Regulating digital functional skills qualifications
Applies to England
Download the full outcome
Detail of outcome
We have decided to implement the following proposals, which the majority of respondents supported, without change to:
- regulate primarily through the General Conditions of Recognition, with a limited number of subject-level Conditions
- include a purpose statement within the introduction to our Conditions document which aligns with the purpose statement set out by the Department for these qualifications
- adopt the subject content developed by the Department into our subject-level Conditions
- require qualifications to be awarded at Entry level 3 and Level 1 only
- introduce a bespoke rule for Total Qualification Time to reflect the Department’s decision that the qualifications will have 55 hours of guided learning
- not set rules around the weightings of skills areas in the subject content but expect a reasonable balance across the skills areas
- require that all assessments are set by the awarding organisations
- require that marking of assessments at Entry level 3 is permitted to be conducted either by the awarding organisation, or a centre, or both
- require that marking of assessments at Level 1 is conducted by the awarding organisation
- permit centre adaptation of contexts for assessments at Entry level 3, but not at Level 1
- require a single Pass or Fail grading model
- require a mark-based approach to assessment, with a student’s results being based on overall performance across the whole of the assessment or assessments and with decisions about grading to be made separately from marking
- consult on expecting assessments to generally be made available online and on-screen but not to set any other rules around assessment availability
- not require a single technical approach to setting and maintaining standards but to require awarding organisations to explain the approach they intend to use and to require that whatever approach is used, it is based on a range of quantitative and qualitative evidence
- regulate differently for the first year of awards and to adopt an enhanced level of scrutiny of qualification outcomes post results at level 1
- require all awarding organisations to explain and justify the approaches they are taking to designing, delivering and awarding their qualifications in an assessment strategy document
- put in place arrangements for there to be a technical evaluation of the new qualifications, and for awarding organisations to comply with any requirements we set around this process
- set a 12-month transitional period for the withdrawal of FSQs in ICT and the introduction of the new Digital FSQs
- disapply General Conditions E1.3-1.5 (Qualifications to have support), E7 (Total Qualification Time) and E9 (Qualification and component levels) to remove regulatory burden or to allow for bespoke subject level conditions
Some of our consultation questions were deliberately open-ended and we have developed our thinking in light of consultation feedback and changes to the Department’s subject content. We will now consult on our remaining proposals and on the draft subject-level and qualification-level Conditions, requirements and guidance, which would bring into effect any proposals we decide to implement following this consultation.
Feedback received
Detail of feedback received
There was strong support for the majority of our proposals.
Responses to 3 of our proposals, however, were more mixed, with around half of the respondents to the question agreeing or strongly disagreeing and the other half disagreeing or strongly disagreeing. These were:
- that Digital FSQs should be made up of a single overall component
- to prohibit the adaptation of contexts for Digital FSQs at level 1
- to require the Digital FSQs to be awarded at Entry level 3 and Level 1 only
In addition, the majority of respondents disagreed with 2 of our proposals. The first was our proposal to prohibit paper-based, on demand assessment in Digital FSQs at both qualification levels. Respondents felt by prohibiting paper-based, on-demand assessment it could stop some learners from accessing the assessments who needed paper-based assessment materials for accessibility reasons, others also highlighted concerns with some centres lacking the resources or technology needed to deliver the test online and on-screen.
The second proposal respondents disagreed with was our proposal not to introduce rules around assessment times for Digital FSQs. Respondents felt that setting assessment times for Digital FSQs would increase comparability between awarding organisations.
We also included several questions in the consultation which were open-ended and asked for respondents to provide comments on an issue.
Original consultation
Consultation description
We are pleased to present our consultation on regulating the new Digital Functional Skills Qualifications (Digital FSQs), which form a part of the government’s plans to improve adult basic digital skills. The new qualifications will be available from September 2021 and will replace the existing Functional Skills qualifications in ICT.
The purpose of these qualifications, set out by government, is to provide reliable evidence of students’ achievements against demanding content that is relevant to the workplace and real life. They also need to provide a foundation for progression into further study or employment.
In our regulation of these qualifications, we seek to secure innovative qualifications that are relevant to the workplace and real life, while taking approaches to promote comparability between awarding organisations and over time. We will be taking forward the improvements we made to Functional Skills in English and maths to do this.
The Department for Education (DfE) has determined that Digital FSQs should have common, detailed subject content, based on the new national standards for essential digital skills. This is designed to increase comparability across awarding organisations. The subject content is the responsibility of the government and is being consulted on separately by DfE.
Our consultation sets out our proposed approach to regulating Digital FSQs. We ask for views on their defining characteristics, including their design, delivery and award, and on the work that will be required in order to maintain standards on an ongoing basis.
If you have an interest in Digital FSQs now and in the future, please let us know what you think about the proposals we set out here. We look forward to hearing from you.
Sally Collier Chief Regulator
Documents
Last updated 25 November 2021 + show all updates
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Added analysis of responses and consultation outcomes.
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First published.