The challenges facing 2021 exam grades are very different to 2020

Ofqual and the Department for Education didn’t want to make this decision around exam grades, and now face a daunting task, writes Tom Bewick

Hard core Star Trek fans will know that it wasn’t Mr Spock that said to Captain Kirk, “It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it.”   

Instead, these famous lines first appeared in the 1987 song Star Trekkin’, sung by the Firm.   

So you may well find yourself, like me, interpreting lots of the joint consultation from Ofqual, written with the Department for Education, as something like: “It’s exams, Jim, but not as we know it.”   
  
On Friday Ofqual signalled that practical exam assessments should go ahead as normal, subject to guidelines on Covid-secure settings. If these exams can’t be delivered in situ or remotely then they can be delayed, said the regulator. 

This means it is likely that the examination element of T-Levels will now take place next year, which is fine – for licence-to-practice qualifications or non-exam assessments, there has never been a one-size-fits all way to award vocational and technical qualifications.  

Meanwhile planned tweaks to the Extended Extraordinary Regulatory Framework (EERF) will allow awarding organisations to adapt vocational and technical qualifications to ensure that the vast majority of learners can still progress.  

Indeed, the feedback from our members about the operation of the EERF to date has been broadly positive. And no issues appear to have been raised by Ofqual about this temporary arrangement. 
  
But you can tell the government and the regulator never really wanted to be in the position of cancelling the summer examinations for a second time.   
  
One of the painful conclusions from the “fiasco” of August 2020 was that, for all the contentious debates surrounding the merits of assessment regimes, objective national tests moderated and performed under invigilated conditions are still the fairest way of finding out what a learner knows and understands.   
  
Moreover, we know that ethnic minorities and bright working-class kids tend to lose out under teacher-assessed grades. Human psychology traits like racial discrimination and unconscious bias are big inhibitors to social progress.   
  
Indeed many private schools, which offer international GCSEs, are planning to go ahead with physical exams this summer. They know the societal prestige attached to a set of reliable, externally validated results.  
  
So one of the biggest dilemmas now facing Ofqual and exams is ensuring both consistency and fairness in awarding qualifications.   
  
This is a daunting task. 

Last year, students had by and large completed the required scope of learning by the time lockdown restrictions happened in late March. But in the past 12 months, young people in England have endured three national lockdowns. They have experienced a massive overall loss in teaching and learning.   
  
The north of England has also generally reported more college days lost due to coronavirus than the south.   
   
At the same time, many year 11 and 13 pupils are already sitting “mini-exams” which the government are saying can be used as valid “mock exams”.   

This is potentially a bureaucratic nightmare

  Meanwhile, teachers have been told to hold back on assessing students until all these different forms of assessment, including valid mock exams, have been taken into account.  
  
After that, mock exam results could form the basis of any appeals.  

What’s tricky here is students this year will be assessed on what they know, not what they could have known if the pandemic had never occurred. This is a departure from last summer’s arrangements, when teachers were asked to make judgements on what they thought students would have got if exams had gone ahead. 

Appeals will be open to all students this year. This is potentially a bureaucratic nightmare.  

The one saving grace is that the required “evidence” for an appeal (like mock exam results and/or assessed coursework) will give awarding organisations something to work with. 

No wonder, then, that Ofqual and the Department for Education have decided to work so closely together. It would appear that trapped on their Starship Enterprise, the regulator and Gavin Williamson are resigned to entwining their fates.
  
To quote the 1987 song again: don’t be surprised if the whole enterprise continues “boldly going forward”. But this won’t be plain sailing.  

 

Ofqual raises concerns over DfE reforms to BTECs and other level 3 qualifications

Government plans to remove funding for thousands of courses, such as BTECs, that compete with T Levels and A-levels risk destabilising the qualifications market and adversely narrowing learner choice, Ofqual has warned.

The exams regulator has today raised a number of concerns in response to the Department for Education’s level 3 qualifications review.

The DfE claims there is currently a “confusing landscape” of over 12,000 courses on offer to young people at level 3 and below, with multiple qualifications in the same subject areas available – many of which are “poor quality and offer little value to students or employers”.

