From September 2000 the government, in it's infinite wisdom, decided to make "Key Skills" a compulsory part of the curriculum.

In all, six types of Key Skill qualification were introduced, designed to encourage students to recognise, develop and improve a range of skills the government (in consultation with employers - probably) decided they needed for Higher Education and / or employment.

In other words, Key Skills were designed to encourage both the practical application of un/under-developed skills (giving presentations, taking an active part in discussions, applying mathematical understanding to "real world" situations and so forth) and the development of "21st century skills" such as IT competence - things that roughly relate to the Main Key Skills of Communication, Application of Number and Information Technology.

In addition, the Wider Key Skills focus on the development of a range of interpersonal and / or academic qualities such as the ability to improve one's own learning, work with others and solve problems.