Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to publish guidance on how (a) functional skills and (b) vocational qualifications will be graded as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

The department has been working at pace with Ofqual to take the necessary action to deliver assessments for vocational and technical qualifications as a result of the cancellation of exams and assessments in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

On 9 April, Ofqual published its approach to vocational and technical qualifications – this can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/awarding-vocational-and-technical-qualifications-this-summer.

As the vocational and technical qualifications landscape is complex, different assessment approaches will be appropriate for different types of qualification. The publication set out the approaches that should be taken.

Ofqual launched its consultation on 24 April on the implementation of these measures. The consultation closes on 8 May and can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/exceptional-arrangements-for-assessment-and-grading-in-2020.