We offer a range of English and Maths courses, from Beginners up to Functional Skills Level 2 qualifications (GCSE equivalent). On each course, our friendly, experienced tutors will work you to grow your confidence and skills.
Before you begin learning, you will take a short assessment to make sure you are taking the right course for you. We will contact you to arrange an appointment.
English and Maths Courses we offer
You can find all of the information you need on our English and Maths courses below:
Who this course is for
Learners who are looking to develop their maths skills and gain confidence in using maths for everyday life.
The course provides a foundation for learners to progress into employment or further technical education, through achieving a national qualification, from Entry level up to Level 2.
What you will learn
You will brush up on the basics, addressing your own need and the skills needed to pass an accreditation, where appropriate.
Topic areas covered in line with Functional Skills Qualification Standards include:
- Using and manipulating numbers (including non-calculator and calculator methods)
- Measure, shape and space
- Data handling
- Problem solving skills
You will have the opportunity to discuss and set your individual learning targets with your tutor and discuss the support you might need to ensure you have an enjoyable and meaningful learning experience.
Knowledge and Skills needed to join the course
Basic English reading, writing and speaking skills.
Basic IT skills and access to Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and internet to use office 365 and the BKSB platform would be useful but not essential.
An initial assessment will be undertaken prior to the course starting to determine your starting point.
The materials you will need
At enrolment, you will need your National Insurance number and proof of benefits (if applicable).
Your tutor will provide many of the learning resources, but you will need to come prepared to the lessons with an A4 pad; pen and folder or file to keep your work organised. It will be useful, but not essential, if you have access to the internet at home to extend your learning.
How you will learn
Each session will consist of a dynamic tutor presentation followed by a range of interactive activities.
There will be plenty of revision and consolidation and learning will build on previous learning.
Your progress will be monitored by informal assessment tasks, and you will receive verbal and written feedback from the tutor to help you make good progress.
Learners who are working towards qualifications will undertake practice tests before sitting examinations through the awarding body, NCFE.
What happens after you complete your course
This course provides a key qualification which enables learners to progress onto supporting children’s numeracy development, GCSE Maths, Functional Skills I.T and a range of courses at FE and HE institutions, including studying for A levels and Access courses.
This qualification may be a requirement to gain employment.
Sefton@Work will be able to provide independent information, advice, and guidance to support you making informed choices for progression into further education, volunteering, or employment.
Ask your tutor for advice and a copy of the progression ladder.
How to enrol
You can find out how to enrol on this page.
Who this course is for
Learners who are looking to develop their English literacy skills and gain confidence in using literacy for everyday life.
The course provides a foundation for learners to progress into employment or further education, through achieving a national qualification, from Entry level up to Level 2.
What you will learn
You will brush up on the basics, addressing your own need and the skills needed to pass an accreditation, where appropriate.
Topic areas covered in line with Functional Skills Qualification Standards:
- Focus on a range of text types
- Development of reading and understanding types of text
- Improvement of spelling grammar, punctuation
- Practice in writing a variety of texts i.e. Letters, Emails, advertisements and speeches.
- Develop speaking and listening skills in various scenarios and undertake discussions
Knowledge and Skills needed to join the course
Basic English reading, writing and speaking skills.
An initial assessment will be undertaken prior to course to determine individuals starting points.
Basic IT skills and access to Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and internet to use office 365 and the BKSB platform would be useful but not essential.
The materials you will need
At enrolment you will need your National Insurance number and proof of benefits (if applicable).
Your tutor will provide most of the learning resources, but you will need to come prepared to the lessons with an A4 pad; pen and folder or file to keep your work organised.
It will be useful, but not essential, if you have access to the internet at home to extend your learning.
How you will learn
Each session will consist of a dynamic tutor presentation followed by a range of interactive activities.
There will be plenty of revision and consolidation and learning will build on previous learning.
Your progress will be monitored by informal assessment tasks, and you will receive verbal and written feedback from the tutor to help you make good progress.
Learners who are working towards qualifications will undertake practice tests before sitting examinations through the awarding body, NCFE.
What happens after you complete your course
This course provides a key qualification which enables learners to support their children literacy development, progress onto a range of courses at FE and HE institutions—studying for A levels and Access courses.
This qualification may be a requirement to gain employment.
Ask your tutor for advice and a copy of the progression ladder.
Sefton@Work will be able to provide independent information, advice, and guidance to support you making informed choices for progression into further education, volunteering, or employment.
How to enrol
You can find out how to enrol on this page.
Who this course is for
Adult learners who need to develop skills to read, write and verbally communicate for everyday life.
What you will learn
Course content below is subject to change based on prior knowledge and skills of each cohort.
