What is Functional skills Plus (FS+)
FS+ is a bespoke service provided to approved centres who may be unable to delivery Functional Skills Level 1 and 2 examinations in the normal way due to extenuating circumstances. It is not available to all centres.
FS+ offers an expedited exam service to your centres, previously using pre-supply. FS+ removes a significant portion of the manual administrative burden on centres and removes the security concerns associated with stock management, making FS+ much more regulatory compliant and easier to manage at centre level.
FS+ will go live in October 2025.
Please see a breakdown of the FS Plus SLA, signed by your centre when submitting the FS+ Confirmation form:
Centres are responsible for the secure and safe administration of examinations. This includes:
- Ordering examinations via Walled Garden following the correct process
- secure receipt and storage of physical assessment materials,
- assessment administration and examination invigilation according to relevant guidance.
Step-by-step guide to delivering exams via FS+
The below video and presentation explain the end-to-end process for FS+ exams delivery; from ordering question papers and conducting exams, to returning your scripts to City & Guilds securely and on-time.
Registration and Booking via Walled Garden
Centres will use Walled Garden to register and book their candidate onto their FS examinations from 01 October 2025.
The below bitesize videos explains the administration process around registration and booking of examinations via Walled Garden, which are the initial steps required to deliver examinations via FS+
Once centres have registered candidates, they can proceed with booking learners onto FS examinations, following the FS+ process
For FS+ service, centre bookings will be processed and dispatched immediately, but the system will require centres to choose a date 14 days in the future. Once the booking is placed, we will action immediately when the order is placed in Walled Garden.
- Orders placed before 1pm will be dispatched same day and should be delivered to centres within 24-48 hours of the booking
- Orders placed after 1pm will be dispatched the next day and will be delivered to centres within 48 hours of the booking
Please use the contact update form to add/remove contact details for relevant staff involved in the delivery of functional skills via FS+.
FS+ update form
Contacts will be added to our database, in line with our privacy policy and we will use these details to contact you about approval and delivery.
It is important all candidates are registered for Functional Skills before the exams are conducted via the Pre-supply service. Candidates must be registered via Walled Garden, our secure administration platform.
How to register learners via Walled Garden (PDF)
Visit the Walled Garden support page for more information on registering learners and for booking exams and assessments not delivered via Pre-supply.
Walled Garden support
Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ)
The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has set out common regulations for schools and colleges that enter students for qualifications.
The regulations specify the standard requirements for externally marked examinations and assessments. For certain qualifications some of the requirements may be different, please check the individual qualification handbooks and assessment guides for more information.
These regulations:
- are re-issued each academic year;
- set out key administrative requirements;
- reference national agreements on conduct of exams and special arrangements for individuals with particular requirements.
JCQ Exams Office
JCQ Instructions for conducting examinations