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 complete their professional competency qualifications in order to take up work and job opportunities”.

He added that the government wants to ensure this “door is kept open” for the learners, and that leaders of colleges and training providers “will be the ones who are best and most accurately understand the needs of their students”.

Following the new national lockdown announcement on Monday, the Department for Education said that vocational and technical exams, which are being taken by around 135,000 students over the next three weeks, should still go ahead.

The DfE backtracked last night and said leaders could cancel the exams if they wished. It came after various colleges across the country told students their exams had been postponed. Membership organsations, including the Association of Colleges and Federation of Awarding Bodies, said the DfE’s statement caused further confusion for leaders and that the exams should be scrapped altogether.

Williamson addressed the Commons today to announce alternative plans for this summer’s cancelled GCSE and A-level exams and offered the following defence for allowing January assessments to go ahead.

“I know students and staff have worked hard to prepare for the January exams and assessments of vocational and technical qualifications and we want to allow schools and colleges to continue with these assessments where they judge this is right to do so.  

“No college should feel pressured to offer these and we will ensure all students will be able to progress fairly, just as we will with VTQs in the summer.”

After shadow education secretary Kate Green accused Williamson of “failing to show leadership” by leaving the decision to college leaders in these “difficult circumstances”, he added: “It is very important we give colleges, schools and all providers, the flexibility because there are a lot of young people who will need to complete their professional competency qualifications in order to take up work and job opportunities.

“Whether that is those who are doing electrician or gas courses where they have to do practical assessments. We want to ensure the door is kept open for them.

“That is why we have taken the decision to give providers the discretion, because they will be the ones who best and most accurately understand the needs of their students and those who need those qualifications to progress into a job.”

The DfE has said that it is working with Ofqual on arrangements for those students who do not take their planned January exams, as well as for vocational and technical assessments scheduled for February onwards.

A representative body for awarding organisations has said it is “bemused” by the government’s decision to leave it up to colleges to decide whether exams should go ahead this month.

Federation of Awarding Bodies chief executive Tom Bewick said it was “nonsensical and wrong-headed” to place the onus on college leaders to “make these important decisions” during a national lockdown.

“Even if exams could take place in Covid-secure surroundings, it will still not address how individuals, including assessors and staff, will feel about taking part,” he said.

Around 135,000 students had been set to be assessed for vocational qualifications such as BTECs over the next three weeks and the Department for Education said on Monday they would still go ahead despite the new lockdown restrictions.

The DfE then backtracked last night and said that colleges could now cancel BTEC and other vocational assessments due to take place this month, but left it up to leaders to decide. The DfE fell short of cancelling exams altogether, as it has done for this summer’s GCSE and A-level exams.

Bewick yesterday wrote to apprenticeships and skills minister Gillian Keegan to say FAB did not think holding January vocational exams was “realistic in the circumstances,” having consulted with members, including BTEC awarding body Pearson.

He today repeated his call for the exams to be pulled, saying the government was “emphatic” the summer exam series should be cancelled, so should do the same for all exams over the next six months.

Exams watchdog Ofqual’s chief regulator Simon Lebus “should work with the sector to put robust alternative arrangements in place. Many solutions already exist,” Bewick continued.

Pearson has already announced it will award a grade for any BTEC learner who is unable to take this month’s exams and has “enough evidence to receive a certificate that they need for progression”.

Those unable to take their assessment this month may also “be able to” take it at a later date. But if that is not possible, Pearson said it “will put in place arrangements to ensure you are not disadvantaged”.

A number of colleges had already said they were cancelling January exams before the DfE backtracked on its original plan to push ahead with them, citing safety concerns.

The National Education Union has backed the government’s decision to leave it up to providers to decide whether to hold exams, with joint-general secretary Mary Bousted saying “on balance” this is the right decision, as exam conditions “are not like classroom conditions” and can be “managed in a socially distanced way”.

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 and Skills Funding Agency’s director of apprenticeships Peter Mucklow yesterday to raise key questions that members want answers to.

FE Week is also seeking further details from the Department for Education, and we will update this page as and when. Here is what we know in the meantime.

 

Should providers close centres to most learners?

Yes. The AELP said it understands that the government is working on new guidance which is relevant to providers other than universities and colleges.

But overall, the expectation is that independent training providers are “required to repeat what they did during the first lockdown and conduct as much learning online as possible”.

Like schools and colleges, providers should only offer onsite training to vulnerable learners and children of key workers.

The DfE has removed a rule that previously said those students on programmes that require access to specialist equipment “may continue to spend some time on site”.

 

Can face-to-face end-point assessments continue as planned?

Yes. Face-to-face assessment “can continue – either in colleges and training providers’ premises, or in employers’ covid-secure settings – for vulnerable younger apprentices, those who need access to specialist equipment, and those whose learning cannot be delivered remotely”, the DfE told FE Week.

