Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of recent changes to the Functional Skills Level 2 English exam on students with autism and other learning disabilities.

Reformed mathematics and English Functional Skills qualifications (FSQs) were introduced for first teaching from September 2019. As is standard practice, the department worked alongside Ofqual to evaluate the reforms in 2023. The department’s evaluation of FSQs found that the content of the qualifications is continuing to meet the needs of employers and learners. Ofqual’s concurrent evaluation found that the assessments are appropriate against this content but that awarding organisations need to make improvements in some areas, which the regulator is acting on.

Ofqual’s evaluation did hear reports of a lack of understanding around the availability and application of reasonable adjustments, and in some cases providers reported that students were not able to access appropriate reasonable adjustments. The regulator has considered this stakeholder feedback as part of a wider review of awarding organisations’ application of reasonable adjustments in vocational and technical qualifications, with a view to improving their practice.