Since the demise of the Excellence Gateway (EG) on September 30 2023, there is no official Government backed website where the old Skills for Life core curricula are available. The EG has (partially) migrated to the Education & Training Foundation (ETF) at https://www.et-foundation.co.uk/ but there is no sign of these classic documents.
I’ve only briefly skimmed through but some of these new mastery resources for L1 & L2 Functional Maths (and GCSE resits) look amazing! Includes full 33 hour (22 x 1.5 hr lessons) schemes of work, lesson plans, handouts and slides.
Two Excel spreadsheets to track students performance in Functional Skills Maths and Functional Skills English from Entry Level 1 up until Level 2. Can be used by teachers and I also send electronically or print them off and give students to complete themselves.
Whilst I designed this resource for Adult Numeracy learners, it has found much use over the years across the maths cohorts I've worked with from pre-GCSE to ESOL, and with GCSE learners.
It is in Excel format - 3 tabs for different activities and the second Excel file is the solution sheet.
The sheets are formatted to print off as A4 landscape to allow learners to have their own copies to work on.
This has always worked well as a starter activity with learners in small groups (or teams) and having a competitive edge.
Level
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
GCSE L1-5
Maths
FM Context free underpinning
FM E3.14 Use & compare measures of length, capacity, weight & temperature using metric or imperial units to the nearest labelled or unlabelled division
FM L1.20 Convert between units of length, weight, capacity, money and time, in the same system
FM L2.14 Convert between metric & imperial units of length, weight & capacity using a) a conversion factor & b) a conversion graph
An ESOL lesson embedding numeracy, diversity and British values, centred on the Spring Equinox and three festivals which happen around / on this day - Purim, Holi and Shunbun No Hi. Learners collect unfamiliar words on a vocabulary sheet and ask and answer questions to elicit meaning / explanation. There is a powerpoint to introduce the topic, using acronyms eg 7DIAW - Seven Days In A Week to elicit key words, and lead to an explanation of what the Vernal Equinox is and when it is.
Level
Entry Level 1
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 3
Maths
FM E1.7 Know the number of days in a week, months, & seasons in a year. Name & sequence them.
FM E2.7 Know the number of hours in a day and weeks in a year.
FM E3.4 Multiply 2-digit numbers by 1- & 2-digit numbers
ESOL
General ESOL
General
Generic resources for literacy, numeracy and beyond
This revision aid for L1/L2 (mainly L2) Pearson Edexcel Functional Skills maths gives a side-by-side comparison of perimeter, area and volume, the sort of units that would be involved with each and a worked Functional Skills example of each with a PAV mnemonic for remembering which is which. I have also looked through the last few years of Pearson Edexcel FS for the sorts of questions that require each one.
Note: All images from Pixabay, so do not need crediting.
Editor's note
Level
Level 2
GCSE L1-5
Maths
FM Complex multi-step problem(s)
FM L2.3 Evaluate expressions & make substitutions in given formulae in words & symbols
FM L2.16 Calculate perimeters & areas of 2-D shapes inc. triangles & circles and composite shapes including non-rectangular shapes (formulae given except for triangles & circles)
FM L2.17 Use formulae to find volumes & surface areas of 3-D shapes inc. cylinders (formulae given for 3-D shapes except cylinders)
This is a set of worksheets in a MS Excel workbook that deals with fractions.
- Sheet one: a set of pictures (pie charts) that shows fractions from halves to tenths
- Sheet two: equivalent fractions with two pie charts, learners can input fractions and see if they are equivalent by looking at the shape of the pie charts
- Sheet three: starting to look at fractions being equivalent to decimals with two pie charts one for fractions and one for decimals
Level
GCSE L1-5
Level 2
Level 1
Maths
N2/L2.3
N2/L2.1
Adult Numeracy N2/L2.2
Adult Numeracy N2/L1.3
GCSE N10 (Work interchangeably with terminating decimals & their corresponding fractions)
Based on an infographic from the I Newspaper at https://twitter.com/iNewsGraphics/status/752825714920095744
this makes an ideal starter activity and discussion prompt with the infographic displayed on a large screen.
Can also be used as a traditional paper based worksheet, aimed at E1-E3 Functional Maths learners – questions cover graphs & charts, number, shapes and position.
