Pearson, the world’s leading learning company, and Persona Education, the online personal development provider for schools and colleges, have entered into a new pilot project. Together, we’re creating a series of digital badge programmes aimed to support GCSE learners with the development of 22 social-emotional skills, or “life skills”.
The pioneering pilot is designed to test how effectively life skills can be developed and recognised using digital methods, while assessing how students, teachers and employers value social-emotional skills, and the related digital badges. It’ll involve over 200 students who are resitting Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9–1) Mathematics and English qualifications in seven campuses, across four Further Education colleges in England.
One of the colleges involved in the pilot is Wakefield College in West Yorkshire, where Sophie Rodgers, Wakefield’s Curriculum Development Manager, said: “We got involved in the pilot because we believe these kinds of skills are lacking in college, but they help students with their English and Maths, and they help them believe in themselves. In terms of impact, this gives students a focus, it’s user friendly and is something they can really engage with.”
