The Department does not routinely make assessments of standards in English and mathematics teaching. The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills makes these assessments. The recent Ofsted report, “Implementation of 14-19 reforms, including the introduction of Diplomas”, published on 17 August 2009, includes an evaluation of the first year of teaching of functional skills in mathematics and English as part of the Diploma.
The Department has substantially increased its work for the 2009/10 academic year with schools and local authorities, through a programme of support provided by National Strategies, to support the teaching and learning of functional skills across all of the curriculum, and act on the findings of the Ofsted report. As part of offering this support, NS and LSIS work continually at a local level to assess training requirements in the light of readiness for functional skills teaching in local schools, colleges and other post-16 institutions.