Key Skills

...period. Enjoy

Key skills gets a lot of jip from A level students. Many believe it is pointless and there is no use in having it. But I aim to give a few reasons why you should have them! For people who excel in their A level subjects with straight A’s, I will admit, they are of less value. There are also subject combinations which will far exceed the skills in key skills.

But to these people I question: Why not do it ...
...come you can’t pass a key skills exam?

Can i point out that this is NOT the same as general studies. General studies shows that you have a general grasp of information. It was introduced by government but is generally not accepted by industry if you have any other A levels. However, the same reasoning can be used - if you can do it, why don't you just do it, if you can't, it'd be useful to do.

KEY SKILLS were introduced ... more

Here is my daily rant against something during my stressful period. Enjoy

Key skills gets a lot of jip from A level students. Many believe it is pointless and there is no use in having it. But I aim to give a few reasons why you should have them! For people who excel in their A level subjects with straight A’s, I will admit, they are of less value. There are also subject combinations which will far exceed the skills in key skills.

But to these people I question: Why not do it anyway? It’s just another hour exam (per skill) and it proves that you can. If you are really that intelligent, how come you can’t pass a key skills exam?

Can i point out that this is NOT the same as general studies. General studies shows that you have a general grasp of information. It was introduced by government but is generally not accepted by industry if you have any other A levels. However, the same reasoning can be used - if you can do it, why don't you just do it, if you can't, it'd be useful to do.

KEY SKILLS were introduced by industry and are generally accepted everywhere as proof of certain skills. So they are NOT like general studies, to which I will argue there is a point, but will probably not aid your career if you have any other qualification.

Key skills in areas not covered by your subjects will most likely be of help to even the most able student.

Key skills were requested by industry. Too many people were coming out of college and university with high grades, but lacking in the necessary skills to work as a team, write proper reports or do basic maths.

So 5 key skills levels were introduced, 1 being easiest and 5 being highest, most students do level 3 for each of these three skills. If you do physics and maths, having a key skill in communication would benefit you. If you do English and drama, having a skill in numeracy might help.

These key skills show that, despite not taking a subject which incorporates that skill, you can still do it to a fundamental level. It is very useful.

My school f***ed up key skills to say the least. So we weren’t offered all three. I could only take communication. For this I did one 1 hour exam, and about 3 hours of collating work (from other subjects) for a portfolio. A few additional, very easy, one page documents for administration if nothing else was needed.

This got me a Level 3 in communication. It was all done across a day when I had free lessons. To me, that hasn’t impacted at all on my life!

So, my list of reasons to do key skills:

1. Makes your CV bigger: Despite what employers like to think, they are bound by physiological forces too. If a CV looks longer, they are more impressed. Just like my music qualifications, General studies, first aid qualifications, have no relevance to the job I will get, key skills probably wont either. However, they make my CV look like I’ve done a lot of stuff

2. It’s expected: Industry asked for it, so they know every school had the option, they expect all new employees to have it. It might not be a hard subject, but it’s expected

3. They know what it means: Industry might not know that physics involves teamwork and lots of practical written papers. Ok, so physics is more well known, but more obscure subjects will have different implications. But all employers know what a key skill is, they know how to interpret them

4. It shows you have the skill: A key skill shows that between GCSE and A level, you haven’t lost the ability to do maths, or communicate, or work as a team. It shows a more up-to-date level than your GCSE’s do.

5. It’s another feather in your cap: you never know if it’s going to come in handy, you never know what you might need or use it for. Some (not many) companies are thinking of asking for key skills as a requisite for some jobs.

6. Because you can: Why not? It doesn’t take much effort, it wont hurt you!

7. Everyone else will have them: Ok, so not everyone from St. Josephs 6th form will have them, but most the country will. In my town the colleges don’t push key skills too much, but other places might. So why put yourself below the rest of the country for the sake of 5 hours?

8. It’s easy: Again, it is unbelievably easy considering what it could help you with. So you might as well

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Conclusion
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To those who find key skills a bit difficult, they will benefit from having it. For those who don’t, they will find it really easy to do so might as well anyway. So either way, it’s worth doing.

I doubt that business would ask for something to be done, then not bother accepting it when it happens. Key skills will help everyone, because they do make you more employable, even if by just a little.

So, in ultimate conclusion, every A level student should be doing key skills.

I challenge anyone to argue against key skills as a useful and (however pointless you might thing they are) worthwhile, if just for the sake of it, option.

I mean, if it's so damn easy and pointless, why not get the hell on with it and quit complaining about it!? Why not give me one valid reason not to spend very little time doing it, one bad thing that could come from getting a key skills award. Anyone?

This is not directed at people from my school. Most of them would have done it had they had the option. Again, it’s a major f*** up in our school. Neither is it directed towards insulting any of my friends. It’s merely advice given in a review.

I just had to have my say on the issue!

Thanks for reading.

My thanks go out to Kathy Sanders who’s spending the next 2 weeks marking all our work and having no holiday! She’s also brought the programme around for next year’s students.

 

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