- Reading texts
- Some common spelling rules and spelling strategies
- Punctuation and grammar
- Reading and selecting the main points and ideas
- Writing for different purposes
- Speaking and listening, exploring the importance of communication.
You will have the opportunity to discuss and set your individual learning targets with your tutor and discuss the support you might need to ensure you have an enjoyable and meaningful learning experience.
Knowledge and Skills needed to join the course
This course is for adults who need to develop literacy skills to support independent living and everyday life skills.
- Some basic reading and writing skills are required.
- IT skills would be useful but not essential
You need to be able to follow verbal instructions and some basic written instructions.
The materials you will need
At enrolment, you will need your National Insurance (NI) number and proof of benefits (if applicable).
Your tutor will provide many of the learning resources, but you will need to come prepared to the lessons with an A4 pad; pen and folder or file to keep your work organised.
How you will learn
Each session will consist of a dynamic tutor presentation/demonstration followed by a range of interactive activities.
There will be plenty of revision and consolidation and learning will build on previous learning.
Your progress will be monitored by informal assessment tasks, and you will receive verbal and written feedback from the tutor to help you make good progress.
What happens after you complete your course
On completion of this course, you can progress to a Functional skills qualification, other community learning courses, a budgeting course or IT courses to become more confident using digital technology for everyday life or employment.
Ask your tutor for advice and a copy of the progression ladder.
Sefton@Work will be able to provide independent information, advice, and guidance to support you making informed choices for progression into further education, volunteering, or employment.
How to enrol
You can find out how to enrol on this page.
Who this course is for
Adult learners who want to refresh and understand calculations using fractions. Ideal for supporting children’s numeracy development and for specific job roles where fractions may be used, particularly with money and measures.
This workshop is also suitable for anyone who needs a specific refresher before moving onto Functional skills Entry 3, Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications.
What you will learn
By the end of this workshop learners should feel more confident with fractions and should be able to recognise opportunities to use fractions in everyday life and work.
Workshop content below is subject to change based on prior knowledge and skills of each cohort.
- Induction, initial assessment and setting of personal targets
- Understanding equivalent fractions
- Finding fractions of quantities
- Expressing as a fraction
- Using fractions with real life problems including money and measures
- Progression: What can you do next?
You will have the opportunity to discuss and set your individual learning targets with your tutor and discuss the support you might need to ensure you have an enjoyable and meaningful learning experience.
Knowledge and Skills needed to join the course
This workshop is for adults who have basic maths skills but need to understand fractions for work and everyday life
On this course you will need to:
- follow verbal and written instructions and work through them at your own pace
- listen and join in group discussions
- jot down notes to record relevant information
- keep your work organised in a file
- use a phone, PC/laptop or tablet to access online learning resources (this is not an essential requirement)
The materials you will need
At enrolment, you will need your NI number and proof of benefits (if applicable).
Your tutor will provide many of the learning resources, but it is helpful to come prepared to the lesson with a pad; pen and folder or file to keep your work organised.
It will be useful, but not essential, if you have access to the internet at home to extend your learning.
How you will learn
This session will consist of a dynamic tutor presentation followed by a range of interactive activities.
There will be plenty of revision and consolidation and learning will build on previous study.
Your progress will be monitored by informal assessment tasks, and you will receive verbal feedback from the tutor to help you make good progress.
What happens after you complete your course
When you complete this course, you can move on to:
- Another course – you might choose to focus on areas you’ve identified within the course, rather than doing a qualification
- Employment
- Family Learning Courses
- Learner Support Qualification
Sefton Community Learning Service offers a range of Functional Skills courses from Entry 1 up to Level 2 if you need to brush up your Maths and English skills or require a qualification to support you with your career path.
Sefton@Work will be able to provide independent information, advice, and guidance to support you making informed choices for progression into further education, volunteering, or employment.
How to enrol
You can find out how to enrol on this page.
Who this course is for
Adult learners who want to refresh and understand calculations using decimals.
This course is ideal for supporting children’s numeracy development, budgeting in everyday life and for specific job roles where decimals may be used, particularly with money and measurements.
This workshop is also suitable for anyone who needs a specific refresher before moving onto Functional skills Entry 3, Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications.
What you will learn
By the end of this workshop learners should feel more confident at using decimals and recognise opportunities to use decimals in everyday life and work.
Workshop content below is subject to change based on prior knowledge and skills of each cohort.
- Induction, initial assessment and setting of personal targets
- Understanding the place value of decimals and large numbers particularly money
- Using decimals to add, subtract, multiply and divide
- Using decimals with real life problems including money and measure
- Identify progression routes: What can you do next?
