Levels 2 and 3 Edexcel

Key Skills are a range of essential generic skills that can help students to improve their own learning and performance.  They are relevant to what they do in education, training, work and life in general.

Key Skills can help students to focus on what they are learning and how they are learning, so that they can get better results.  Employers look for Key Skills when recruiting and promoting people, and increasing numbers of universities are stressing the importance of Key Skills as part of their admissions policies.

Course Outline
The 3 main key skills units are:

• Information Technology
• Communication
• Application of Number

All students will take Information Technology, and will then be advised on the choice of either Communication or Application of Number.  Students will take each unit at their level of ability - most likely to be either level 2 or 3.

Level 2 - develops basic skills that underpin key skills and increases confidence in applying skills to routine situations.

Level 3 - requires students to respond to the demands of more complex activities, requiring more explicit reasoning ability, and increased personal responsibility for making decisions about how tasks are organised.

Assessment
The qualification consists of both internal and external assessment.  Internal assessment will be through the collection of relevant evidence for each unit presented in a Portfolio.

External assessment of each unit will consist of a short test.

Special Entry Requirements
All students attend Key Skills lessons in Lower Sixth, with the opportunity of completing their portfolio throughout both Lower and Upper Sixth.  Most advanced students will be working towards level 3, and one-year students to level 2.