There are many ways that you can improve your essential digital skills – it depends on your requirements as to which option would suit you best.  

It may be worth considering your primary objective for upskilling in this area. For example, are you looking to improve your digital skills to benefit your personal life, including activities like online banking and understanding your digital footprint? Perhaps you’re looking to improve your digital skills to gain an additional qualification and use this to progress professionally in your job role. Or, maybe it’s both! 

Here at NCFE, we can support you via the following routes. 

The Essential Digital Skills qualification: 

• suits those who require more one-on-one teaching support and want to improve their life digital skills 
• covers upskilling across all 5 basic digital skills areas 
• consists of 44–47 guided learning hours 
• qualifies as a fully funded course for those 16 years and above 
• allows you to progress from Entry Level 3 onto Level 1 
• provides recognition through a regulated certificate after completing the assessment. 

The Digital Functional Skills qualification: 

• suits those who are in education or work and can perform more independently 
• covers upskilling across all 5 basic digital skills areas 
• consists of 55 guided learning hours 
• qualifies as a fully funded course for all learners 16 years and above 
• allows you to progress from Entry Level 3 onto Level 1 
• offers recognition from employers and education providers through the Functional Skills brand. 

No! The Government recognises the importance of everyone in the UK having the essential digital skills required to navigate the modern world, and as such, they have agreed that everyone from 16+ years old should have a legal entitlement to fully funded courses in these qualifications. 

This means that you should not have to pay for doing the course and gaining your qualification as the school, college or training provider will have their cost covered by the Government. 

Always be careful when choosing who you do your qualification with and research the provider to ensure that they are reputable. 

There are many schools, colleges, local councils and training providers who deliver essential digital skills qualifications and have funding to cover the costs. 

Some providers will do delivery face-to-face in classrooms, while some may provide an online delivery model where you can study for the qualifications from the comfort of your home. 

You can use our ‘Find a centre’ tool on our qualification pages to locate a centre locally to you offering NCFE digital skills courses. Visit these pages below: 

• Entry Level 3 Essential Digital Skills 

• Level 1 Essential Digital Skills  

• Entry Level 3 Digital Functional Skills 

• Level 1 Digital Functional Skills 

Alternatively, you can contact your local council or college who will be able to advise where you can go to study, or you can use the National Careers Service to find what options are available in the area. 

These qualifications are about providing you with the essential digital skills to access work, life and education. They will allow you to operate securely and with confidence online, understanding how to use applications and to communicate effectively. 

If you study at Entry Level 3, you then have the opportunity to progress on to Level 1 – for example, if you have done an Essential Digital Skills at Entry Level 3 you could do a Digital Functional Skills at Level 1, and vice versa. 

After completing a Level 1 qualification there is no progression on to another digital skills qualification, as you will be deemed to have the essential digital skills to go about work, life and education. 

The qualification will enhance your ability to work, study and operate in life and engage at a more productive and impactful level. 

In terms of life skills, it will allow you to interact more effectively with online services, social media, and online banking. In work it will allow you to engage better with online collaboration tools, spreadsheets and PowerPoints. In education, it will help support you in remote learning lessons, searching for information on the internet, and acting in a safe and responsible way. 

These equate to the level of ability you have in essential digital skills and will help identify the difficulty in learning to set the resources at. 

Foundation Level = I can independently perform all eight tasks at foundation level. 

1. You can turn on the device and enter any account log in information, as required. 

2. You can use the available controls on your device (e.g. mouse, keyboard, touchscreen, trackpad).

3. You can use the different settings on your device to make it easier to use (e.g. adjust font size, volume settings, brightness of screen, voice activation or screen readers). 

4. You can find and open different applications/programmes/platforms on your devices (e.g. opening a web browser, messaging applications). 

5. You can set up a connection to a Wi-Fi network on your devices (e.g. when at home, work, out in public or visiting family and friends). 

6. You can open an Internet browser to find and use websites (e.g. Safari, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge). 

7. You can keep your login information and passwords for a device and any accounts secure (e.g. not shared with anyone or written down or left prominently near a device). 

8.You can update and change your password when prompted to do so.

Entry Level 3 = I can independently perform at least one task within each of the five ‘Life EDS’ skill areas (see graphic below)

Level 1 = I can independently perform at least one task within each five ‘Work EDS’ skill areas (see graphic below)