You will have the opportunity to discuss and set your individual learning targets with your tutor and discuss the support you might need to ensure you have an enjoyable and meaningful learning experience.
Knowledge and Skills needed to join the course
This workshop is for adults who have basic maths skills but need to understand fractions for work and everyday life
On this course you will need to:
- follow verbal and written instructions and work through them at your own pace
- listen and join in group discussions
- jot down notes to record relevant information
- keep your work organised in a file
- use a phone, PC/laptop or tablet to access online learning resources (this is not an essential requirement)
The materials you will need
At enrolment, you will need your NI number and proof of benefits (if applicable).
Your tutor will provide many of the learning resources, but it is helpful to come prepared to the lesson with a pad; pen and folder or file to keep your work organised.
It will be useful, but not essential, if you have access to the internet at home to extend your learning.
How you will learn
This session will consist of a dynamic tutor presentation followed by a range of interactive activities.
There will be plenty of revision and consolidation and learning will build on previous study.
Your progress will be monitored by informal assessment tasks, and you will receive verbal feedback from the tutor to help you make good progress.
What happens after you complete your course
On completion of this course, you can progress to:
- Another course – you might choose to focus on areas you’ve identified within the course, rather than doing a qualification
- Employment
- Family Learning Course
- Learner Support Qualification
Sefton Community Learning Service offers a range of Functional Skills courses from Entry 1 up to Level 2 if you need to brush up your Maths and English skills or require a qualification to support you with your career path.
Sefton@Work will be able to provide independent information, advice, and guidance to support you making informed choices for progression into further education, volunteering, or employment.
How to enrol
You can find out how to enrol on this page.
Who this course is for
Adult learners who want to refresh and understand calculations using percentages.
This course is ideal for supporting children’s numeracy development, budgeting in everyday life and for specific job roles where percentages may be used, particularly with money, sales and data.
This workshop is also suitable for anyone who needs a specific refresher before moving onto Functional skills Entry 3, Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications.
What you will learn
By the end of this workshop learners should feel more confident with percentages and should be able to recognise opportunities to use percentages in everyday life and work.
Workshop content below is subject to change based on prior knowledge and skills of each cohort.
- Induction
- Initial assessment and setting of personal targets
- Finding percentages of quantities
- Calculating percentage increases and decreases
- Expressing percentages
- Using percentages to solve real life problems involving money and data
- Progression: What can you do next?
You will have the opportunity to discuss and set your individual learning targets with your tutor and discuss the support you might need to ensure you have an enjoyable and meaningful learning experience.
Knowledge and Skills needed to join the course
The workshop is for adults who have basic maths skills but need to refresh or understand percentages for job roles and everyday life.
On this workshop you will need to:
- follow verbal and written instructions and work through them at your own pace
- listen and join in group discussions
- jot down notes to record relevant information
- keep your work organised in a file
- use a phone, PC/laptop or tablet to access online learning resources (this is not an essential requirement)
The materials you will need
At enrolment, you will need your National Insurance (NI) number and proof of benefits (if applicable).
Your tutor will provide many of the learning resources, but it is helpful to come prepared to the lesson with a pad; pen and folder or file to keep your work organised. It will be useful, but not essential, if you have access to the internet at home to extend your learning.
How you will learn
This session will consist of a dynamic tutor presentation followed by a range of interactive activities.
There will be plenty of revision and consolidation and learning will build on previous study.
Your progress will be monitored by informal assessment tasks, and you will receive verbal feedback from the tutor to help you make good progress.
What happens after you complete your course
On completion of this course, you can progress to:
- another course – you might choose to focus on areas you’ve identified within the course, rather than doing a qualification
- employment
- Family Learning Course
- IT Excel Spreadsheet Course
Sefton Community Learning Service offers a range of Functional Skills courses from Entry 1 up to Level 2 if you need to brush up your Maths and English skills or require a qualification to support you with your career path.
Ask your tutor for advice and a copy of the progression ladder.
Sefton@Work will be able to provide independent information, advice, and guidance to support you making informed choices for progression into further education, volunteering, or employment.
How to enrol
You can find out how to enrol on this page.
Who this course is for
Adult learners who want to refresh and understand metric units of measure.
This workshop is ideal for supporting children’s numeracy development, using measures in everyday life and for specific job roles where measures may be used.
Also suitable for anyone who needs a specific refresher before moving onto Functional skills Entry 3, Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications.
What you will learn
By the end of this workshop learners should feel more confident with metric measures and should be able to recognise opportunities to use measures in everyday life and work.
Workshop content below is subject to change based on prior knowledge and skills of each cohort.
- Induction, initial assessment and setting of personal targets
- Using and calculating with metric units
- Converting between metric systems
- Using measures to solve real life problems involving length, weight and volume (capacity)
- Identifying your progression routes: What can you do next?
