‘Success with Functional Skills’ January 2016

emskills.org.uk – Common errors in assessments – Assessments The changes

The aim of this workshop is to:  Understand common errors  Understand assessments  Review the recent changes emskills.org.uk

 Lack of practice – on screen and paper based  Wrong level  Assessment format – on screen, paper based – hand written or word processed  Awareness of how marks are allocated  Use of dictionaries/spell checker  Knowledge of criteria (tutors/assessors) emskills.org.uk

 Understanding questions - practice  Knowledge of words - glossary  Types of questions asked  Too much time taken in copying out response to question  Too much time on SPaG  Not taking note of marks allocation  Not using document pointers emskills.org.uk

 Knowledge of formats and structure  Understanding the difference between formal and informal language (L1 and L2)  Knowing techniques for persuasive language (L2)  SPaG  Word count  Proof reading  Time  Planning  Understanding the allocation of marks emskills.org.uk

 Bias, opinion  Convey meaning (language, features)  Understand the criteria emskills.org.uk

 Format ( , letter, article, speech, report)  Structure (open and close, three paragraphs)  Content (follow the question)  Spelling, punctuation and grammar (homophones, capitals, end of sentence, tense, verb subject agreement) emskills.org.uk

 Letters – two addresses, a date and correct open and close  s – addressee, subject header  Articles – heading, subheadings/bullets where appropriate  Newsletters – heading, subheadings/bullets where appropriate  Reports – headings, subheading/bullets where appropriate  Speeches – welcome, body of speech and close  Correct paragraphing and appropriate introductions and conclusions emskills.org.uk

 L evel 1- Capital letters at start of sentence and for proper nouns and end of sentence punctuation (full stop, question mark). Remember ‘I’  Level 2 – as above plus commas, apostrophes and inverted commas.  Candidates are not assessed on semi-colons, colons or exclamation marks emskills.org.uk Common errors - Sentence structure  Level 1- Simple and compound  Level 2 – Simple, compound and complex

 Too/to/two  know/no  their/there/they’re  a/an  yous (as in you(s))  your/you’re  our/are  were/where/we’re  of/off/have (as in I could of gone)  been/being  whether/weather  which/witch emskills.org.uk

 All L1 and L2 students do L2 …easy for progression (if AO allows)  Ensure the unfamiliar discussion topic allows for good research  Presentation topic…student to choose something they are interested in  Understand and follow the criteria emskills.org.uk

Realistic scenarios a) real life situations as far as possible b) situations to which most candidates are likely to be able to relate to Source materials and graphics will look more authentic and bear more visual resemblance to what candidates might expect to see in their daily activities. Questions/tasks  Less guidance and structure  Answers will require more extended responses and explanations rather than ‘lists’  Less reliance on sample papers to predict assessment and greater awareness of the full coverage and range Source documents The number of reading texts included in each assessment paper will be more varied.  Level 1 – likely two  Level 2 – at least two, likely three, possibly four emskills.org.uk

Level 1Level 2 C & GEdexcelC & GEdexcel Source documents 223/43 Time60 mins45 mins60 mins Questions Marks

Routine equipment  grammar and/or spell checking devices (no access to internet)  access any equipment routinely available in every day lives  no pre-prepared notes or other material that will assist with the assessment Realistic scenarios a) real life situations as far as possible b) situations to which most candidates are likely to be able to relate to Source materials and graphics will look more authentic and bear more visual resemblance to what candidates might expect to see in their daily activities. Questions/tasks  Less guidance and structure  Activities will be more ‘open’ to enable candidates to provide more extended and developed responses Marking A candidate with weak SPaG will no longer be able to pass some AO’s assessments purely on the content marks. emskills.org.uk

Level 1Level 2 C & GEdexcel*C & GEdexcel** Tasks/Activiti es 2222 Time60 mins45 mins65 mins60 mins Marks * 40% SPaG** 40 – 45% SPaG

Please collect a hand out as you leave. Thank you for your time. emskills.org.uk