Gateway Qualifications Entry Level Award in Employability Skills (Entry 3)

Rules of Combination

Learners must complete a minimum of 6 credits of which 4 credits must be at Entry Level 3.

The units have been clustered according to subject content. All units are optional. Units can be selected from any of the groups or from a single group where there are sufficient credits.

Learners cannot include more than one unit with the same title (e.g. a learner may not include Entry 3 Interview Skills and Level 1 Interview Skills).

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Units

Internal quality assessor requirements

DCS status for centres previously approved to offer the legacy version of this qualification can retain DCS status for this qualification subject to ongoing maintaining standards through external quality assurance monitoring.

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What is the purpose of this qualification?

The Gateway Qualifications suite of Employability Skills qualifications have been developed at Entry 3, Level 1 and Level 2.

The qualifications offer the generic transferrable employability skills needed for employment such as Working in a Team, Communication Skills for Work.

Learners have a free choice of units. This is to ensure that their learning programmes can be tailored to suit their individual needs

The qualifications are designed to enable a learner either to progress directly into employment or into learning at a higher level as part of a progression pathway towards employment in a specific sector. They have been designed to complement learning in specific sectors where there is a need for the learner to obtain additional employability skills alongside sector-specific skills.

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What skills, knowledge, or understanding does this qualification develop?

This qualification has a choice of units that focus on employability skills that are needed in the workplace such as working with customers, managing their time, problem-solving and getting on with colleagues.

There are no mandatory units, enabling learners and providers to work together to select units appropriate to the individual’s needs, interests and aspirations for employment.

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How is this qualification different from other, similar qualifications?

There is a Gateway Qualifications Award, Certificate and Extended Certificate in Employability Skills. The Award is designed to meet the needs of learners who would benefit from a short accredited programme focused on employability skills. It can provide a useful structure for the ‘work preparation training’ component of a traineeship where initial assessment has identified the need for a trainee to focus on employability skills, particularly where the lack of these is seen as a key barrier to gaining work.

This qualification is exclusively focused on helping learners develop the transferable skills essential for employment. There is also a suite of Entry 3 Preparation for Employment qualifications which include these same skills but, in addition, support learners to broaden their understanding of the world of work and the different options open to them and to develop some of the life skills, such as independent travel, that they will need in order to access employment.

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Which sector does this qualification support?

This qualification supports progression to entry-level job roles across sectors.

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Which job roles does this qualification support?

This qualification supports progression to entry-level job roles across sectors.

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Progression & entry requirements

Learners do not need any prior qualifications or specific level of attainment to take this qualification and it is available to learners of any age.

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Funding information

There are now two main sources for funding information, a straightforward ESFA Qualification Search and the more detailed Find a Learning Aim website.

The new Find a learning aim (FALA) service provides a search tool that you can use to check the funding status of any qualification, framework, unit, standard or T Level:

View this qualification on the ESFA’s Find a learning aim website

The Education and Skills Funding Agency search provides funding information on qualifications. It does not provide funding information for units, non-regulated activity and work placements, for this information please use Find a learning aim (FALA).

View this qualification on the ESFA Qualification Funding Search

How to find a learning aim

If you’re not sure how to use the new find a learning aim website, we’ve created a handy walkthrough to help you:

How to Use: Find a learning Aim

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We have done our best to collate and summarise the key information, and wherever possible we alert our providers to changes in funding policy.

This funding information is provided in good faith and it is always advisable to check directly with the funding agencies before committing to delivery.

The following support materials will help you to deliver this qualification.

Internal Quality Assurance

Special Considerations and Reasonable Adjustment Forms

Best Practice: Employability Webinar