Ofqual says it recognises the “potential benefits” of creating a “clearer landscape and “greater confidence in the currency of the qualification they achieve”, but warned of the scale of disruption this could cause under current recommendations.

“The DfE estimates that the qualifications that may no longer be funded could account for around 62 per cent of current non-A level 16 to 19-year-old enrolments at level 3 – and yet we know that the number of learners using qualifications other than A-levels to access higher education is growing, in particular the use of a combination of academic with smaller vocational and technical qualifications,” the response said.

“We can see from UCAS data about 2019 undergraduate admissions that the number of applicants accepted to higher education with A levels alone has fallen from 63 per cent in 2017 to around 60 per cent in 2019.

“While this accounts for more than 145,000 learners, nearly 22,000 learners were accepted with BTECs only in 2019 along with almost 18,000 learners who combined A levels with BTECs.”

Ofqual says this is “not an insignificant number” and “we should consider the impact on learners who may not be able to benefit in such a way when the reforms introduce an apparently more binary choice around qualification purpose and content”.

One key intention of the DfE’s proposed reforms is to establish two clearer pathways of study with A-levels and T Levels as the “programmes of choice” for 16 to 19-year old learners.

The exams regulator said they see a “potential risk” in relation to T Levels in that “some of the design features may appear to learners as barriers to accessing the programme of study, in particular the size and structure of the T Level programme”.

While providers and awarding organisations are “required to ensure qualifications are accessible”, some learners, including those with SEND or caring responsibilities, “may find T Levels less well-suited, too big or not sufficiently flexible for their individual study needs,” Ofqual warned.

The exams regulator added that the qualifications that appear more likely to be removed from funding currently have a higher proportion of learners with “particular protected characteristics”, such as disability, ethnicity or gender, or who are disadvantaged.

It is therefore “important to consider how the qualifications funded in future can be designed to continue to allow a diverse range of learners to access level 3 qualifications effectively and successfully”.

Ofqual goes on to predict that defunding existing qualifications will lead to “some market instability in the years after the reforms as a number of centres will choose to change the qualifications they offer, particularly if they are reliant on public funding”.

The response reminds the DfE that government has a “responsibility” to identify where there are risks to learners if, for example, an awarding organisation becomes “financially fragile or market instability causes a fall in confidence in regulated qualifications”.

It concludes by calling on the DfE to consider delaying the proposed reforms as 2021 will be an “exceptionally demanding year for awarding organisations because of the pandemic”, including the new arrangements that now need to be implemented following the cancellation of exams.

“We would ask the department to consider whether there are aspects of the proposed reforms for which implementation could be delayed by a year, in recognition of these exceptional circumstances,” Ofqual said.

Under the DfE’s plans, funding for the “majority” of qualifications that “overlap” with A-levels and T Levels would be removed by autumn 2023.

The deadline for the consultation was extended last week and is now 31 January. You can read it in full here.

Ofqual publishes summer 2021 exams plan

The exams regulator Ofqual has finally revealed its plans for replacing exams this summer.

Two consultation documents have gone live this afternoon: one for GCSEs and A-levels; and one for vocational and technical qualifications including BTECs and functional skills.

Both have a two week deadline for submissions of 29 January 2021.

 

GCSEs and A-levels

For GCSEs and A-levels, the consultation document proposes that students’ grades in each subject “will be based on their teachers’ assessment of the standard at which the student is performing”.

Final assessments will be made “towards the end of the academic year, at about the time students would have taken their exams”.

Ofqual has also said that to help teachers make “objective decisions”, it is proposing that exam boards provide “guidance and training”, and make available sets of papers for teachers to use with with students “as part of their assessment”.

The consultation is seeking views on “whether such papers should be provided and, if so, what form they should take”.

One question being considered is whether the papers could use materials from past papers. The consultation also asks when the papers should be made available and whether their use should be mandated.

The use of such papers “would support consistency within and between schools and colleges”, Ofqual said.

“The teacher, through the marking of the papers, could consider the evidence of the student’s work and use that to inform their assessment of the grade deserved. The exam boards could also sample teachers’ marking as part of the external quality assurance arrangements and to seek to ensure this was comparable across different types of school and college, wherever students are studying. The use of exam board papers could also help with appeals.”

