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It describes reforms tied to the 2005 White Paper and the GCSE English/Maths Diploma structure, then reports a STAG/AQA investigation that translated Functional Skills standards into level descriptors for grading. It finds that Paper 1 hurdles can create narrow windows with major shifts in grade C pass rates, and evaluates policy options to soften these effects.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":20,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/centre-for-education-research-and-practice-functional-skills-in-gcse-english-and-mathematics/620962/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/centre-for-education-research-and-practice-functional-skills-in-gcse-english-and-mathematics/620962.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Taylor Morgan","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-21","2026-10-20",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What reforms link Functional Skills to GCSE English and mathematics?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The 2005 White Paper requires students to master functional skills in GCSE English and mathematics as part of a new general GCSE Diploma, recognizing five GCSE achievements including English and mathematics.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How was Functional Skills assessed in the STAG/AQA investigation described?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Functional Skills standards were translated into level descriptors, and senior examiners assigned Level 2 (grade C) achievement or failure using scripts from AQA GCSE 2006 English Paper 1 tiers.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What effect do hurdles on Paper 1 have on GCSE English grade C outcomes?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Applying a Functional Skills hurdle on Paper 1 can substantially alter subject pass rates, with a very low and narrow window where the hurdle has limited impact; outside that window, grade C rates are seriously raised or lowered.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},620962,1792568972,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":19,"category_name":20,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":41,"preview_page_count":4},1099523885336,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Centre for Education Research and Practice  \nThe 2005 White Paper announced reforms which will require students to master functional skills in GCSE English and mathematics and also as a part of a new general (GCSE) Diploma. This diploma will recognise the achievement of five GCSEs at grade A*-C including English and mathematics. For students who achieve the functional element only of GCSE, that achievement will be separately certificated. A review of coursework is also taking place in order to reduce the assessment load of GCSE.  \nQCA produced draft requirements of Functional Skills in their report Functional English Standards. In autumn 2006, a joint STAG/AQA inter-awarding body research investigation took place in which the QCA Functional Skills standards were translated into levels descriptors so that candidatesí scripts could be assessed in terms of Functional Skills in a judgemental exercise by senior examiners (AQA/STAG, 2006) . Examiners were provided with scripts and they used the descriptors to assign Level 2 (grade C) achievement, or failure, in Functional Skills to each script. Subject grades were calculated in six different ways, but none of these ways was the route of particular interest to the current report, as none excluded the coursework components. The effects on the discriminating power of a GCSE English examination which excludes coursework are therefore investigated here as there is a possibility that QCA will require coursework to be discarded.  \nAQA GCSE 2006 English Specification A Paper 1 (Foundation and Higher tiers) was selected for the AQA/STAG investigation as the examination component most closely matching the QCA requirements of Functional Skills. The examiners also determined Functional Skills levels (1, 2 or U) for a selection of candidates on Paper 1 Tier H and Paper 1 Tier F which staff then used to determine Functional Skills boundary marks. However, Paper 1 does not include all the Functional Skills standards, and some of the Paper 1 content is not Functional Skills, so Paper 1 is only an approximation to a Functional Skills paper. The aggregate marks of Papers 1 and 2 formed a pseudo-subject for purposes of the present investigation with a Functional Skills hurdle applied to Paper 1 which could block access to the subject level award at grade C.  \nCatastrophic effects on the subject pass rates were demonstrated to be caused by the application of hurdles on Paper 1. For a Functional Skills hurdle to have not too great an effect on subject grade boundaries it must be set at a level not more than a current mid grade D standard on Paper 1. Yet the STAG/AQA exercise produced judgements for Level 2 (Grade C) Functional Skills at the current Paper 1 grade B standard rather than at grade C standard. This level is two grades above the position where the hurdle has no effect and one and a half grades above the point where the hurdle effects are barely recoverable. There is therefore a very low and narrow window on the Functional Skills components of about four marks. A hurdle below that window has  \n[cerp.org.uk](cerp.org.uk)  \nCopyright © 2014 AQA Education and its licensors. All rights reserved.  \n1  \nAQA Education (AQA) is a registered charity (registered charity number 1073334) and a company limited by guarantee  \nregistered in England and Wales (company number 3644723) . Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX.  \nCentre for Education Research and Practice  \nno effect on subject level grade C. A hurdle above that window means that the subject level grade C pass rate is seriously lowered because of the Functional Skills performances.  \nIt may be that the standard of Functional Skills work will rise so that it becomes easier for candidates to obtain high marks. In that case the hurdle would have little impact. But the reason for the high judgemental hurdle mark on Paper 1 is that ëmasteryí of the skills is expected of the candidates and mastery, of course, requires the demonstrat","cbCairHlbDl0ctFx","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairHlbDl0ctFx","pdf",1122838,12,"English","# Introduction\n## Reform context (White Papers 2005)\n## Functional Skills standards and assessment approach\n## GCSE grade boundaries and hurdle effects\n## Options to mitigate assessment impacts","[{\"question\":\"What reforms link Functional Skills to GCSE English and mathematics?\",\"answer\":\"The 2005 White Paper requires students to master functional skills in GCSE English and mathematics as part of a new general GCSE Diploma, recognizing five GCSE achievements including English and mathematics.\"},{\"question\":\"How was Functional Skills assessed in the STAG/AQA investigation described?\",\"answer\":\"Functional Skills standards were translated into level descriptors, and senior examiners assigned Level 2 (grade C) achievement or failure using scripts from AQA GCSE 2006 English Paper 1 tiers.\"},{\"question\":\"What effect do hurdles on Paper 1 have on GCSE English grade C outcomes?\",\"answer\":\"Applying a Functional Skills hurdle on Paper 1 can substantially alter subject pass rates, with a very low and narrow window where the hurdle has limited impact; outside that window, grade C rates are seriously raised or lowered.\"}]","Centre for Education Research and Practice - Functional Skills in GCSE English and Mathematics | PDF",1792464803]