English (Foundation)

Level

English (Foundation)

Aquinas College
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Description

This course will help students to improve their literacy skills. It leads to nationally recognised qualifications: Functional Skills English in Speaking & Listening, Reading, and Writing. A Level 1 pass in all three skills areas is equivalent to half a GCSE grade F–D; a Level 2 pass (the highest level available) is equivalent to half a GCSE grade C to A*. It is suitable for students who achieved a grade E or below at GCSE English or did not take GCSE at all.

Students are assessed at the beginning of the academic year to determine their level of literacy skills. We can offer Functional Skills English qualifications from Entry Level 1 (very basic reading and writing) right up to Level 2 (GCSE…

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This course will help students to improve their literacy skills. It leads to nationally recognised qualifications: Functional Skills English in Speaking & Listening, Reading, and Writing. A Level 1 pass in all three skills areas is equivalent to half a GCSE grade F–D; a Level 2 pass (the highest level available) is equivalent to half a GCSE grade C to A*. It is suitable for students who achieved a grade E or below at GCSE English or did not take GCSE at all.

Students are assessed at the beginning of the academic year to determine their level of literacy skills. We can offer Functional Skills English qualifications from Entry Level 1 (very basic reading and writing) right up to Level 2 (GCSE standard). Most of our students start at the Entry Level 3 or Level 1 and eventually progress to Level 1 and Level 2.

Functional Skills English helps students to develop the basic literacy skills of:

  •  Speaking and Listening (EN1)
  •  Reading (EN2)
  •  Writing (EN3)

Speaking and Listening is assessed by the teacher in class. For the Entry Levels this means students taking part in a simple discussion. For Level 1 students have to take part in a 15 minute discussion and for Level 2 they have to take part in a 30 minute discussion. Discussion topics are wide-ranging and usually cover a range from current affairs, college-related issues, and students’ own suggestions.

The written Entry Level exams can be taken at any time in the year, when the teacher and student feel that the latter is ready. The written Level 1 and Level 2 exams are available at 8 times in the academic year: usually this is in the third week of October, November, January, February, March, May, June, and July. Most students take the separate Reading and Writing exams together at the same time.

Both Reading and Writing exams last 45 minutes each (one and a half hour for the two exams taken together). The Reading exam has a range of questions from multiple choice to some very short answer ones. The Writing exam consists of two questions, one where students have to produce a formal piece of writing (such as a business letter) and one less formal (such as a notice, review, or advert). In both exams students are allowed and actively encouraged to use dictionaries.


Students have the option to sit the Reading and Writing exam components separately. However, students will need to pass all three skills components (Speaking & Listening, Reading, and Writing) in order to gain a qualification in Functional Skills English.

The course will be taught in three lessons a week. You will have the opportunity to use computers regularly during the course. The lessons will cover reading a range of real life texts, such as newspaper / magazine articles, web pages, memos, letters / emails and leaflets, as well as writing practical texts such as formal letters, memos, emails, informative texts, and reports.

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    There are no frequently asked questions yet. If you have any more questions or need help, contact our customer service.