Ofqual is also proposing that teachers should draw on a “range of broader evidence of a student’s work in making their final assessment”, and that all students should be able to appeal their grades.

Under the proposed plan, students would be assessed by their teachers in a period beginning in May into early June. Teachers would then submit grades to the exam boards by the middle of June.

External quality assurance by the exam boards would be “ongoing” throughout June and results would be issued to students once that process is complete – most likely in early July. Students could then appeal immediately following the issue of results, and appeals would first be considered by schools and colleges.

 

Vocational and technical qualifications

Ofqual says that where practical exams and assessments which are “required to demonstrate occupational competence for employment and apprenticeships” should “continue to take place throughout the academic year where they can be delivered in line with public health guidelines, including remotely”.

Where these assessment cannot be delivered safely, they should be delayed.

The consultation then states that VTQs which received calculated results in summer 2020 should “fall in scope” of the proposed policy for replacing GCSE and A-level exams this summer.

Under Ofqual’s existing regulatory arrangements – The Extended Extraordinary Regulatory Framework (Extended ERF) which it introduced in October 2020 – awarding organisations have the flexibility to adapt their assessments and qualifications to mitigate against the disruption the pandemic has caused.

Ofqual is now proposing to issue a revised version of the Extended ERF. This would allow awarding organisations to “continue to offer adapted assessments for those qualifications in scope, and award qualifications where exams have not taken place and learners have not been able to complete all other assessments”.

The consultation document suggests that calculated results could be used where assessments cannot be sat, including for functional skills. FE Week is seeking clarity from Ofqual on this point.

 

The government made BTEC students like me feel we didn’t matter

BTEC students have been put on an exams rollercoaster since the start of this term, writes Fatma Shami

Just days after the national lockdown was announced, I was told my exams were set to go ahead on January 12 and 13. I was very fortunate at my college to have my exams cancelled in the end, but I never want to repeat the experience. 

I am studying BTEC Level 3 Applied Science and the exams I was going to take this month were for unit 1.

On one side I was told by my teachers “you still need to revise, your exams most likely won’t be cancelled”, and then several days later I found out that the decision was being passed on to individual colleges and schools, and it was up to them.  

To say it was one of the most uncomfortable situations that I have been in is an understatement. I genuinely thought that I was going to be forced to sit in an exam hall just because my college cared more about the results we needed rather than our safety. 

My mental health has struggled severely during lockdown and remote learning in the first lockdown. This lack of a decision around the BTEC exams, completely disregarding them and just passing on the decision to colleges, has affected me in ways that I didn’t realise were possible.  

I wasn’t motivated to attend any of my lessons even though they are remote, or to leave my bedroom, and I gradually became less motivated to talk to my family and friends or even watch TV, just because I thought that the government cared more about A-levels and GCSEs. 

It left me with a feeling that just because I do a BTEC that I don’t matter, or that I am not enough, and that universities won’t accept me solely on that reason.  

And with how stressed I’d become, I couldn’t sleep for a couple of days and was crying every so often, until I was told by my college “you will not be sitting your exams”. 

It was at that point I felt relieved because I knew that if I were to sit in that exam hall, my mind and focus would be on “what if this invigilator stands too close to me and they might have Covid?”.

What if this invigilator stands too close to me and they might have Covid?

When I first received the email, which was during my lesson, to say that my exam was cancelled, I had screamed and I was crying. Whether that was tears of happiness or anxiousness, I have no idea.  

I remember calling one of my friends who was with me in my class and saying to them, “Is this real? Are you sure that it’s not a joke?”.

My friends have also joined me as members of this emotional rollercoaster. We felt like we had been placed in a box and we were trapped ̶ our voices were silenced and there was nothing that we could do, until we had been told we weren’t sitting the exams.  

When we found out, we felt as though we had finally become important and ultimately that we mattered and we were equal to A-levels and GCSEs. 

This one is for the colleges across the nation. As a student I’d like you to thank you for all the hard work and the immense support that you are giving your students and for prioritising the students’ wellbeing and safety over the results that you receive every year. 

You are the heroes in many students’ eyes because of the lack of leadership in the government. The decision on BTECs was passed on like a parcel, but you decided that you weren’t going to risk your students.   

