General Resources

Top Tips for Maths tests is a handout/classroom resource that can be used as an activity or as a handout.

It takes learners through the process of working out a complex Level 2 Maths question, with reference to how the marks can be gained, and the maths skills required to complete the question. The question is taken from IQ sample assessment materials http://www.industryqualifications.org.uk/sectors/functionalskills and builds on common mistakes made by learners during ‘live’ assessments.

More and more vocational teachers are being asked to prepare learners for Functional Skills exams.

This resource is designed to give advice on format, style and layout; appropriate content and paragraphing which would accompany any awarding organizations exam. My college used Edexcel . Can be used for Level 1 and Level 2.

Editor’s note
This resource is ideal for all but will be especially helpful to non-specialist English teachers. Incredibly useful!

Mainly written for L1 and L2 test preparation this is also suitable for Entry Level 3

This resource contains the basic information with examples for learners preparing to sit level 1 Functional Maths. It is by no means comprehensive but does cover the areas that most learners find problematic, such as ratio, fractions, decimals, percentages and perimeter, area and volume.

The Core Curriculum and Functions Skills Progression Overview side-by-side.
Editor’s note
The print quality of this resource may be low as it is a cut, pasted and scanned (very useful) document. It is not available, even to contributors, as a Word document.
Richard has also posted a link to an interactive version of this document.

This is a game to form new words using syllables.All these words have three parts to them and multiple words can be made using different parts in different order

I have used this with L1 and L2 learners and they love it. I let them work in groups – no more than 5 otherwise it gets a bit too busy and confusing.

You may need to have pre-taught some common prefixes and suffixes and rules; how prefixes never change the spelling of the root word they join, etc..

Simulation of completing an online CV. Very easy to use, fill in the boxes and print after completion.

This is a news article about the sinking of the Costa Concordia. It is focused on an account of the situation as reported by the local mayor.
The article is accompanied by questions about what might be inferred from the account, what might be the mayor’s opinion and whether or not the account is biased. The questions have been used with adults studying for Edexcel Functional Skills at Level 2.

This resource helps learners hear rhymes and recognise corresponding letters/digraphs, rimes and onsets etc. Take simple limericks and poems and get your learners to put them together.

I created my own limericks to match work we had been doing on long vowel sounds (it is not that difficult to do once you get started). Well-known poems and nursery rhymes also proved particularly popular as many knew them already by heart from childhood and some were doing them now with their children.

A 12-question test, designed for an Adult Numeracy class consisting largely of ESOL speakers.
Covers the terms “import” and “export”, since these often crop up in exams. Also mean, mode, median and range, and the meanings of “discount”, “under”, “approximately”, “difference” and “enlarged”. A little fraction revision, too: students have to identify 1/3 as “one-third”.