These qualifications are designed to give people a solid grounding in the basics and prepare them for further education and training or employment. They can be used as a stepping stone for progression to GCSEs or further qualifications. As well as overarching certificates in maths there are specific awards in areas ranging from ‘data handling’ and ‘making calculations’ to ‘measurement, time and temperature’. All have built-in flexibility, can be used in a variety of contexts and have sample assessment materials available.