The government needs to listen to our voices as further education students. If they address A-level and GCSE students, they should also address BTEC students, because all students matter, whatever the qualification they take.   

Every qualification and every educational institution is equal. So before you in the government decide to address any issues or questions in the House of Commons that concern education, make sure you have addressed ALL national exams, not just the “common” ones.

Reflecting on the changes of teaching in 2020

The year of 2020 has changed the face of learning and development, with training providers all over the world forced to move classrooms online to teach, access and collaborate. However, as we move into 2021, and almost a year on from our first lockdown, why are we still faced with the same challenges?

Limited progress through lockdown

The issue with lockdown 1.0 was how unprepared many learning providers were when they had to transform their offering to become fully digital. Hasty decisions were made to pivot quickly; and whilst there have been some successful transitions amongst many providers, many have also rushed into an unplanned solution, which offered no training nor a long-term solution to e-learning, merely just a quick fix.

Similar issues arose with lockdown 2.0 when once again learning was forced to go online. There were solutions and provisions made to the classroom environment meaning many providers didn’t close their doors – another quick fix.

Removing the barriers to online learning

During the midst of lockdown 3.0, many providers are looking for online and blended approaches to help deliver key areas of the curriculum. With the barrier to online learning being removed, more people are becoming accepting of e-learning systems as a longer-term solution. However, selecting the right partner to digitally transform education and training is paramount to the future success of virtual learning.
Whilst this may seem simple, the transition towards online teaching is something that has been overlooked by some. At The Skills Network, we support training providers by embedding high-quality online learning into curriculums, allowing educators to have a smooth transition between classroom-based delivery to online learning.
With access to high quality learning support advisors and expert tutors who provide responsive learning support, training providers can benefit from an accessible, market leading ‘Learning Management System’ (LMS). This system allows individuals to engage in their learning at any time and in any environment, which is so important in today’s setting.

Developing online diagnostic tools to develop individualised plans

Up until recently, many training providers have been diagnosing learners by manually assessing them and using appropriately qualified staff to create an individualised curriculum plan, which can be time consuming for educators. However, at The Skills Network, we have developed an innovative online diagnostic tool, which assesses a learner’s strengths and capabilities to create a unique learning journey, tailored to their exact needs – helping them focus on learning, and not just passing a qualification. When you combine the diagnostic with our new resources to support all levels of functional skills and digital essentials, along with our online tutorial pack (Essentials) it is possible to see how online learning will help during this crisis and beyond

The e-learning solutions available at The Skills Network, which support teaching practitioners concentrate on adding value (rather than having to build the foundations of knowledge) and have been designed following a thorough analysis of the job market and the current skills gap. Whether it’s through adult learning, CPD or apprenticeships, individuals are supported to develop the essential skills for current and future employment opportunities, and to apply their learning straight away.
Finding the right online learning partner

In 2021, organisations should be considering their online strategies in place to support their staff and facilitate processes. Partnering with companies who have been providing online learning for several years, with tried and tested systems, as well as tailored online content and assessment procedures is key.

There are valid and reliable assessment options now open to us through technology; it’s just a question of finding your right online learning partner.

Click here to visit The Skills Network

Rishi Sunak said to be ‘annoyed’ with DfE delays to traineeship expansion

The chancellor Rishi Sunak was personally “annoyed” at how long the Department for Education traineeships tender took to get off the ground, FE Week has learnt.

The Treasury did not deny this when approached for comment.

This latest revelation comes on the day that the DfE commercial team has further delayed the outcomes of the procurement, which throws into doubt the start date for new contracts.

Sunak announced way back on 8 July that he would make funds available to triple the number of traineeships this academic year – a key policy in his ‘Plan for Jobs’ for economic recovery from the pandemic.

The DfE later set out plans for a tender to expand the 19 to 24 traineeship market, with £65 million made available to fund around 20,000 new starts between February and July 2021.

The procurement was supposed to run over the summer but was delayed owing to a “significant amount of due diligence” that needed to be taken, the DfE previously said.

It finally launched four months later on 8 October.

Last Friday afternoon the DfE commercial team told bidders to the tender that the “high volume of tenders received” has “necessitated having to inform you that notifications of award will be delayed slightly”.

