Functional Skills

SQA Functional Skills are:

• Competitively priced

Please contact our Business Development Team for details.

• Delivered through secure online assessment

• Simple to administer

• Certificated quickly

SQA Functional Skills qualifications are certificated four weeks following the closure of the assessment window.

The external assessments will be marked within three weeks of the closure of the assessment window.

For Functional English at levels 1 and 2, the certificate will be issued once the candidate has received a pass for all three components, including the internally assessed Speaking, Listening and Communication component.

Functional Skills can be used for a wide range of learners (from age 14 upwards) and for purposes such as:

• Stand-alone qualifications
• Components of Diplomas (all levels)
• Components of Apprenticeships

Access

There are no specific entry requirements for Functional Skills and it is at a centre's discretion to determine if candidates are ready for assessment at a given level.

Used as part of an Apprenticeship, Functional Skills could lead to employment and/or further qualifications in the given vocational area.

To gain approval to offer Functional Skills, please contact our Business Development Team for more information.

If your centre is approved by another awarding body to offer Functional Skills or Key Skills, then approval may be granted by the recognition route.

The assessment of Functional Skills at levels 1 and 2 is carried out through centrally marked exams, which are set by SQA, using the SOLAR e-assessment system. Candidates will sit the online assessment in their centres at set times, under exam conditions with invigilators.

E-assessments will be available on SOLAR for set periods of five working days, Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm each day, at different times throughout the year. This means that candidates can be scheduled to sit their assessment at any time during each five day ‘window’. Candidates can only sit each assessment once during any given window.

The exception is the Speaking, Listening and Communication component in English, which must be internally assessed through controlled assessment within the centre, and externally verified by SQA.

Centres should refer to these Assessment Support Packs for further details and advice concerning the assessment of Speaking Listening and Communication:

• Speaking and Listening assessment support pack level 1 (145 KB)
• Speaking and Listening assessment support pack level 2 (130 KB)

Centres must have an appropriate system of internal verification in place to oversee the development of the assessment instruments used, and to ensure consistency of assessment decisions. Centres should refer to the document Internal Verification: A Guide for Centres Offering Ofqual Regulated Qualifications (Publication Code: FA5437 – April 2010) for further information.

The internal verifier must also ensure that all candidates have equal and fair access to assessment. This may involve making reasonable adjustments to assessment arrangements in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act. A range of guidance documents about candidates with additional support needs is available on the Assessment Arrangements section of SQA’s website.