In this month’s Key skills news:

• Key skills accreditation extension until 2010 now confirmed
• Level 4 portfolio panel review – summer 2008
• ICT Level 3 and 4 data files – a reminder

Key skills news is published every month and contains all the latest information and updates about the key skills qualifications awarded by City & Guilds.

A downloadable (PDF) version of the newsletter (for printing and/or circulating to colleagues) is available below. A full archive of previous issues is also available.

Key skills accreditation extension until 2010 now confirmed

Although we have been aware that the key skills qualifications were due to continue until at least 2010, this has now been confirmed formally on the National Database of Accredited Qualifications (NDAQ).

The last registration and last certification dates for all 24 key skills qualifications are now 31 August 2010 and 31 August 2012 respectively, after which we expect the ‘main three’ key skills qualifications to be replaced by functional skills in England and the new ‘converged skills’ qualifications in Wales. In Northern Ireland, key skills has already been largely superseded by the Essential Skills qualifications (3800).

Level 4 portfolio panel review – summer 2008

As we have indicated in previous issues of Key skills news, all completed Level 4 key skills portfolios must be reviewed by our expert panel before certification may be claimed. This additional quality assurance measure was introduced in 2004, and takes into account the highly specialist nature of key skills evidence at this level. Key skills portfolio evidence at all other levels is quality assured through our normal process of external verification.

The next panel meeting will take place in early July, and any portfolios submitted for consideration at this meeting must be received no later than Monday 23 June.

If you have any completed Level 4 portfolios for the panel to consider, please send them as soon as possible to:
Key Skills Team (Level 4 Panel Review)
BITES Sector
City & Guilds
1 Giltspur Street
London
EC1A 9DD.

Please ensure that you enclose all assessor and internal verifier records with the evidence; and also ensure your external verifier is aware that the portfolio(s) is being submitted for review.

The panel will normally look at every portfolio submitted although it may be acceptable to send in a sample where one assessor and/or internal verifier has overseen a significant number of Level 4 portfolios (eg more than six). Where this is the case, please contact us as soon as possible (by emailing keyskills@cityandguilds.com) to discuss how best to proceed.

After this meeting, the next panel review is due to take place in early December.

ICT Level 3 and 4 data files – a reminder

As we’re in the midst of the busy exam season, it may be helpful to remind you about the need to ensure candidates taking the Level 3 or Level 4 Key Skills ICT test have access to the complete set of data files.

The current set of files for all tests up to, and including, September 2008 are located on the QCA website the site includes instructions for downloading and storing the files locally.
Downloading must not be left until the day of the test and candidates require access to all 2007-08 data file folders – not just the specific files required for the test they are taking. Please also ensure that your examinations staff are fully aware of this requirement as we usually receive at least a couple of panic phone calls from exams officers who have only discovered that they need to provide these files when opening the paper on the day of the test!