Teaching and learning key skills

The importance of developing skills that enable individuals to improve the quality of their learning, work and performance has long been on the educational agenda and is now firmly embedded within the 14-19 agenda.

To discover more about the content of each of the key skills, their assessment requirements and effective ways in which they can be delivered, use the links at the bottom of the page..

Importance of Key Skills

Employers have taken a lead in promoting the need for schools and colleges to equip young people with skills such as the ability to communicate effectively, to know how to solve a problem and to work confidently with others. A knowledge base is important but in an increasingly competitive and changing market the ability to demonstrate such skills provides an individual with a pathway into more sustainable employment. Equally, for those individuals progressing onto further or higher education, there is a growing recognition that in order to succeed, individuals need to be able to apply, with increasing autonomy, a range of interpersonal, language, numeracy and IT skills.

By encouraging your students to take one or more of the key skills you will be guiding them through a process that will enable them to:

• Develop a range of generically transferable skills such as the ability to plan, research, present and evaluate different forms of information
• Increase their self-confidence and their ability to work with greater independence
• Reflect on their own learning and performance
• Enhance their levels of achievement in other areas of work

You will be providing your students with some of the competencies and attributes needed for effective participation in employment, further and higher learning and adult life. You will be broadening their curriculum and actually providing them with the opportunity to evidence skills acquisition.

Summary of this section

• Application of number
  Detailed guidance on the content and teaching of application of number.
• Communication
  Detailed guidance on the content and teaching of communicaton.
• Information and Communication Technology
  Detailed guidance on the content and teaching of information and communication technology.
• Improving own learning and performance
  Detailed guidance on the content and teaching of improving own learning and performance.
• Problem solving
  Detailed guidance on the content and teaching of problem solving.
• Working with others
  Detailed guidance on the content and teaching of working with others.
• Examples of effective practice
  Examples of effective or good practice in key skills.
• Key skills for learners
  Information and advice on developing learners in key skills.
• Level Crossing
  These materials are for teacher, tutors and trainers to develop the underpinnning skills of learners as they move from Skills for Life Entry Levels 2 and 3 to Level 1 key skills. The resources cover Communication, Application of Number and ICT.