WorkKeys will be given free of charge to all North Carolina 2014-15 graduates who are Career and Technical Education (CTE) concentrators. WorkKeys is part of North Carolina’s school accountability program.

 The WorkKeys assessment is designed to measure students' career readiness as they prepare to enter college and the workforce by assessing their abilities in three core areas: Applied Mathematics, Locating Information and Reading for Information. Students' performance in these areas is meant to demonstrate their abilities to potential employers through the use of standardized, quantitative metrics. There are four certification levels: Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze.

• Bronze level signifies that a recipient scored at least a level 3 in each of the three core areas and has the necessary foundational skills for 16% of the jobs in the WorkKeys database
• Silver level signifies that a recipient scored at least a level 4 in each of the three core areas and has the necessary foundational skills for 67% of the jobs in the WorkKeys database
• Gold level signifies that a recipient scored at least a level 5 in each of the three core areas and has the necessary foundational skills for 93% of the jobs in the WorkKeys database
• Platinum level signifies that a recipient scored at least a level 6 in each of the three core areas and has the necessary foundational skills for 99% of the jobs in the WorkKeys database

ACT WorkKeys has helped millions of people in high schools, colleges, professional associations, businesses, and government agencies build their skills to increase global competitiveness and develop successful career pathways.

Successful completion of ACT WorkKeys assessments in Applied Mathematics, Locating Information, and Reading for Information can lead to earning ACT's National Career Readiness Certificate (ACT NCRC), a portable credential earned by more than 2.3 million people across the United States.