The proportion of top grades awarded to students in the Autumn A-level exams is overall lower than the summer centre assessed grades, results published today show.

More than 15,000 students in England will get their results today after sitting exams between 5 and 23 October.

Students who received grade A and above in the Autumn resits series was 29.7 per cent compared to 38.1 in the summer.

However, this is still higher than the 2019 results where 25.2 per cent of students received A or above.

The number of students receiving A* was also higher than 2019, by 2.1 percentage points. However, it was 4.5 percentage points below those who received an A* in the summer.

In the summer, the proportion of A*s awarded to A-level pupils almost doubled.

The exams regulator Ofqual confirmed in October that pupils resitting qualifications this autumn would be handed the same “generosity” in their grades, as awarded in the summer.

The regulator added that the grade boundaries would be lowered for the exams. Results rocketed this summer after the government U-turn to award pupils with their CAG, or standardised grade if it was higher.

The percentage receiving C or above at A-level this Autumn was 71.7 per cent. In the summer this was 87.5 per cent and in 2019 it was 75.5 per cent.

In maths, which had the highest number of entries at 3,519, 29.6 per cent received A or above. This is a significant drop from 49.5 per cent in the summer and 40.5 per cent in 2019.

In English Literature, 35.7 per cent achieved an A or above. This is similar to the summer results, at 37.7 per cent but higher than the 2019 cohort, where 24.1 per cent achieved the top grades.

In chemistry, 29.3 per cent received an A or above, compared to 41.9 per cent in the summer. In 2019, this was similar to the Autumn results, at 28.4 per cent.

At AS level in England, 28.3 per cent achieved a grade A. This is similar to the summer results, at 27.1 per cent, but much higher than 2019 when 20.1 per cent were awarded the top grade.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson said: “Students getting their results today should feel incredibly proud of what they have achieved. The grades they receive today, just like the ones received by so many in the summer, can be their passport to the next stage of their lives.

“Fairness for students has always been and continues to be my priority, which is why we made sure young people could sit an exam this autumn and why we have set out such an exceptional set of measures for students sitting exams next year.”

A lack of regulatory powers for quality assurance providers to enforce compliance with apprentice assessment rules was a key reason for moving the job to Ofqual and the Office for Students, according to a new report.

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has today published its first ever ‘external quality assurance’ (EQA) annual report, providing a stocktake of the key findings around how end-point assessment (EPA) has been delivered throughout the year.

It warned that a “small number of incidents” occurred where the EPA plan or conditions of the register of end-point assessment organisations have “not been complied with and where the independence or validity of assessment has been compromised as a result”.

While there were no instances on the standards for which Ofqual or the IfATE currently provide EQA where they had to take enforcement action, a number of other EQA providers, which are professional or employer-led bodies that do not hold regulatory powers, ran into resistance from assessment organisations.

“The majority of EQA providers lack the regulatory powers to enforce changes from EPAOs,” the report said.

“This has meant that a number of EPAOs have refused to make changes requested by EQA providers, either in a timely manner or in some cases at all, which allows unsatisfactory end-point assessment practices to continue.”

It added that quality assurance and regulatory regimes are put in place to identify and intervene in cases of poor practice and these kinds of incidents are “clearly unacceptable”.

The report does not go into detail about the cases or name those involved, but does say “egregious incidents” of malpractice and breaches of the conditions involved, for example, an EPAO “assessing apprentices on a standard that it is not registered to deliver; and another attempting to assess apprentices on an obsolete version of an assessment plan which was no longer relevant to or endorsed by the industry”.

FE Week has previously reported on serious government concerns over the maturity of the EPAO market, and sector leaders have previously called for the register of EPAOs to be “purged”.

IfATE says EPAO non-compliance is one of the reasons it is moving to a new regime where all EQA will be carried out only by Ofqual or, for integrated degree apprenticeships, the Office for Students both of which have regulatory powers.

Since the apprenticeship reforms came into force three years ago, the government has handed quality assurance responsibility to around 20 professional or employer-led bodies, in addition to Ofqual, IfATE and OfS.

The transition to the new streamlined EQA regime began this year, with 68 standards transferred to Ofqual in November and will continue in 2021. The full transition is expected to be completed by summer 2022.

Today’s report says there is further work to be done in other areas of EQA to ensure that gradings are applied fairly across apprenticeship standards, that reasonable adjustments are implemented consistently and fairly, as well as aspects of the design and delivery of specific assessment methods like multiple choice questions and professional discussions.

It also provides an overview of the “over 100 flexibilities” to the way EPA can be delivered in the face of Covid-19 restrictions, which will be in place until at least the end of March 2021.

Jennifer Coupland, chief executive of the IfATE, said: “I’m incredibly proud of all the fantastic work the sector has done with the institute to ensure that EPA and EQA has continued successfully throughout the pandemic, allowing large numbers of apprentices to complete and move on with their exciting careers.

“While there are areas to improve on, this report shows that the vast majority of assessment is being delivered to a high-standard which is encouraging as we look ahead to 2021.”

You can read the report in full here.

 

The government has extended its free sanitary products scheme for schools and colleges for an extra year.

Schools and 16 to 19 providers will continue to be able to order products for any students who need them until December 2021, the Department for Education has announced today.

However, the DfE has not said whether it is investing additional money in the scheme.