The department added that where they are able to do so in line with line with Covid-19 guidance, apprentices can “continue to make use of the existing flexibilities and discretions approved through the process set out by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to undertake their end-point assessment”.

But the use of technology for remote assessment is “encouraged where it is appropriate”.

 

Will centre-assessed grades for functional skills testing be permitted?

Not likely. In the light of Monday’s statement on the cancellation of GCSE and A-level exams this summer, the AELP asked if the DfE and Ofqual agree that the functional skills testing logjam should be relieved immediately by the reintroduction of centre-assessed grades.

Ofqual “indicated” to AELP yesterday that they are “reviewing options to resolve the functional skills testing logjam” but “we don’t expect CAGs to be among them at this stage but we will keep up the pressure for a resolution”.

As revealed by FE Week in October, thousands of apprentices have been “stuck in limbo” unable to complete their programmes as awarding bodies struggled to adapt their functional skills assessments where traditional tests cannot take place.

 

Will there be a new provider relief scheme?

Possibly. The AELP said that “without making any commitment”, ministers are “considering the case for bringing back some form of provider relief”.

Training programme starts are expected to now crash again following the new national lockdown which means minimal income for providers for at least six weeks. 

Two rounds of supplier relief were run last year which allowed payment in advance of apprenticeship and adult education budget training to help keep cash-strapped providers stay afloat.

 

Will asymptomatic testing be rolled out in ITPs?

Possibly. Schools and colleges have been given the go ahead and funding from government to set up rapid mass Covid-19 testing of staff and students this month.

ITPs are currently not part of the plans.

But the AELP now understands that asymptomatic testing for ITPs and their learners is “being considered”.

“Our understanding is that there may initially be some prioritisation according to the type of learning provision,” last night’s email said.

 

If your provider is seeking guidance on any other training issues relating to the new lockdown but not getting answers, please let us know by commenting below and we will put the questions to the DfE.

The awarding body that runs BTECs has pledged to award a grade for any student who is unable to take this month’s exams and has “enough evidence to receive a certificate that they need for progression”.

Those unable to take their assessment this month may also “be able to” take it at a later date. “If that is not possible, we will put in place arrangements to ensure you are not disadvantaged,” Pearson added.

Pearson made the announcement after the Department for Education last night told colleges it would be up to them to decide whether the 135,000 students sitting vocational exams, including BTECs, this month can go ahead.

In an online statement addressed to BTEC learners, Pearson said: “We want to ensure that you and all those working in schools and colleges are supported by us regardless of the choice that is made by your school or college on whether exams take place.

“We are working closely with the DfE and Ofqual on all of this and we will share more detail with you in the coming days.

“We appreciate this must be a very difficult time for you. We hope that this update provides you with some clarity and reassurance that you will not be disadvantaged whichever decision is made by your school or college regarding exams.”

BTEC learners and college staff have been through a mire of confusion in the past few days, after the government originally announced vocational exams planned for this month would take place.

That is despite prime minister Boris Johnson telling the nation on Monday GCSE and A-level exams in the summer will not “go ahead as normal”.

Yesterday, a number of colleges concerned about the safety implications of holding exams during this fresh lockdown unilaterally decided to cancel their exams for this month.

This included Loughborough College, which announced yesterday it would postpone their exams due to a local surge in Covid-19 cases as well as a number of students coming in from outside the area to take exams, and The Sheffield College which said it would cancel and rearrange exams “to ensure that these can be held safely”.

In response to the DfE pushing ahead, Labour’s shadow apprenticeships minister Toby Perkins said the exams “cannot go ahead safely and fairly this week,” while the Federation of Awarding Bodies chief executive Tom Bewick wrote to skills minister Gillian Keegan: “We do not feel the ambition of going ahead with the January series is realistic in the circumstances.”

Late last night, the DfE backtracked with the statement allowing colleges to decide whether to hold exams; however, this also triggered outrage in the sector, with Association of Colleges chief executive David Hughes saying it risks “continuing the confusion, leading to more uncertainty for every student, and puts thousands of young people and their families at risk, as well as the college staff managing the exams”.

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 not like classroom conditions” and can be “managed in a socially distanced way”.

She added that “so many young people have been working towards them” and it is therefore “important” for those exams to go ahead.

The NEU leader is in the minority of people who agree that the exams should go ahead, with organisations such as the Association of Colleges, the Federation of Awarding Bodies, and the University and College Union all calling for them to be cancelled.

Prime minister Boris Johnson urged the public to “stay at home” as he announced a new six week national lockdown on Monday to tackle a new variant of Covid-19 that is making cases spiral.

Schools and colleges will now close to all but vulnerable students and children of key workers until the February half term at least, and the summer exam series will not be going ahead “as normal”.

