Have Your Say and help shape the future of Essential Skills Wales qualifications
Today, we’re launching a 12-week consultation on the design of new Essential Skills Wales qualifications.
The qualifications we intend to reform cover the subjects of application of number, communication and digital literacy. They are designed for use in post-16 courses in further education and work-based learning. Essential Skills Wales qualifications enable learners to develop and demonstrate the skills that are essential in for life, learning and work.
In 2024, more than 28,000 Essential Skills Wales certificates were awarded to learners across Wales as part of apprenticeships, post-16 further education programmes and adult community learning.
Last year, we announced our intention to reform three subject areas: application of number, communication and digital literacy.
That came after an in-depth review of the qualifications during which we carried out extensive research and spoke to learners, providers and employers – and the majority wanted reform. They gave feedback about the currency and manageability of the qualifications and their assessments.
Since then, we’ve continued to engage with a range of stakeholders and today we’re launching an online survey to gain important feedback on our proposals.
The Essential Skills Wales qualifications also include employability, which we do not intend to reform. Our reforms concentrate on the subjects that are included in core requirements for apprenticeship frameworks. As we aren’t reforming the employability qualifications, awarding bodies can choose to continue to offer these if they wish to.
Senior Qualifications Manager Oliver Stacey said: “We need a wide range of views to help us design a suite of new qualifications. We’re asking lecturers, teachers, college staff, training providers, employers and learners to fill in our survey.
“We are consulting on proposals related to the:
- purpose and aims of the qualifications
- content (knowledge and skills)
- assessment
- qualification titles
“We are intending to remove Essential Skills Wales qualifications at level 3 in all three subjects and at Entry 1 and 2 in digital literacy. For each subject we ask a survey question about the impacts of removing these qualifications.
“For each proposal, we are asking the extent to which interested parties agree or disagree and offer them the opportunity to explain their views.
“These qualifications help learners in work and life, so we urge people to have their say and shape their future. We will analyse and consider all responses received and publish a decisions report and a summary of the responses in the summer term 2026.”
The online consultation closes on 5 February. You can access the survey here