Author: Billy Camden

Temporary flexibilities that help apprentices complete their end-point assessment during the pandemic will be extended until at least August 2021. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has made the announcement following the new national lockdown restrictions. Chief executive Jennifer Coupland said: “We are all too aware that the escalation of Covid-19 and resulting lockdown […]

A college in Kent has already supported around 500 students to sit their exams this week after receiving “overwhelming feedback” from students who were keen to attend. The government said on Monday that all BTEC and other technical exams would still go ahead this month despite the new national lockdown restriction, before backtracking a day […]

A former top skills civil servant has criticised the launch of a government-funded campaign to promote free online education content at a time when the third national lockdown shuts the doors to adult education providers. ‘An Hour to Skill’ was launched on Thursday and aims to “inspire people to set aside just one hour a […]

GCSE and A-level students will receive teacher assessment grades in 2021 following the partial closure of schools and colleges – but the grades won’t be adjusted by an algorithm. Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, confirmed in the House of Commons today that GCSE, AS and A-level exams  will not go ahead this year, and that […]

No college or training provider should feel “pressured” to offer BTEC and other vocational exams this month, Gavin Williamson has said. In an address to Parliament today, the education secretary said it was “important” to give providers the “flexibility” to offer the assessments as “there are a lot of young people who will need to […]

There have been some big changes to lockdown rules which impact the FE and skills sector over the next six weeks, but guidance for exactly what England’s training providers other than schools and colleges should do has been absent. The Association of Employment and Learning Providers spoke with skills minister Gillian Keegan and the Education […]

The country’s largest teachers’ union has backed the government’s controversial decision to plough ahead with BTEC and other vocational exams over the coming weeks despite the national lockdown. Mary Bousted (pictured), the joint general secretary of the National Education Union, told FE Week that “on balance” this is the right decision as exam conditions “are […]

The Department for Education has said this evening that schools and colleges can now cancel BTEC assessments due to take place this month, but has left it up to leaders to decide. After last night’s announcement to close schools and colleges and cancel this summer’s exams, the department insisted that vocational exams due to take […]

BTEC and other vocational exams will still go ahead this month despite the new national lockdown restrictions, the Department for Education has confirmed tonight. The prime minister Boris Johnson announced this evening that schools and colleges will move to remote learning for most students from tomorrow and that summer exams will “not go ahead as […]