A Return to Normality 

2021/22 saw more of a return to normality in terms of teaching and learning and assessment for Functional Skills and this is shown in the pass rates below. Adaptations such as Remote Invigilation, employer invigilation and a much greater use of online tools such as Teams and Zoom for Speaking, Listening and Communicating have become commonplace in Functional Skills helping to ensure that the assessment options suit the needs of the learners. 

How Pearson Works Out Pass Rates

Pearson presents its pass rates a little differently to how a provider may do it. For us the pass rate is a simple number of passes as a percentage of the number of tests taken. For many providers it is the number of passes as a percentage of the number of learners. These are not necessarily the same thing, especially when re-sits are factored in. As an example, albeit an extreme, impossible one, if a learner takes 100 tests and passes on test 100, the pass rate Pearson will provide is 1% and the pass rate the provider has is 100%. Please bear this in mind when looking at pass rates.

Entry Level Assessments and Speaking, Listening and Communicating

Pearson does not report pass rates for Entry Level learners in general and for the Speaking, Listening and Communicating component specifically as these are all internally assessed. For these learners we only see the claims for success and not the other attempts a learner might have had.

Pearson’s Pass Rates 2021/22

Below are Pearson’s overall pass rates. These are for all learners and are not filtered by age, gender or provider type. 

Two things strike me about these results: 

• The difference between the first-time pass rate and the overall pass rate, however, the difference is markedly less than last year: FS Pass Rates 2020/21
• The difference in pass rates between maths and English is still there (see below for more detail on this).

First-Time vs Overall Pass Rates 

Although the difference is markedly less than last year, there is still an issue here. If you look below at the sector data, the difference in first-time vs overall pass rates in Work-Based Learning is minimal (just 1% for Level 1 Reading for example), but the difference in Further Education is much more significant.

The key thing to understand is that many learners are taking assessments more than once or twice and are not necessarily successful. This links back to the section on how Pearson presents our pass rates. The overall pass rate is less because the learners who fail the first time (according to the data), tend to fail again, second time. We recommend spending time with learners who have failed looking at the coverage and range points they had less success on prior to any re-sit. This information can be found on ResultsPlus.

If ResultsPlus shows that a learner achieved less than 30% on their assessment, we recommend spending more time with these learners, wherever possible, to facilitate their success. 

English vs Maths Pass Rates

Ofqual recently carried out a piece of research looking at the comparative difficulty of Functional Skills maths across Awarding Organisations and from Legacy to Reformed. That research is available here: Reformed functional skills mathematics: evaluation of difficulty

'We found only small differences in expected difficulty between sample assessments offered by each awarding organisation, which could be accommodated when setting pass boundaries. We also found the expected difficulty between legacy and reformed qualifications was very similar.' Ofqual 2022 

The issue is not so much the difficulty of the questions, but rather the size of the curriculum and the starting point of the learners. The key difference between English and maths is the knowledge needed to be successful in the assessment. In a reading test for example, for all intents and purposes, all the information is there in the texts, the learners just need to use this in their responses. With maths, however, the learners need to know more. Not knowing how to work out surface area, for example, means the learners cannot access that question. 

The other key issue that has come to the fore this year is that of problem solving. In Functional Skills maths, problem solving accounts for 75% of the marks, while in GCSE it is 20%. Younger learners especially need to focus on their problem solving skills in order to be successful. 

The graph above compares the pass rates for 2020/21 and 2021/22. Pleasingly we can see that there has been an increase in pass rates across the board. Hopefully this shows that the reformed qualifications have started to bed in across the board. This increase is less in maths than English, but Pearson has been putting greater support in place for both subjects. 

Generally, there is very little difference between onscreen and paper-based pass rates, though they are slightly higher for onscreen tests at Level 2. This is not about the accessibility of the assessments, but more about the age of the learners taking them. The majority of onscreen assessments take place in work-based learning, where, as you can see below, the learners have a much higher pass rate compared to the norm. These learners are typically older than those in other provisions. 

Here we can see that work-based learning providers continue to outperform both schools and FE college. There are a number of reasons behind this:

• Age of the learners: learners in the 24+ demographic have a far higher success rate with Functional Skills. Partly this is due to the style of the assessment, but more often it is about the motivation and experience of the learners. Interestingly, in FE colleges the pass rate for Level 1 maths is approximately 60% for 24+ learners too. Work-based learning has a higher percentage of learners in the 24+ demographic. 
• A large number of 16 year olds still have had very little experience of live assessments, many will not have taken an assessment since their SATs and this could well have had a contributing effect on outcomes. The majority of 16 year olds taking Functional Skills are in FE.
• Motivation of the learners: For learners on an apprenticeship programme, Functional Skills is a mandatory part of the training programme (where necessary) as it is within FE. However, the key difference is that learners cannot complete their apprenticeship without passing their English and maths and this helps drive the learners towards success.
• Funding: There is no condition of funding for work-based learning learners, so providers are free to choose the most suitable maths and English course for their learners. This means there are more learners with grade 3 GCSE maths and English undertaking Level 2 Functional Skills qualifications. 
• TAGs: Teacher Assessed Grades have had a significant impact on continuing pass rates for Functional Skills. For many learners in FE, they are having to sit a higher level of Functional Skill than in previous years due to a generous teacher assessed grade.
• Loss of learning: Younger learners are still struggling with the lost learning of the COVID lockdown years. This is something we will need to support learners with for many years to come. 

FE Pass Rates 2021/22

WBL Pass Rates 2021/22 

ICT Pass Rates 2021/22 

Functional Skills Marking Times 2021/22 

For 2021/22 Pearson has carried out a detailed analysis of the marking times for our Functional Skills: 

These marking times are based on test booking date. This means that the overall average and the paper-based average are inflated as this includes the “5-day window” for paper-based assessments to be taken and the time it takes for assessments to be returned to us. Without this, these figures would be much lower. 

There are spikes in marking time, especially in May and June, which is the main assessment window for a considerable number of providers. 

These pass rates show a marked improvement over the previous years of Reformed Functional Skills, hopefully starting an upward trend. Pearson will be supporting you all the way with up-to-date information and support throughout the year. 

Chris Briggs - Product Manager Post 16 English, Maths and Digital Skills