Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of all secondary schools notifying SEND students and their families of the option to study Functional Skills Qualifications instead of GCSEs.

The department is committed to securing an excellent education for every child and your person. We recognise that GCSEs will not be the most appropriate route for every young person. While most pupils at key stage 4 work towards GCSEs or Technical Awards, alternative routes, including Functional Skills Qualifications and post-16 study programmes tailored to prior attainment and intended progression, can play an important role for some learners, including some with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Functional Skills Qualifications are used primarily for post-16 students because they are designed for work and life and to be taught in an applied manner, depending on the needs of the learner during their post-16 study. Under departmental policy, learners continue studying either GCSEs or Functional Skills depending on their prior attainment and their chosen pathway with the aim of helping them make progress towards Level 2.

We are also introducing a new Level 1 qualifications are aimed at 16 to 19 learners resitting English and/or maths with a GCSE grade 2 or below. We expect that there will still be a role for Functional Skills qualifications for some learners, including those with SEND. Functional Skills qualifications will therefore remain a valuable qualification for adult learners and we will consider how the new qualification will sit alongside them.

During key stage 4, most pupils work towards national qualifications, usually GCSEs or Technical Awards. GCSEs are longstanding, credible and well-respected. They rigorously assess the knowledge acquired by pupils during key stage 4 and are in line with expected standards in countries with high performing education systems.