The AoC estimates that around 135,000 students are due to sit BTEC and other vocational exams over the next three weeks, with many of them starting yesterday. But some colleges have chosen to cancel the assessments in the face of government plans for them to go ahead.

The Department for Education backtracked last night and said schools and colleges can now cancel BTEC assessments due to take place this month, but has left it up to leaders to decide.

“In light of the evolving public health measures, schools and colleges can continue with the vocational and technical exams that are due to take place in January, where they judge it right to do so,” a spokesperson said.

FE Week spoke to Bousted prior to this update and when asked whether she agreed with the government’s decision to continue with the January exams as planned, she said: “Yes, I do think that on balance it’s the right decision for January assessments and BTECs to go ahead this month.

“While I’m the first to say that schools and colleges need to be secure and Covid-safe, exam conditions are not like classroom conditions. It is much more possible to make exams Covid-safe than teaching where you’re interacting with people.

“There is now also much less footfall on the site because of the lockdown, so exams can be managed in a socially distanced way.”

Bousted concluded: “It’s important that those exams go ahead – so many young people have been working towards them.”

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 place in January would still go ahead.

But the DfE backtracked today, saying: “In light of the evolving public health measures, schools and colleges can continue with the vocational and technical exams that are due to take place in January, where they judge it right to do so.”

When pressed on this, a spokesperson confirmed this meant schools and colleges now don’t have to run the exams and that they would consult with the sector on how to “make sure no student is disadvantaged”.

The spokesperson added: “We understand this is a difficult time but we want to support schools and colleges whose students have worked hard to prepare for assessments and exams where necessary.

“This may be particularly important for VTQs which require a ‘license to practice’ which can only be fulfilled through practical assessment, such as an electrician.”

“Schools and colleges have already implemented extensive protective measures to make them as safe as possible. We will continue to work with Ofqual, awarding organisations and other stakeholders to discuss the next steps and provide more detail on the way forward, including ensuring other students have a way to progress with as little disruption as possible.”

It comes after a number of colleges, such as in Harlow, Sheffield, Leeds and Loughborough, announced earlier today they would be cancelling exams at their campuses in order to keep staff and students safe in the face of the government’s position.

Exam boards had called for the exams to be cancelled.

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said the government response will “disappoint the thousands of students as well as staff” across the country who have “shown how worried they are about sitting exams this month”.

“The risk is that this continues the confusion, leads to more uncertainty for every student and puts thousands of young people and their families at risk as well as the college staff managing the exams.

“It has no message for students in colleges which do cancel for safety reasons and does not reflect the issue of fairness between vocational and technical students with their peers taking A-levels and GCSEs.”

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 normal”.

But a spokesperson for the DfE has told FE Week that the 135,000 BTEC and other technical exams starting from tomorrow and being sat over the next few weeks will go ahead as planned.

The government’s national lockdown guidance was published shortly after and states: “Public exams and vocational assessments scheduled to take place in January will go ahead as planned.”

Vocational exams in England will continue as planned in January.

Students taking exams should attend as scheduled.

— Department for Education (@educationgovuk) January 4, 2021

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, believes this is the wrong decision.

He said: “I think they should be cancelled – it is not safe for them to go ahead and it is not fair for students nor for staff. The prime minister has said that everyone should stay at home as much as possible, so how can he expect college staff to go in to invigilate, or students to feel safe enough to sit exams?

“I cannot see any reason strong enough for them to go ahead, and to cancel the summer exams and not the January series is inexplicable. Attendance anyway would be low, and travel for students and staff will be difficult, so I hope that the DfE recognises the impossibility of the situation and announces a cancellation as soon as possible.”

Shadow apprenticeships abs lifelong learning minister Toby Perkins added: “It will be a huge disappointment to FE students and staff that BTEC exams didn’t even merit a mention in the PMs address to the nation.

“Once again it feels like BTEC students who have in many cases missed lots of practical coursework are an afterthought for this government.

“With the prime minister back-tracking on the position he laid out yesterday on schools, FE college leaders face running BTEC exams in empty colleges with underprepared and worried students.

“We need to see that government has truly thought through the implications of running these exams now and if BTEC students aren’t going to have a fair crack of the whip they should consider cancelling them.”

 

Summer exams will not “go ahead as normal” this year, the prime minister said tonight after announcing schools and colleges will close to most students from tomorrow.

Addressing the nation to announce a new national lockdown, Boris Johnson said primary schools, secondary schools and colleges across England will “move to remote provision from tomorrow except for vulnerable students and children of key workers” until at least the February half term.

He added that it is therefore “not possible or fair for all exams to go ahead this summer as normal”.

The educations secretary Gavin Williamson will “work together with Ofqaul to put in place alternative arrangements”.

However, the 135,000 BTEC and other technical exams being sat over the coming weeks will still go ahead as planned, the Department for Education confirmed after the prime minister’s speech.

