Does the equivalence of 7 GCSEs for the Higher Diploma include points for Functional Skills or not?
A. No – the equivalence of 7 GCSEs includes points for the Principal Learning and Project and Additional and/or Specialist Learning only. Functional skills will attract their own performance points as a stand-alone qualification – at Level 2 equivalent to 0.5 GCSE A*-C for each functional skill. Diploma students will be awarded these points in addition to any performance points for achievement in English and maths GCSEs.
No – the equivalence of 7 GCSEs includes points for the Principal Learning and Project and Additional and Specialist Learning only. Functional skills will attract their own performance points as a stand alone qualification – at Level 2 equivalent to 0.5 GCSE A*-C for each functional skill. In the early years of Diploma delivery, when Functional Skills have to be taken as a stand alone qualification, Diploma students will be awarded these points in addition to any performance points for achievement in English and Maths GCSEs. But by 2010 we expect most students taking a Higher Diploma at Key Stage 4 to be achieving their functional skills through English and Maths GCSEs. Functional skills would then be recognised in points for achievement of those GCSEs.
