See Section 3: Teaching approaches and models of delivery for background information relating to training and CPD for teachers and others involved in supporting functional skills.

General advice about CPD

The CPD portal on the Excellence Gateway has guidance on CPD and links to other sites.

The CPD Starter Kit focuses on CPD for literacy and numeracy and gives information and resources that will be of use in functional skills CPD.

The Supporting your CPD section offers information on collaborative approaches to CPD.

Functional skills CPD

A suite of functional skills CPD programmes, developed and piloted in 2012, is available on the Excellence Gateway:

• Managing the transition from key skills to functional skills
• Improving initial and diagnostic assessment for functional skills
• Target-setting for functional skills
• Developing approaches to assessment and problem solving in functional skills
• Blended learning approaches for functional skills
• Embedding literacy, language, numeracy and ICT skills into vocational programmes

The following three CPD programmes are off-the-shelf packages of training that can be delivered in-house. 

• Assessment for learning: A three-hour programme exploring the key elements of assessment, including initial, diagnostic, formative and summative assessment.
• Embedding functional skills: A three-hour programme exploring effective practice in embedding functional skills teaching into main programmes of learning.
• Whole organisation approach: A two-hour programme for teachers, managers and others, exploring the benefits of using a whole organisation approach to plan and deliver functional skills.

Preparing to coordinate and manage functional skills

The Preparing to coordinate and manage functional skills document is a useful preparation for managers and curriculum leaders exploring the early stages of making the transition to functional skills provision.

Training modules

The Functional Skills for Adults programme developed a series of half-day briefing and training sessions, all available from this link. These training modules plus support materials are as follows:

• Module 1: Introduction to functional skills for adults
• Module 2: Preparing for the transition from key skills to functional skills
• Module 3: Preparing for functional skills: a workshop for SfL providers
• Module 4: Using ICT to prepare for the introduction of functional skills to adults
• Module 5: Applying whole organisation approaches to the management of functional skills
• Module 6: Preparing to implement functional English with adult learners
• Module 7: Preparing to implement functional mathematics with adult learners
• Module 8: Preparing to implement functional ICT with adult learners

Support materials

The following materials were previously used to deliver functional skills training to practitioners in the post-16 sector. They are now available to download as useful resources providing additional information on various aspects of functional skills (they were up to date as at May 2010):

• Modules 1-3: Preparing for functional skills: introduction for new functional skills centres, functional skills in the context of Skills for Life and transition from key skills
• Module 4: Preparing for functional skills: a whole organisation approach
• Module 5: Teaching and Learning Functional English 
• Module 6: Teaching and Learning Functional mathematics
• Module 7: Teaching and Learning Functional ICT
• Module 8: Functional skills in context: Foundation Learning
• Module 9: Functional skills in context: Diplomas
• Module 10: Functional skills in context: Apprenticeships
• Module 11: Managing Functional Skills – Lessons from the Pilot
• Module 12: Supporting the Development of Functionality in English
• Module 13: Supporting the Development of Functionality in ICT
• Module 14: Supporting the Development of Functionality in Maths
• Module 15: Using personal, learning and thinking skills to develop functionality
• Module 16: Preparing for assessment

Other sources of CPD

The Embedded literacy, language and numeracy starter kit focuses on embedding the teaching of English and mathematics skills in other programmes of learning and will be useful to teachers of functional skills.

The Professional Development Planning provider kit supports providers to audit training needs for all staff, including work-based learning assessors and literacy and numeracy teachers.