We’re helping improve functional skills for apprenticeships

We are delighted to have been selected again by the AWD (Apprenticeship Workforce Development) as the lead partner, researching ways to better ‘Functional Skills’ for learners, to help ensure that full apprenticeship standards are achievable to all.

Funded by the Department for Education, the AWD is an initiative designed to continuously improve apprenticeships in England through research.

Alongside three other providers – Seren Skills Network, Professional Apprenticeships, and College But Different – our goal is to help make sure apprenticeship support for functional skills is effective and impactful.

We’ll be specifically looking at the outcomes for early years apprentices and creating a revamped, pedagogical approach that removes barriers and fear of maths, and making functional skills achievable.

Although Maths is no longer an EYFS requirement, Functional skills in Maths and English remain in the apprenticeship standards and must be achieved before the standard is confirmed as full and relevant in a nursery setting.

We want to ensure we attract as many talented early years education colleagues into the sector, and increase apprentices as a gateway to delivering the funding expansion.

Therefore, it’s important to place strong focus on how we can make functional skills more achievable, as well as changing our thoughts and trying to steer away from the ‘fear’ of Maths that can be so ingrained.

We’ll be looking into new approaches that will inspire learners, evaluating the delivery of and language around Maths and English in Functional Skills.

Training Academy Director, Gill Mason, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this funding for a second year; this is a much needed area of research with functional skills in Maths being the biggest barrier for early years, and other sector apprentice completion. Working with our partners, we are ambitious that our research and implementation of new and proven approaches to the delivery of functional skills will support completion rates and increase those employed in the sector.”

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