Regarding “Tears at test time: deprived teens revolt over pen-and- paper exams” (22 April), let’s bear in mind that Professor Alison Wolf’s comments related to the three-year pilot of functional skills that ended last year. It is not accurate to include her comments about the pilot phase in this context.

It is good news, though, that functional skills are now seen and, more importantly, accepted as a rigorous and valuable qualification. But difficulties still exist where teachers believe they are a direct replacement and equivalent to the multiple-choice-based key skillsALAN (Adult Literacy and Numeracy) assessments.

Functional skills are based on problem-solving and they require students to think about reasonable solutions. If they have not been prepared for this aspect of the assessment and practised problem-solving, they will fail.

jiwells, via www.tes.co.uk