Since January this year, schools and colleges have been able to order products from supplier Personnel Hygiene Services Group (PHS) via an online portal, email or by phone.

PHS originally received £11.4 million from the government to oversee its delivery.

The government admitted at the time the scheme would actually cost cost £18 million per year if all 1.7 eligible students accessed it, but the department projected only around 1.1 million would access the scheme.

However, ministers reported earlier this year that eight months into the scheme, only four in ten eligible organisations had taken it up.

Asked by Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, via a written question, the steps the DfE was taking to publicise the scheme and increase school and college participation, minister for children Vicky Ford replied that PHS had reported almost 40 per cent of eligible organisations had placed orders as of August.

“The scheme remained in operation during partial school and college closures, and these organisations are still able to order a range of period products and distribute them to learners.”

Ford added the government also intended to “publish positive stories from organisations that have benefitted from the scheme in order to promote it further”.

PHS’s contract with the DfE was due to end this year with the option of extending it until 2022, however so far it has only been extended until December 2021.

This year, schools and colleges were each given an amount to spend based on predicted take-up rates and their pupil populations.

They will be allocated a new amount in January 2021 which can be used to order products until the end of December 2021.

As in 2020, the amount organisations receive is based on 35 per cent of the number of learners “whose legal gender is female and who, based on age, are likely to have started their periods”.

“Having periods should not be a barrier to education for any learner. Making learners aware of the scheme is vital to making sure they can access period products when they are needed and to reduce the stigma surrounding periods.”

The Department for Education has published the thresholds and eligibility criteria for its new ‘Covid workforce fund’ – but said colleges cannot make claims until next spring.

The fund was announced in November to help cash-strapped general, sixth form and specialist colleges pay for high staff absence rates, by meeting costs including bringing in supply teachers and paying additional hours for part-time teaching staff.

It covers the period November 1 to December 31 only.

Here is what you need to know from the new guidance…

1. Colleges need 45 cash days or fewer to be eligible

Sixth form and FE colleges will be eligible for the fund, the guidance reads, if they have an end of month cash position of 45 days or less at any point between November 2020 to March 2021.

Special post-16 providers will be eligible if their reserves at the end of March 2021 are no more than 4 per cent of their annual income.

The DfE warns funding can be clawed back through the assurance process if this criterion is not met at the year-end.

2. Use staff from different campuses if they are within an hour of each other

In addition to the cash days threshold, colleges are eligible if they experienced a short-term teacher absence rate at or above 20 per cent, or a longer-term rate of 10 per cent or above.

This new guidance elaborates that colleges can be eligible for payments for short-term absences on any given day, and can be eligible for payments for long-term absences if this has been the case for 15 or more consecutive days (excluding weekends).

Absences by permanent staff and staff employed on a long-term contract can be claimed for, and colleges should calculate their teacher absence rate at the level of the whole corporation, rather than for individual teachers.

For example, “a college experiences an absence rate of 15 per cent for 20 days, which then reduces to 8 per cent. The college could claim for up to 5 per cent for six days (for days 15 to 20)”.

If the college corporation is split up into different campuses, which are “within a reasonable travel time of each other,” which the DfE exemplifies as an hour by car, providers are expected “to consider options to use existing capacity across different sites to mitigate staff absence, before considering additional staffing spend”.

The DfE has told colleges to avoid double claiming for the same absences against the long-term and short-term rates.

Absences by support staff will be eligible “on an exceptional basis” if those staff are directly involved in education, or involved in duties such as cleaning, catering staff, transport, IT or if they are estates staff.

For special post-16 providers to claim, their short-term rate is for total teacher and leader absences at or above 15 per cent on a given day; their long-term rate is the same as FE and sixth form colleges. Support staff thresholds are the same as teaching staff thresholds.

Claims by specialist providers can be made “for roles which are necessary for maintaining critical provision for students, where the institution certifies that these roles cannot otherwise be managed using existing staff and resources,” the guidance reads. Providers must show they have tried to mitigate the absences.

3. What sort of assurance will be involved?

Colleges should keep records of all expenditure relating to staff absence and keep records to show support staff are eligible for funding.

The college leader who submits the claim must certify the claim is fraud and error-free, and their provider must identify this income and confirm it was appropriately used in their accounts.

4. What else do colleges need to evidence?

In addition to the above, colleges also need to show they were open for on-site delivery in the days in question, are not claiming costs from an existing insurance policy.

5. But colleges will not be able to claim funding until spring 2021

Although the DfE has restricted this funding to colleges “facing significant funding pressure,” the guidance released today says: “Colleges will be able to make claims for costs eligible for reimbursement through this fund in spring 2021.

“We will publish detailed guidance about the claims process then.”

Meaning colleges already running short of cash will have to bear the weight of staff absence costs for another three months at least.

The DfE has highlighted, though, that colleges will continue to receive their core funding allocations.

The 16 to 19 tuition fund, a £96 million pot which colleges can use to help students catch-up on education, has been used by some providers to hire extra teaching and pastoral staff. But the DfE has insisted in the new guidance: “Colleges must not divert this funding to help meet with the costs of staff absence.”

Colleges also cannot claim for training or other incidental staff-related costs; increasing part-time staff pay unless there is an increase in responsibilities as well; cover for absences where teaching or training is delivered commercially; or for capital costs for staff delivering education remotely.

Providers must be “financially prudent when sourcing cover,” the guidance adds.