Annex F - Digital Entitlement
Digital skills are as important to employability and participation in society as English and Maths, yet an estimated one in five adults lack basic digital skills.
To address this, the Department of Education from 2020, alongside the existing legal entitlements to English and Maths, will introduce an entitlement to fully funded digital qualifications at level 1.
Adults with no or low digital skills will have the opportunity to undertake improved digital qualifications based on new national standards setting out the digital skills people need to get on in life and work.
As with all entitlements set by the Secretary of State, Combined Authorities with devolved AEB adopt the entitlement as part of their MOU with DfE.
Essential digital skills qualifications will enable adults to develop the digital skills they need for life, work or further study, as set out in the essential digital skill’s national standards. To support a range of purposes, these qualifications must cover all five of the skill areas from the national standards, and may cover some, or all, of the skills statements in each skill area.
Digital FSQs will provide reliable evidence of a residents’ achievements against demanding content that is relevant to the workplace and real life and provide assessment of residents’ underpinning knowledge as well as their ability to apply this in different contexts. Digital FSQs will provide a foundation for progression into employment or further education and develop skills for everyday life. The subject content for digital FSQs will reflect the full essential digital skills national standards.
The Offer
For residents at risk of digital exclusion we expect to see a flexible offer easily accessible in local community venues alongside provision offered as part of community learning for health and well-being and employment.
For residents who need to upskill digital for work it should be contextualised where possible to the relevant employment sector of work for relevance. We expect that digital skills are embedded within wider occupational skills where needed.
Role of providers
We expect the community learning offer in each of the 7 localities to deliver an offer that meets the essential digital skills framework for residents. This should support both employed and non- employed residents who are at risk of being digitally excluded. We expect this offer to be at Entry and level 1, primarily accredited, with a range of delivery mechanisms including through family learning.
We expect colleges and ITP’s to focus primarily on the essential digital skills for work at level 1, 2 and above. SWAP including digital content should be including essential digital skills for work at Level 2 as a minimum.
Courses
The Digital entitlement list sets out the courses that the WMCA will fund as part of the digital entitlement with associated funding.