Changes to Speaking, Listening and Communicating (SLC) assessments

We wanted to share some information with you regarding changes to Speaking, Listening and Communicating (SLC) assessments, which are part of all of NCFE’s English Functional Skills qualifications.

Since 1 September 2023, we’ve updated SLC assessments so that they’re all internally set assessments. You're now able to devise and manage your own topics, in line with our new guidance for assessor documents, without submitting a contextualisation request.

Where to find guidance documents for assessors

We’ve published two guidance for assessor documents, one covering Entry Level assessments and another for assessments at Levels 1 and 2. These can be found on the relevant qualification pages under the assessment materials tab. These documents have replaced the previous guidance for assessor documents for SLC and contain all the information needed to support the delivery and administration of the SLC assessments. We’ve included example tasks at every level, if you wish to use these rather than devise your own.

How to log assessments

It will no longer be necessary to make bookings for SLC assessments in the Portal. You can continue to book SLC assessments in the Portal until 29 September 2023, but after this time bookings will be unavailable. If you have new learners starting in September, we recommend that the new SLC guidance is used.

You must continue to log learners’ SLC assessments on the assessment tracking document, which has been updated with a new SLC tab to reflect these changes. If you’re using your own assessment tracking document, this must be amended to replicate the new SLC tab. 

Further support

You can view our support webinar which provides a comprehensive overview and guidance around administration and delivery, showing what the new SLC assessments will look like.

All updated documents to support these changes are now live and can be found under the relevant qualification pages:

• guidance for assessors (Entry Level)
• guidance for assessors (Levels 1 and 2)
• learner observation assessment record (LOAR)
• exemplar LOARs at each level
• new assessment tracking document (ATD)
• FAQs.

For further information, you can also contract our External Quality Assurance team at [email protected].