Functional Skills English
Functional Skills English: Level 1 and Level 2
EAL-friendly — Great for building English skills
Functional Skills English is about using English in real life: reading the information you are actually given, writing so people understand you, and speaking clearly when it matters. It sits alongside the GCSE pathways — it is not a grade route.
Not sure where to start?
Take the quick check — ten short questions, about five minutes. There is no pass or fail: it just places you at Level 1 or Level 2 and explains why.
Start the checkpointEvery lesson here follows the same LADDER order you already know: Learn → Practise → Apply → Feedback → Improve → Progress. Your rungs, XP and progress are tracked exactly as they are on the GCSE pathways. Original LADDER English practice material — not an official AQA paper.
The four areas
Reading
Understand real texts: emails, notices, adverts, articles, letters and instructions.
Writing
Write clearly for a real purpose and a real reader, then edit and improve it.
Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar
Accuracy that makes your writing easy to read and easy to trust.
Speaking, Listening & Communication
Listen for what matters, ask good questions and explain your ideas clearly.
Level 1
4 lessonsBuild confidence with straightforward texts, practical situations, clear communication and accurate basic writing.
- Start
Reading
Reading real information
Explicit information, main point, summary, purpose and audience, fact vs opinion.
Level 110 marksEAL — Great for building English skills- • Finding explicit information
- • Identifying the main point
- • Summarising information
- • Purpose and audience
- • Fact vs opinion
- Start
Writing
Writing clearly
Planning, sentences, paragraphing, formal vs informal, emails, letters and forms.
Level 115 marksEAL — Great for building English skills- • Planning
- • Sentence construction
- • Paragraphing
- • Formal and informal language
- • Emails, letters and forms
- • Editing and improving
- Start
Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar
Accuracy basics
Capitals and full stops, commas, apostrophes, sentence types, agreement, homophones.
Level 110 marksEAL — Great for building English skills- • Capital letters and full stops
- • Commas
- • Apostrophes
- • Question and exclamation marks
- • Sentence types
- • Subject–verb agreement
- • Tenses
- • Homophones and common spelling errors
- • Conjunctions, prepositions and word classes
- Start
Speaking, Listening & Communication
Listening and speaking clearly
Listening for key information, following instructions, asking and answering questions.
Level 110 marksEAL — Great for building English skills- • Listening for key information
- • Following instructions
- • Asking and answering questions
- • Giving information clearly
Level 2
4 lessonsInterpret information, make inferences, compare texts, adapt tone and register, and produce more developed written and spoken responses.
- Start
Reading
Interpreting and comparing texts
Inference, vocabulary in context, tone, comparing two texts, language and organisation.
Level 215 marksEAL — Great for building English skills- • Inference
- • Vocabulary in context
- • Understanding tone
- • Comparing information from two texts
- • How writers use language
- • How texts are organised
- Start
Writing
Developed writing
Articles, reviews and reports; developing points; register; editing and improving.
Level 220 marksEAL — Great for building English skills- • Writing for purpose and audience
- • Articles
- • Reviews
- • Reports
- • Applications
- • Giving information and explaining ideas
- • Editing and improving
- Start
Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar
Precision and control
Complex sentences, comma splices, colons and semi-colons, cohesion, tense control.
Level 215 marksEAL — Great for building English skills- • Sentence types and variety
- • Advanced punctuation
- • Paragraphing and cohesion
- • Subject–verb agreement
- • Tenses
- • Improving sentence accuracy
- Start
Speaking, Listening & Communication
Discussions and presentations
Expressing opinions, explaining ideas, discussions, presentations, adapting language.
Level 215 marksEAL — Great for building English skills- • Expressing opinions
- • Explaining ideas
- • Discussions
- • Presentations
- • Adapting language for audience and purpose
Functional Skills is separate from the GCSE grade pathways.
There are no GCSE grades here. Level 1 builds everyday confidence; Level 2 asks you to interpret, compare and develop. If you are working towards a GCSE grade as well, the Grade 4 Pathway sits alongside this.
Grade 4 Pathway