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Functional Skills Qualifications Syllabus
Qualifications in English, maths and ICT in England providing practical core skills, often taken by students who did not achieve GCSE grades 4/C.. The complete Functional Skills Qualifications outline — 8 subjects, 27 chapters and 108 topics — laid out so you can see exactly what has to be covered and tick each item off as you go.
Functional Skills Qualifications subjects
Each subject below has its own page with the full chapter → topic → sub-topic tree and a set of real exam-style flashcards.
4 chapters · 17 topics · 27 sub-topics
Functional Skills English — Writing4 chapters · 17 topics · 29 sub-topics
Functional Skills English — Speaking, Listening and Communication3 chapters · 12 topics · 14 sub-topics
Functional Skills Maths — Number and the Number System3 chapters · 13 topics · 24 sub-topics
Functional Skills Maths — Measures, Shape and Space4 chapters · 14 topics · 21 sub-topics
Functional Skills Maths — Handling Data and Statistics3 chapters · 10 topics · 14 sub-topics
Functional Skills ICT — Using ICT Systems3 chapters · 12 topics · 20 sub-topics
Functional Skills ICT — Finding and Communicating Information3 chapters · 13 topics · 17 sub-topics
Functional Skills Qualifications flashcard decks
413 question-and-answer cards across 8 decks, written against this syllabus. Preview any deck free.
- Functional Skills English — Reading — 50 cards
- Functional Skills English — Writing — 58 cards
- Functional Skills English — Speaking, Listening and Communication — 51 cards
- Functional Skills Maths — Number and the Number System — 51 cards
- Functional Skills Maths — Measures, Shape and Space — 50 cards
- Functional Skills Maths — Handling Data and Statistics — 53 cards
- Functional Skills ICT — Using ICT Systems — 50 cards
- Functional Skills ICT — Finding and Communicating Information — 50 cards
How to work through the Functional Skills Qualifications syllabus
The outline on this page is arranged the way the syllabus itself is: subject, then chapter, then topic, then sub-topic. That last level is what most study plans skip, and it is where coverage actually goes wrong — a chapter marked "done" often has three sub-topics inside it that were never touched.
Weight your plan accordingly: Functional Skills English — Reading carries 17 topics while Functional Skills Maths — Handling Data and Statistics carries 10. Giving both the same number of weeks is the most common planning mistake for Functional Skills Qualifications.
The ~115 hour estimate above is a first pass only: roughly 45 minutes per topic plus 12 minutes per sub-topic. Revision cycles, past papers and mocks sit on top of that number.
Functional Skills Qualifications syllabus FAQ
What subjects are in the Functional Skills Qualifications syllabus?
Functional Skills Qualifications covers 8 subjects: Functional Skills English — Reading, Functional Skills English — Writing, Functional Skills English — Speaking, Listening and Communication, Functional Skills Maths — Number and the Number System, Functional Skills Maths — Measures, Shape and Space, Functional Skills Maths — Handling Data and Statistics, Functional Skills ICT — Using ICT Systems and Functional Skills ICT — Finding and Communicating Information. Together they contain 27 chapters and 108 named topics.
How much do you have to study for Functional Skills Qualifications?
The full Functional Skills Qualifications outline breaks down into 27 chapters, 108 topics and 166 sub-topics. Functional Skills English — Reading is the largest single subject with 17 topics across 4 chapters.
How long does it take to cover the whole Functional Skills Qualifications syllabus?
Roughly 115 hours for one full pass. That estimate allows about 45 minutes per topic plus 12 minutes per sub-topic, so it is first-pass coverage — revision, past papers and mock tests sit on top of it. At 3 hours a day that is about 5 weeks.
Are there Functional Skills Qualifications flashcards?
Yes — 413 question-and-answer flashcards across 8 decks, one per subject, written against this syllabus. A sample of every deck is readable on this site for free, and the complete decks are in the Examius app.
Is this Functional Skills Qualifications syllabus free to use?
Yes. Every page here is free to read, and importing the Functional Skills Qualifications syllabus into the Examius app to tick off topics as you finish them is free too, in United Kingdom and everywhere else. No account is needed to start.
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