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Target Skills is the UK’s best-selling suite of ICT-based Skills for Life materials. It delivers highly effective learning to adults, integrating sophisticated initial assessment tools, a web-based management system, and content-rich modules – all mapped precisely to the core curricula.

Target Skills has been developed and refined over the past five years in use, and its content and modules are constantly evolving. If you are looking to teach Skills for Life at any level in any environment, Target Skills provides you with highly effective, versatile, blended adult learning.

Who is it for?

Target Skills has been designed specifically for adults with basic skills needs, with all materials being appropriate to this age group – no-one feels patronised. The materials are demonstrably effective at motivating those who fall behind, or even fail, in education, but the appeal of Target Skills is wider than that. Since the materials are ICT-based, there’s immense scope for self-study, repeat and practice. Because of this exceptional versatility, Target Skills is used to support learners and tutors in FE colleges, community and family programmes, training organisations, the workplace, language learning centres, prisons, young offender institutes, probation centres, PRUs and schools.

How does it work?

Each package has a simple and highly effective structure. First, a new skill is explained; then the learner tries out what they’ve learnt. Finally, a short test confirms that the skill has been acquired. Each Target Skills title addresses skills at the relevant level and sub-level (e.g. verbs at Entry 3, percentages at Level 1). Its curriculum-mapped content is rich and engaging, including animations, interactive slideshows, spreadsheet tables and charts, writing frames, number tools, word- and sentence-builders, games and self-tests. Integrated tasks enable learners to practise a combination of skills. All Target Skills modules are available on CD-ROM. Hosted VLE options – in which the materials reside on Tribal servers and are accessed through a virtual learning environment (VLE) – are also available. Alternatively, you can choose to host the content within your own VLE. Networked Target Skills materials can be used in one of two ways: standalone, or with the web-based management system. Standalone gives access to all the resources and generates an end-of-session learning record; the web-based management system allows resources to be tailored to individuals, tracking their profiles, test results and work done.