16/10/2025
🌿 We couldn’t agree more!
This year, we introduced Functional Skills Maths and English here at New Leaf and already, we’re seeing such a positive impact.
For many of our learners, these courses are a brilliant way to build confidence and make sense of maths and English in real-life ways. It’s about using skills that truly matter from understanding percentages and money, to reading, writing, and communicating clearly.
We’re so proud of the learners who’ve embraced this opportunity and are already showing how capable they are when learning feels relevant and achievable.
Because at New Leaf, learning should fit the young person not the other way round. 💚
What’s so great about the maths and English level 1&2 Functional Skills curriculum?
A couple of years ago, I introduced Functional Skills English and Maths where I work — and honestly, it’s become one of the best decisions we’ve made. These courses have gone from being an idea that raised a few curious eyebrows to becoming really popular option choices that now run proudly alongside GCSE Maths and English.
And here’s why.
Functional Skills does what it says on the tin. It’s practical. It’s meaningful. It’s designed for real life.
For those who aren’t familiar, Functional Skills qualifications in Maths and English are nationally recognised qualifications that are equivalent (level 2 functional is) in level to GCSEs — but they aren’t GCSEs. They don’t have the same breadth or abstract theory, but that’s exactly the point. They focus on the skills that young people genuinely need for life, work, and independence.
Functional Skills English looks at how to read, write, and communicate effectively in everyday situations — from analysing information to writing formal emails, letters, and articles. Functional Skills Maths is all about applying maths in context: percentages in shopping, ratio in recipes, area and perimeter in DIY, and interpreting data in charts or tables.
It’s the maths and English you actually use.
And for so many of our pupils, it’s been a game-changer.
Some came to us feeling like they’d “failed” because aren’t near or didn’t reach that elusive Grade 4 in GCSE. But Functional Skills has given them a way to rebuild confidence, rediscover success, and see that they can achieve — and that it counts. These are not “less than” qualifications. They’re fully recognised by many (not all I understand that) employers, apprenticeships, and colleges.
It’s also the perfect way to fill in the gaps from earlier learning — those little foundations that sometimes get missed along the way. When pupils have the chance to revisit and secure those basics, they often experience the confidence lift they need to believe that GCSEs are within reach. For some, it’s the stepping stone between struggle and success.
And here’s something I’ve noticed time and time again: because Functional Skills Maths is maths in context, it often helps neurodivergent learners in particular to see the whole picture. It demystifies the abstract nature of maths — making it more concrete, more logical, and far more understandable. When maths is tied to real situations and visual reasoning, the fog clears. It starts to make sense.
I’ve seen pupils who once said “I can’t do maths” proudly explain how to work out a discount percentage in a sale. I’ve seen learners who froze at the sight of a comprehension question now confidently summarising information from a leaflet or article.
Functional Skills opens doors that GCSE-only pathways too often keep closed.
It’s inclusive. It’s purposeful. It’s empowering.
Because education should fit the learner, not the other way round.
So yes, I’ll say it loudly to whomever is listening -I love Functional Skills. Because every time a learner passes, smiles, and says, “I never thought I could do it,” it reminds me exactly why this qualification matters.
Emma
The Autistic SENCo
♾️
Photo: One of functional skills classes yesterday learning about how tax works following on from their work on percentages. All pencil and paper methods not using a calculator.
