Assessment material

Functional skills Level 1 English writing. This is an example I have written for students who find it difficult to think of ideas. Enclosed are notes about Global Warming, that the students can get ideas from, and a sample answer.

Editor's note

Wonderful idea to provide scaffolding by way of notes, ideas and a sample answer that learners can refer to.  Without the scaffolding, this resource also makes an ideal practice question for Level 2.

AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2 style exam practice. Source A is from a contemporary memoir "Life As A Unicorn" by Amrou Al-Kadhi. Source B is adapted from a Victorian article about aquariums. The questions mimic AQA Paper 2; questions 1 to 5. Question 5 asks students to write an article about gender roles. The whole paper reflects the advance information given by AQA about the summer 2022 exams; a memoir paired with a Victorian essay and an article writing task. 

Editor's notes

Updated 24/3/22 10.30pm the writing resource is now available for download again. Apologies for any frustration. 11/3/22 3.00pm (typo fixed, page 3 question 8 writing assessment paper)

Two mega-sized Entry Level 1 Functional English assessments with a Mother's Day theme. Modelled closely on the Pearson-Edexcel assessments (but 1.5 times the size! ) but ideal pre-exam practice for any Awarding Organisation. 

An Entry 3 mock exam paper that follows the format for City & Guilds.

Based on a leaflet about gardening.

Editor's note

A marvellous practice paper! Suitable for all E3 Functional English students - whether or not their awarding body is C&G.  Covers almost all aspects of E3 Functional English reading & almost all writing SCS (subject content statements). 

Short simplified text about Accession Day 2022 when the Queen marks 70 years as monarch and also remembers the death of her father, King George). Differentiated reading questions are followed by writing tasks (alphabetical order (2 levels), punctuation, regular plurals and a final composition questions (2 levels).

Editor's note

As this resource has a short shelf life there will be no separate answer/mapping sheet but all questions are mapped and have suggested marks.

An Entry 2 mock exam paper that follows the format for City & Guilds.

Based on an advert for a local sports centre in Barry.

Editor's note

Covers many aspects of E2 Functional English reading & writing including: general comprehension, vocabulary, form filling and written composition.

An answer sheet with detailed Functional English mapping is available for skillsworkshop contributors. Visit our Answer Sheets page for more information..

Aimed at Level 1 and Level 2 Functional English students. Loosely follows the style of the City & Guilds confirmatory reading test - includes questions on vocabulary and meaning, purpose and tone. Also covers aspects of the writing curriculum with questions on spelling, grammar, punctuation and paragraphing. 

Editor's notes

This is an E1 practice writing paper based on the Pearson E1 assessments. I have included words from the E1 spelling list and mirrored the layout and question types. Useful for summative assessment in the lead up to exams.

Editor's note

This is an E1 practice reading paper based on the Pearson E1 assessments. I have included words from the E1 reading/spelling list and mirrored the layout and question types. Useful for summative assessment in the lead up to exams.

Editor's note

A good way for learners to understand the importance of using reverse calculations to check an answer to a previous question.  These check questions are appearing more and more in functional skills exams. I hope you find it as useful as I and my learners do.

Editor's note