On school and college closures, Johnson said: “I completely understand the inconvenience and distress this late change will cause millions of parents and pupils up and down the country.

“Parents whose children were in school today may reasonably ask why we did not take this decision sooner, and the answer is simply that we’ve been doing everything in our power to keep schools open because we know how important each day in education is to children’s life chances.

“And I want to stress that the problem is not that schools are unsafe for children. Children are still very unlikely to be severely affected by even the new variant of Covid. The problem is that schools may nonetheless act as vectors for transmission, causing the virus to spread between households.”

He added that he hoped the country could “steadily move out of lockdown, reopening schools after the February half term and starting cautiously to move regions down the tiers”.

The prime minister did not mention if these new restrictions would apply to other further education providers. FE Week has asked for clarification on this.

Tonight’s announcement comes just five days after Williamson announced the start date for college students in exam year groups had already been pushed back to January 11, with all learners due to go back on January 18 at the earliest.

Colleges leaders have told FE Week they want a delay to face-to-face teaching for most students until at least February amid rising cases of Covid-19.

Central Bedfordshire College principal Ali Hadawi (pictured) says “certainty and clarity” is needed through longer term planning rather than “dribs and drabs” announcements that are currently being made weekly.

He believes colleges should only offer onsite learning to vulnerable students, children of key workers and learners who need to access practical equipment until next month.

Hadawi told FE Week this would give colleges the required time to implement a system of rapid mass testing that students and staff “could trust” rather than rushing it “on the hoof”.

“The mental and emotional load on staff, especially with the new strain of Covid-19 and on students is not helping,” he added.

Several other colleges leaders agreed with the need for a delay, but did not wish to be named.

The Sixth Form Colleges Association told FE Week that colleges should be given the freedom to choose whether or not to only offer remote education to most students until the February half term.

And in an email this afternoon to members seen by this newspaper, the Association of Colleges said they were lobbying the government to let colleges be “empowered to make their own decisions, in line with local circumstances and what is possible”, adding that the “micro-management from the centre, along with unrealistic timescales, do not help anyone but consistency of guidance and expectations would be helpful”.

It comes ahead of a televised address by prime minister Boris Johnson tonight at 8pm, where he is expected to make announcements about further national lockdown restrictions.

England’s colleges were given notice halfway through December that mass testing would be rolled out from this month, with the expectation staff and students will be able to get tested daily if they come into contact with someone who tests positive for Covid-19.

Around 1,500 armed forces personnel have been made available to support colleges delivering testing, albeit mostly remotely, and help the government plan that assistance.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson announced plans for a staggered return to face-to-face teaching in parliament on 30 December, wherein providers are open for onsite teaching to just vulnerable students and the children of critical workers this week.

Students preparing for exams in 2021 will study remotely from today and return to campus in the week beginning 11 January, with all other students learning online until they too return to campus the week beginning 18 January.

What is also troubling college leaders is the contingency framework introduced by the Department for Education for areas with high rates of Covid-19 cases and transmission.

In an area where the contingency framework is implemented, providers should only allow daily attendance to campuses to vulnerable students, the children of critical workers, priority learners such as those sitting exams or assessments this year, and those who are unable to learn remotely.

The Department for Education has said a review of which areas will be covered by the contingency framework will be made before the return of all students to face-to-face teaching, meaning colleges face not knowing how many students will be attending campuses days before they are due to arrive.

Hadawi said changing which colleges are included in the framework “days before the end of that period, is not helpful to colleges, or to staff or to students”.

A number of vocational exams including BTECs, which the Association of Colleges predicts will involve around 135,000 students, are going ahead this week but Hadawi says they should have been delayed.

Chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association Bill Watkin has said colleges should be allowed to stick to remote learning until the February half term, for all students except vulnerable groups, the children of key workers and January exam candidates.

Other college leaders have pleaded for government announcements to have greater clarity.

London South East Colleges group principal Sam Parrett said clarity was “urgently” needed, as the decision to keep colleges closed to most students until 18 January “has caused a great deal of confusion among students and parents, which will undoubtedly result in poor attendance” at BTEC and vocational exams.

Bedford College Group chief executive Ian Pryce, told FE Week the rapid escalation of Covid cases suggests a “rethink is now due”, argued government announcements have not been clear for colleges, yet timing was more important, as: “We know where infection rates are heading so there is no excuse for delaying decisions, giving us time to plan.”

East Coast College chief executive Stuart Rimmer meanwhile said the “chaotic start” to the new year has been “challenging and fully unavoidable” and that early and “definitive” decision making by government must now cover a period beyond 18 January.

“Colleges feel we are entering a period of higher risk with no safety net and limited ‘call centre based’ support,” he added. “Colleges may be best starting to make independent, autonomous decisions based on safety, local knowledge and student need if the department cannot get their act together rapidly to cover the period to half term.”