FAQs - Functional Skills

For online assessments, providers can change the date and/ or time of the assessment via the XAMS Assessment Platform.

No changes can be made to Levels One (1)  and Two (2) paper-based assessments. Changes for Entry Level paper-based assessments can be made up to 24 hours prior to the assessment.

Changes for assessments being invigilated by Open Awards, require 10 working days’ notice.

If, for exceptional circumstances, changes are required outside of these timescales, you must contact the team on 0151 494 2072 or customerservices@openawards.org.uk to discuss before the date/ time of the scheduled assessments.

For Entry Levels One (1) – Three (3), providers devise their own Speaking, Listening and Communicating (SLC) assessments using the sample structure available via The Portal. These assessment tasks will be externally verified by your Quality and Standards Advisor. Word document templates are available via The portal.

Levels One (1) and Two (2) SLC assessments are set by Open Awards. The live assessments can be downloaded from The Portal by your Assessment Administrator. These assessments are confidential and must be kept secure at all times. There is a sample assessment for each level available on the qualification page of the website. The samples cannot be used as a live assessment; but should be used to prepare the learner.

Providers can choose to write their own assessments for Levels One (1) and Two (2). This should be done following the instructions in the ‘Guidance on Setting Provider Devised SLC Assessment Tasks’ and submitted to Open Awards for approval in advance of any assessments taking place. There is no fee charged for the approval of provider devised Level One (1) and Level Two (2) SLC assessments.

Functional Skills registrations will last for two (2) years, unless otherwise stated If your learner is unlikely to achieve the qualification within a two (2) year period, please contact customerservies@openawards.org.uk or 0151 494 2072 to speak to a member of the team.

For online Levels One (1) and Two (2) assessments, and for Entry Level assessments, assessments being invigilated by the provider can be scheduled in the XAMS Assessment Platform up to two (2) hours before the set assessment date/ time. Providers can choose their own date and time.

Levels One (1) and Two (2) paper-based assessments are available at any date and time within a 10 working day notice period required.

Results are released in accordance with the calendar on our website.

For assessments being invigilated by Open Awards, learners can be scheduled in the XAMS Assessment Platform up to five (5) working days prior to the assessment for maths, reading and writing and 10 working days for Speaking, Listening and Communicating (SLC).

Following completion of the marking process, learners’ results will be available to the provider through the XAMS Assessment Platform.

For Levels One (1) and Two (2), results will be available within the following timescales:

• Results for online assessments will be available within 10 working days from the date the assessment was taken.
• Results for paper-based assessments will be available within 32 working days from the date the assessment was taken.

The only exception to these timescales is when we publish a new assessment version. These results are subject to a series of standardisation and awarding activities and, as such, results will be released within 32 working days from the date of assessment.

For Entry Level qualifications, approved Provider Markers mark the completed assessments. Results will be confirmed, following external verification, within 16 working days from the date that the marked scripts are returned to Open Awards.

Learners are permitted to resit an external assessment where they are not successful. Resit charges will apply.

A learner can resit an assessment in the XAMS Assessment Platform once the ‘fail’ result has been released and sufficient further learning has taken place. The standard notice periods for scheduling assessments will apply.

For Level One (1) and Two (2) qualifications, Open Awards offer both online and paper-based assessments. Online assessments (where the provider is invigilating) are available on-demand and must be scheduled through the XAMS platform at least two (2) hours before the assessment is due to take place. Paper-based assessments are available with ten working days notice. Paper-based assessments will be posted securely to your provider at least two (2) days before the scheduled date. Please refer to the paper-based calendar for deadlines.

For Entry Level qualifications, assessments are available on-demand as paper-based assessments. Assessment must be scheduled on the XAMS platform at least two (2) hours before the assessment is due to take place. You will then be able to download the assessment papers for your learners.

We also offer Online Entry Level Three (3) assessments across Reading, Writing and Maths, which are scheduled through the XAMS platform with at least two (2) hours notice.

Open Awards invigilated assessments are available online from Entry Level Three (3) – Level Two (2) and can be scheduled via the XAMS platform with 5 working days notice, or 10 working days for the Speaking, Listening and Communicating component.