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Key Skills-is it compulsory?

Do any of you TSRers do key skills? Im asking because it seems quite a pointless lesson that nobody wants to do and our college makes us. They say that the goverment makes them teach us it, and its compulsory....fair enough, but i dont know a single person from another school or college taking it?? :confused:

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Reply 1

Niaya

no its not compulsory i originally choose to do it but it doesnt fit on my timetable since i choose maths its good to have but no its not compusory and its only a 15 week course just stick it out its not really that long

Reply 2

Bape

Its not compulsory???? They keep on telling us that the government makes them teach us it! Also, are you sure its 15 weeks long......to my knowledge, its going to be all year long(although only one hour a week). I realy dont see any point in doing it.

Reply 3

Niaya

no its def not compulsory and my college do it for 2hrs a week for 15 weeks the idea is that after that 15 weeks you get an extra 2 hrs of free / study time a weeks to focus on exams and stuff. which key skills are you doing cos theres 2 different topics the only reason i was going to do the (ict /coms whatever it is one) is because I kinda failed GCSE ICT ( becuase of cw i did very well in the exam)

Reply 4

Bape

Im doing Communications. If its not compulsory, i dont get why they would be making us do it?! The tutors were telling us at the start of the year that she wanted us to go to "good" uni's, etc, then makes us do something accepted only by certain "lesser" uni's? strange..

Reply 5

Niaya

it prob looks good for your college if you all do it they probably say
"look arnt we great we persuaded all these kids to do key skills we should get more funding"

Reply 6

Bape

Niaya

it prob looks good for your college if you all do it they probably say "look arnt we great we persuaded all these kids to do key skills we should get more funding"

Lol..sounds like them! Actually it would probably be a worthwhile reason doing it for that...my college does need more funds! Thanks

Reply 7

Niaya

no prob if i were u id be really cheeky and ask for food
our english bribes us with cookies

Reply 8

Bape

Niaya

no prob if i were u id be really cheeky and ask for food
our english bribes us with cookies

Haha! I might have to try that..you're lucky!

Reply 9

smirf83

I'm doing Communication, it's a bit odd as almost everyone is doing IT and has a timetabled lesson. I haven't been told anything. :confused:

I really can't see the point of it anyway, i can communicate well enough so that people can understand me. Why do I have to do extra work for something that i'd imagine isn't exactly held in the highest regard?

Reply 10

Happy1

its not compulsory. it depends which unis you want to apply to. A lot of unis dont even recognise it...

I was told its mainly for the "recruitive unis"... they seem to give you extra UCAS tariff points for doing it.

Reply 11

wippa_dippa

Hiya!

There ARE some funded courses where the Key Skills are compulsory (I work for a Training Company).

I've done all the key skills, and I think they're great. Mainly because I've seen loads of peoplel use them to get jobs (yep, employers like 'em) and also to get into university because they carry UCAS points.

Regardless, doing the key skills is further evidence of your ability, and also gives you loads more qualifications that are useful for when you start applying for jobs.

Wippa :smile:

Reply 12

x kat x

i had to do key skills last year and i failed. :frown:

they said it was compulsory then
this year i want to take it because there are some universites who do actually look for the key skills you've got. i'd advise you to stick it out last year i only went for about 5/6 weeks and i'd completed everything. but if one person in the calss fails you all fail.

Reply 13

Purple

I am doing Level 2 ICT which is utterly pathetic seeing as Level 2 is equal to GCSE and I have already done Applied ICT at GCSE level and we are just doing the exact same thing, its ridiculous.

Reply 14

Niaya

kirstinx

I am doing Level 2 ICT which is utterly pathetic seeing as Level 2 is equal to GCSE and I have already done Applied ICT at GCSE level and we are just doing the exact same thing, its ridiculous.

I need to do that at some point next year because I didnt get my applied ICT because of cw I cant do it this year because of my time table

Reply 15

Bape

catryn

if one person in the calss fails you all fail.

What? how come? I dont see why, its not a group project or something???

Reply 16

mooncheese89

I think it is compulsory, unless you do ICT AS, which is what I do. It's some stupid government thing. And no, the whole class wouldn't fail if one person did.

Reply 17

*starry_eyed_*

I was told I had to do the courseowrk, as I passed AS english, but already had enough work in my portfolio

Reply 18

stratomaster

It's compulsory at my college. I'll sit the exam because it's stupidly easy anyway but i'm not prepairing/doing a presentation and making a portfolio.. I don't need to prove myself any more to them.

Reply 19

wippa_dippa

It sounds like you should all pack up and move to Wales - the Key Skills tests aren't compulsory here :biggrin:

You just have to do the portfolio - very straightforward if it's taught properly.

Just think of the lovely qualifications points you get by doing them.

Just a note, but you won't get the qualification if you just sit the test but don't do the portfolio. They really are useless if you don't do the whole thing - half counts for nothing unfortunately.