Billy Camden | FE Week

GCSE and A-level exams 2021: What we know so far about the government’s plans

The government has confirmed its plans for replacing GCSE and A-level exams this summer, with teacher assessments due to be used to give students their grades. However, the full response to last month’s consultation is not expected to be published until later today. Education secretary Gavin Williamson is also due to brief MPs this afternoon. […]

Confirmed: How BTEC and other vocational quals will be graded in 2021

The government has today outlined its final decisions for awarding BTEC and other vocational and technical qualification (VTQ) grades this summer. Following a consultation which ran last month and received just over 3,000 responses, the plans are very similar to the arrangements adopted last year when exams were cancelled. Awarding VTQs will again be based […]

‘Pyrrhic victory’: Functional skills learners CAN receive teacher assessed grades

Functional skills students can receive teacher assessed grades this year but only if it is not possible to sit their exam either in-person or remotely, the government has finally confirmed. This will apply to those who have been unable to take the assessment since September 2020 right through to the end of the 2020/21 academic […]

IfATE launches new reports to pre-warn sector of apprenticeship standard revisions

A new tool that pre-warns providers and employers when apprenticeship standards are being revised has been launched today by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. Set to be updated every eight weeks, the first “revisions status report” shows there are 84 standards currently being modified. The institute said it decided to create the tool […]

Colleges can start testing students on-site before March 8, DfE confirms

Secondary schools and colleges will be allowed to start testing students on-site before March 8, the Department for Education has confirmed. Increasing numbers of leaders have been calling for clarity on the matter since the announcement earlier this week that learners will be tested four times – the first three on-site – when they return […]

Extra £102m to extend 16-19 Covid tuition fund announced

The government has set aside an additional £102 million to extend the 16 to 19 tuition fund for an extra year. Prime minister Boris Johnson and education secretary Gavin Williamson have today laid out their plan to help young people in England catch up on lost learning due to the pandemic. They have pledged a […]

Colleges and FE providers to reopen in full from March 8, PM announces

All students in colleges and other further education providers can “safely return” for face-to-face teaching from March 8, the prime minister has announced. Boris Johnson has this afternoon laid out his “roadmap” for easing lockdown restrictions and said the reopening of schools and FE providers will be supported with twice weekly testing (click here for […]

March 8 reopening guidance: Staff and students ‘advised’ to wear face coverings in classroom

Staff and students in FE providers have been advised by the Department for Education to wear face coverings in the classroom upon their return on March 8 for a “limited time”. Updated guidance was published this afternoon by the DfE following prime minister Boris Johnson announcing his “roadmap” for easing lockdown restriction. Colleges and FE […]

College students to receive three Covid tests on site upon return

College students will have four rapid Covid tests in the first two weeks of returning to the classroom from March 8, the government has said. Three of the asymptomatic tests, which produce results in around 30 minutes, will be conducted on site while another will be conducted at home. Colleges will then introduce twice weekly […]