The DfE had planned to notify bidders of outcomes on 11 January, but said it would now aim to publish a revised timetable this week.

The agency updated bidders again this afternoon to say they will now not release the revised timetable until next Wednesday.

“The agency is continuing the process to evaluate and make award decisions of the responses received for this tender and will update the market by 20th January 2021,” the update said.

FE Week asked the agency multiple times throughout this week if the delay in outcomes would mean that the planned contract start date of 1 February would also be delayed, but we received no answer.

Stephen Evans, the chief executive of the Learning and Work Institute, tweeted his disappointed about today’s latest delay.

“This is the expansion of traineeships announced by the Chancellor in JULY. Not only should they’ve been underway by now in my view, it should be better joined up with DWP. We’re failing young people hit hard by the pandemic,” he said.

The £65 million tender will be split across nine regions in England – ranging from £20.8 million for London providers to just £2.6 million for the south-west.

A further £315 million was made available to support continued delivery through to July 2023.

The DfE confirmed to FE Week that only independent training providers with a new traineeship contract for service, who have been successful in the recent traineeship procurement, will be able to deliver traineeships beyond 31 July 2021.

This does not apply to grant funded providers, such as colleges, whose grants do not expire.

For 16 to 18 traineeships, the DfE previously said was planning to launch a “market entry exercise” for other 16 to 18 study programme providers to start delivering traineeships.

Asked for an update on this, a spokesperson for the agency this week said: “There is already significant provider capacity to deliver traineeships to 16 to 18 year olds.

“We will keep the issue of provider capacity under review, as per the market entry guidance, and will update the sector should a decision be taken to expand capacity.”

Employer cash incentives of £1,000 have also been made available in the government’s effort to triple the number of traineeships, as has growth funding for providers that already deliver the programme for 16-to-18s.

Traineeship starts have been on a rapid decline in recent year, from a high of 24,100 in 2015/16 down to just 12,100 in 2019/20.

 

 

Ofqual must urgently allow teacher assessed grades for apprentices

All the stops on teacher assessed grades are being pulled out for GCSEs and A-levels, but yet again apprentices appear to be forgotten, writes Jane Hickie

Lockdown three means that the focus must again be on protecting learners and apprentices from losing their livelihoods or not completing their programmes. 

But the government’s current measures around apprenticeship opportunities risk looking futile when it won’t allow existing apprentices to achieve and progress in their jobs. Meanwhile, all the stops are being pulled out for GCSEs and A-levels. What happened to levelling up? 

Allow me to explain. This lockdown is a monumental challenge for training providers. In normal times, most delivery of work-based learning takes place by definition in the workplace, often underpinned by very high-quality provision. 

Most workplaces are closed and last week’s government guidance decreed that all training and assessment must take place remotely wherever possible.  

But face-to-face training and assessment have been allowed to continue in some employers’ Covid-secure settings and end-point assessment and functional skills assessments for maths and English can continue on premises where it cannot be conducted remotely.

But these exceptions don’t get to the heart of the problem. The problem is that most workplaces are closed. 

The other major obstacle to apprenticeship programme completion is the task of conducting assessments and functional skills tests remotely. Despite the strenuous efforts of providers and awarding organisations, we are still some way off being able to do this in mass volumes.   

Remember that in a normal year, three quarters of a million apprentices are on a programme spread all over the country. Half of them work for small, now many struggling, businesses and many of them come from disadvantaged backgrounds.  

Therefore when I watch television reports of free or second-hand laptops being handed over to grateful parents of schoolchildren, naturally I am pleased, but my thoughts instantly jump to disadvantaged apprentices who aren’t receiving any support at all.   

Subsequent lockdowns have resulted in a massive logjam of untaken tests

Without a laptop or high-speed internet, they cannot sit their functional skills qualification test remotely and if they cannot pass their test, they cannot go on and complete their apprenticeship. 

In lockdown one, the government and Ofqual allowed apprentices to be teacher assessed for their functional skills. This was permitted until the end of July, and since then the continued tier restrictions and the subsequent lockdowns have resulted in a massive logjam of untaken tests. 

AELP estimates that more than 40,000 apprentices are unable to progress on to their end-point assessments but the government won’t tell us the actual figure ̶ even though it should have the number from providers’ submitted individual learning returns.

