Key Skills
Purpose
When departing school or college you may leave or have left with a handful of qualifications or credits in varying subjects, which is great! However, the skills which make you employable are often poorly developed. This is where key skills and core skills come in. They are not about the things you can memorise and write down in an exam, they are about proving you can put your learning in to practice within your employment.
The difference is that in exams you can be successful by getting just a percentage of what you know right when tested. Employers want people who can apply the knowledge most or all of the time in varying circumstances and situations.
Key skills/core skills are intended to be used in the context of other subjects, not as stand alone subjects in their own right. They are about developing skills you can use in your day to day life and in your chosen career, for example; how you communicate with customers over the telephone in a Travel Agency or how you apply numbers when calculating a holiday cost for a customer.
So what are Key Skills/Core Skills?
Key skills/Core skills are the essential skills that underpin success in education, employment, life long learning and personal development. These skills can improve the quality of learning as well as the overall performance in the world of work.
The key skills/core skills are split into 2 groups. The first group is generally the core group and these are called:
| Key skills |
(Certification in Scotland)
Core skills |
| Communication |
Communication |
| Application of Number |
Numeracy |
| Information Communication Technology |
Information Communication Technology |
The second group are known as the wider key/core skills:
- Working with others
- Improving own learning
- Problem Solving
There are 4 levels for each qualifications starting with levels 1 to 4. The first group of key skills/core skills are assessed by two different methods; portfolio evidence which shows the skills you have used and finally a test to confirm understanding.
The second group is assessed by portfolio evidence only.
FAQ’s
Are these the same as the Maths and English exams taken at school or college?
No, although some of the techniques you used in Maths will help you when applying number in the workplace. Likewise with communication if you ever had to read a piece of literature in English out in class.
Who are they for?
Key Skills/Core Skills are for everyone!
Why Key skills/Core skills?
Let’s imagine you walk into a Travel Agency to book a holiday, what skills would the sales agent need to use?
- Communication – to establish your holiday details
- Listening – to understand your requests
- Reading – to read information from brochure information
- Numeracy – to price the holiday for you
- Information communication technology – to find the details to match your holiday requests
These skills are vital if you are considering a career in Travel and most importantly your life in general. These skills will mean you can be more effective at your job and help you improve on the way you learn.
It doesn’t stop there - Key Skills/Core Skills will also help you to cope with everyday life – from knowing how to communicate effectively with other people to finding the best way of managing your finances.
How do they link to the work based learning programme?
All of the key skills/core skills are integrated into the apprenticeship programmes that we offer. For the apprenticeship programme level 1 key skills/core skills will be supported and Level 2 for an advanced apprenticeship programme.
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