You will have the opportunity to discuss and set your individual learning targets with your tutor and discuss the support you might need to ensure you have an enjoyable and meaningful learning experience.
Knowledge and Skills needed to join the course
This workshop is for adults who have basic maths skills but need to understand metric measures for job roles.
On this workshop you will need to:
- follow verbal and written instructions and work through them at your own pace
- listen and join in group discussions
- jot down notes to record relevant information
- keep your work organised in a file
- use a phone, PC/laptop or tablet to access online learning resources (this is not an essential requirement).
The materials you will need
At enrolment, you will need your National Insurance (NI) number and proof of benefits (if applicable).
Your tutor will provide many of the learning resources, but it is helpful to come prepared to the lesson with a pad; pen and folder or file to keep your work organised.
It will be useful, but not essential, if you have access to the internet at home to extend your learning.
How you will learn
This session will consist of a dynamic tutor presentation followed by a range of interactive activities.
There will be plenty of revision and consolidation and learning will build on previous study.
Your progress will be monitored by informal assessment tasks, and you will receive verbal feedback from the tutor to help you make good progress.
What happens after you complete your course
On completion of this workshop, you can progress to:
Another workshop – you might choose to focus on areas you’ve identified within the workshop, rather than doing a qualification
- Employment
- Family Learning
Sefton Community Learning Service offers a range of Functional Skills courses from Entry 1 up to Level 2 if you need to brush up your Maths and English skills or require a qualification to support you with your career path.
Ask your tutor for advice and a copy of the progression ladder.
Sefton@Work will be able to provide independent information, advice, and guidance to support you making informed choices for progression into further education, volunteering, or employment.
How to enrol
You can find out how to enrol on this page.
Who this course is for
Adult learners who want to refresh and understand area and volume.
This course is ideal for supporting children’s numeracy development, using area and volume in everyday life and for specific job roles where area and volume may be used.
This workshop is also suitable for anyone who needs a specific refresher before moving onto Functional skills Entry 3, Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications.
What you will learn
By the end of this workshop you will feel more confident with area and volume and should be able to recognise opportunities to use area and volume in everyday life and work.
The workshop content below is subject to change based on prior knowledge and skills of each cohort.
- Induction
- Initial assessment and setting of personal targets
- Using units of measure
- Finding the area and volume of common 2D and 3D shapes
- Calculating area and volume within everyday life e.g. flooring, garden plans
- Progression: Reflect on what you can do next
You will have the opportunity to discuss and set your individual learning targets with your tutor and discuss the support you might need to ensure you have an enjoyable and meaningful learning experience.
Knowledge and Skills needed to join the course
This workshop is for adults who already have basic maths skills but need to understand area and volume for job roles.
On this workshop you will need to:
- follow verbal and written instructions and work through them at your own pace
- listen and join in group discussions
- jot down notes to record relevant information
- keep your work organised in a file
- use a phone, PC/laptop or tablet to access online learning resources (this is not an essential requirement).
The materials you will need
At enrolment, you will need your NI number and proof of benefits (if applicable).
Your tutor will provide many of the learning resources, but it is helpful to come prepared to the lessons with a pad; pen and folder or file to keep your work organised.
It will be useful, but not essential, if you have access to the internet at home to extend your learning.
How you will learn
This workshop will consist of a dynamic tutor presentation followed by a range of interactive activities.
There will be plenty of revision and consolidation and learning will build on previous study.
Your progress will be monitored by informal assessment tasks, and you will receive verbal and written feedback from the tutor to help you make good progress.
What happens after you complete your course
On completion of this workshop, you can progress to:
- an appropriate Functional Skills workshop
- another workshop – you might choose to focus on areas you’ve identified within the workshop, rather than doing a qualification
- employment
- Family Learning
- ICT Workshops
Ask your tutor for advice and a copy of the progression ladder.
Sefton Community Learning Service offers a range of Functional Skills courses from Entry 1 up to Level 2 if you need to brush up your Maths and English skills or require a qualification to support you with your career path.
Ask your tutor for advice and a copy of the progression ladder.
Sefton@Work will be able to provide independent information, advice, and guidance to support you making informed choices for progression into further education, volunteering, or employment.
How to enrol
You can find out how to enrol on this page.
Enrol for English and Maths courses
When you've decided the course that's right for you (see the list below) register with us online to enrol - this will only take a moment to do! All learners need to enrol as soon as possible and before course date to ensure their places.
Meet some of our Learners and Staff
In this video you can hear first hand from our learners and staff, the difference Sefton Community Learning Service can make to your prospects and your outlook.