Instead, it informed shadow education secretary Kate Green this week, “We do not currently hold the data in the format requested.”

Therefore when Gavin Williamson announced last week that GCSE and A-level exams were being cancelled, we wondered for a moment whether the logjam for apprentices might finally be broken.   

But no, the new Ofqual boss quickly quelled such hopes by saying the regulator would recommend different solutions for different types of qualifications. We fear that one rule applies for academic students and another for apprentices. Meanwhile as the Ofqual consultation takes place, the problem grows larger. 

And despite being 32 pages, last Friday’s DfE lockdown guidance for apprenticeships didn’t bring any glad tidings to training providers. There was no suggestion of any renewed financial support for providers; just another signposting to the Treasury’s loan schemes for businesses.   

Every DfE and regulator missive refers to the maintenance of high-quality provision for apprentices ̶ but guess what? That costs money.

Moreover, with programme starts at half their pre-Covid levels and provider income squeezed, the prime minister’s promise of an apprenticeship guarantee looks as realistic as a wall along the entire Mexican border. 

So, since the chief medical officer is stressing safety as the utmost priority, the government must urgently mandate teacher-assessed grades for functional skills where apprentices cannot travel to a test centre.

Otherwise, these young people among the 50 per cent who don’t go to university will find that, once again, they have been forgotten.

Fourth interim CEO takes the reins at Hull College Group

A high profile college leader has taken the reins at the Hull College Group as a short-term interim chief executive.

Staff were informed today that Lowell Williams, a former national leader of further education who retired as the boss of Dudley College last year, will lead the group until its new permanent chief executive, Chris Malish, takes over in May.

Williams has worked in colleges for over 30 years and set up his own consultancy firm shortly after leaving Dudley College, which he led to an Ofsted grade one in 2017.

He is the latest in a string of short-term interim bosses at Hull College Group since its former permanent leader, Michelle Swithenbank, resigned in 2019.

Vice principal for finance Darryn Hedges was first to take up the temporary position before Derek O’Toole, a former deputy principal of Hull and then principal of Hopwood Hall College came in. Tony Lewin, principal at Newcastle College, was then appointed to the position in July 2020.

Malish will join from Bradford College, where he was director of finance and corporate services and then deputy chief executive.

Hull College Group declined to comment when FE Week asked why Lewin had stepped away from the interim post just months before Malish takes over.

The college has been through a period of turmoil in recent years which included a £42 million government bailout, and independent investigation into allegations of nepotism and financial wrongdoing, and ongoing FE Commissioner intervention.

A statement from the college on the latest appointments said: “We are pleased to announce that Chris Malish, current deputy chief executive of Bradford College has been appointed as the permanent chief executive of the college.

“We look forward to welcoming Chris to the college from the beginning of May.

“To support the college in the meantime, the corporation have appointed Lowell Williams to step in as interim chief executive and accountable officer. Lowell is an experienced and respected leader in the FE sector and will be working with Chris to ensure a smooth transition over to his leadership.”

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 339

Your weekly guide to who’s new and who’s leaving.

Pat Carvalho, Principal, BMet

Start date: June 2021

Previous job: Principal, Harrow College; Deputy chief executive, HCUC

Interesting fact: She enjoys thrillers, and grew up in Birmingham, so is returning to her home city to lead BMet

Jeff Greenidge, Director for diversity, Education and Training Foundation and Association of Colleges

Start date: January 2021

Concurrent roles: Chair of the board of directors, Groundwork Wales; Chairperson, Learning and Work Institute Wales

Interesting fact: He taught Latin to the Manic Street Preachers, whom he describes as “good lads” who made him guest of honour at their last concert in Cardiff

Helen Smith, Principal, The Bedford Sixth Form

Start date: January 2021

Previous job: Social science teacher, Melton Vale Sixth Form

Interesting fact: She chooses a new hobby every year, which this year was walking

Christina McAnea, General secretary, UNISON

Start date: January 2021

Previous job: Assistant general secretary, UNISON

Interesting fact: She is “fascinated” by genealogy and has spent time tracing her family back 250 years to the hamlet of Roag on the Isle of Skye