Assessments: Coronavirus

(asked on 23rd February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to develop an equitable system for awarding exam results for the 2020-21 academic year.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 3rd March 2021

GCSE, AS and A levels

Students have worked hard in preparation for their exams this year and teachers have made tremendous efforts to provide high quality remote education. Given the ongoing disruption to education caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, we announced in January that GCSE, AS and A level exams will not go ahead as planned this summer. In ensuring our approach was developed with the sector, the Department and Ofqual launched a joint consultation in January on how to award grades in 2021 so they are robust and fair. We received over 100,000 responses from students, parents, teachers, school leaders and other stakeholders. There was widespread support for our approach.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, confirmed in his statement on 25 February that students will receive grades determined by their teachers, with pupils only assessed on what they have been taught. Fairness to young people is fundamental to the Department and Ofqual’s decision making. We want to ensure all young people have the confidence that, despite exams not going ahead, they will receive a grade that reflects their ability and enables them to progress.

Full details on alternative arrangements to exams can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/teacher-assessed-grades-for-students.

Vocational and Technical Qualifications (VTQs)

On 25 February, the outcome of the Department for Education’s joint consultation with Ofqual on the arrangements for awarding Vocational and Technical Qualifications (VTQs) including BTECs, as well as the approach to awarding other general qualifications was also published.

The diverse nature of VTQs and other general qualifications means that one approach to awarding cannot be taken to all these qualifications. Different approaches should be taken to three groups of VTQs. However, it is important that there is as much fairness as possible between VTQ students and students taking GCSEs, AS and A levels.

The first group are qualifications used to support progression to further or higher education, which includes many Pearson BTEC qualifications. These will be awarded through teacher assessed grades similar to those being implemented for GCSE and AS/A level awarding.

The second group are VTQs used to enter directly into employment. Exams or assessments will continue where they are critical to demonstrate occupational or professional competence and can be delivered in line with public health measures. However, where the assessment cannot take place safely it will be delayed.

The third group are smaller qualifications that are used for progression to further or higher education but are not like GCSEs or A levels in their structure, such as Functional Skills Qualifications and English for Speakers of Other Languages. Exams and assessments for these will continue in line with public health measures, including remotely, but with alternative arrangements available for those who cannot access the assessments.

Apprenticeships

Apprentices working towards mandatory qualifications as part of their apprenticeship framework or standard are assessed in the same way as students taking those same qualifications through other routes.

Additionally, apprenticeship end-point assessments can continue and should take place remotely wherever possible, in line with the guidance from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education on the delivery of assessment. Our intention is to safeguard the quality of apprenticeships, and end-point assessment is an integral part of that. We do not consider that it would be appropriate to estimate an apprentice’s occupational competence by other means.

To support students taking qualifications used to enter directly into employment and apprentices nearing completion, face-to-face training and learning can take place in schools and colleges where it is essential to enable students and apprentices to prepare for and undertake their exams, assessments and end-point assessments. Furthermore, on 22 February it was announced that all school and further education students will be able to return from 8 March. This means that students taking qualifications which confer occupational competence and apprentices can get back to face-to-face teaching and training, which we know is important for their mental health and educational achievement.

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