry Level Certificates have the same standards, but different awarding bodies have different forms of assessment ESOL and ESOL for Work qualifications

5 Move On

6 44% 14.1 m adults 56% 17.8 m adults 25% 8 m adults 75% 23.9 m adults 20% 6.4 m adults 80% 25.5 m adults Literacy Numeracy Literacy/numeracy Level 2 Level 2 – the benchmark for a modern society

7 The Level 2 challenge NVQ Level 2 Trowel Occupations: 100% of units require Level 2 reading skills. 38% of construction workforce in East of England have literacy skills at Level 2 or above. 70% of units require Level 2 numeracy skills. 24% of construction workforce in East of England have numeracy skills at Level 2 or above. Sources: DfES Essential Skills leaflets Approximate figures from graphs provided by East of England Observatory

8 National Qualifications Framework