College leaders have expressed concern about the ‘gaps in knowledge’ of new level 3 students starting in September after nearly four in five GCSE students achieved a pass this year. 

They are calling for flexibilities in how they can spend a £96 million catch-up fund for students, announced by the government last month to help students whose schools and colleges have been closed down since March. 

The funding can currently only be spent on students who have not achieved a grade 4, formerly a C, in GCSE English and maths by age 16. 

Yet results released today showed GCSE passes have risen by 8.9 percentage points after the government allowed students to receive the highest of either their centre-assessed grade or the grade calculated by their exam board – sparking fears of grade inflation. 

East Coast College principal Stuart Rimmer said enrolment this year has become “more complex than ever, especially around grade inflation, combined with a lack of Year 11 teaching in many schools since the lockdown”. 

He said colleges, which have become “over reliant on simply GCSE grades”, will need to use induction and diagnostic assessments “in a much more sophisticated way and think how to bridge skills and knowledge gaps in those first few critical weeks”. 

He supports the idea of catch-up funding, but says it needs to be issued as a grant and without “complex audit regulations”, as different colleges and groups within them will require different support. 

“For some it’s increasing workshop time, others it’s English and maths (especially in light of huge increase in grade performance), while other students will need more one-to-one tutoring either academically or emotionally. Flexibility is the key.” 

The principal of Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College William Baldwin also expressed concern about result inflation, saying there will be fewer students with grade 3 coming through this year. 

He proposed a “simple way” to adjust catch-up funding would be to allocate the money to all students with a four and below in English or maths “to ensure we are engaging with all borderline students”. 

“The money need not be used for English and maths per se, but to help them transition to level 3 learning, or make a success or their level 2 courses.” 

The Association of Colleges has asked the Department for Education to allow flexibilities in how the catch-up funding is spent, with its chief executive David Hughes saying the disruption caused by the COVID-19 lockdown will affect all students, so they want colleges to be able to “flexibly work with those students most in need of extra support”. 

Absolutely – we are asking @educationgovuk to allow the catch-up funding to be used for that https://t.co/V26NqGH0QS

— David Hughes (@AoCDavidH) August 20, 2020

He said it was “clear some borderline students starting on level 3 study may need ongoing support with English and maths” and had asked the DfE to allow colleges to be flexible with their catch-up funding allocations in a number of ways, including through allowing smaller groups throughout the year so “students have the bespoke support they need for them to succeed”. 

The Department for Education confirmed the AoC had raised the matter with them, but reiterated that students who received support “all need to be those who had not achieved a grade 4 or above in at least GCSE maths or English by age 16”.

Ofqual has confirmed today its appeals and resits process. We take you through what you need to know…

 

1. The appeal routes open are now just for errors

Schools and colleges can only appeal where there has been an administrative error with the CAG or rank order information.

Ofqual said rank order information was vital to support standardisation, but any change to a student’s position in the rank order would not change the student’s CAG.

Administrative errors might include, for example, mixing up two students with similar names, or accidentally copying across the wrong data. But importantly it does not relate to the professional judgements of centres in assigning CAGs.

 

2. That means students can’t appeal against a CAG

Ofqual says centres cannot appeal against the CAG that they decided was correct at the point of submitting it to the exam board.

The head of centre submitted a declaration to confirm that in the centre’s judgement this was the grade the students were most likely to have received had the exams gone ahead.

If a student is concerned that any reasonable adjustments were not taken into account when their school or college determined their CAG, Ofqual said they should discuss this with their school or college.

 

3. And the mock grade appeal route is gone, too

This was introduced at the eleventh hour last week before A-level results to offer pupils a “triple lock” policy to appeal grades.

However, because the government decided to award pupils the higher of their CAG or calculated grade, a route to appeal on the grounds of mock exam results is not available now.

 

4. Students can still raise concerns about bias

Ofqual has said that if students or others have concerns about bias, discrimination or any other factor that suggests that a centre “did not behave with care or integrity” when determining the CAG and/or rank order they should raise concerns with their school or college in the first instance.

They could also take concerns to the relevant exam board if more appropriate. Exam boards are required to investigate allegations, where there is evidence, as potential malpractice or maladministration.

Ofqual say such allegations would be “very serious and we expect them to be rare”.

 

5. Autumn exam series to go ahead as planned

The autumn exam series will be open to all students who had entered for GCSEs, AS and A levels in the summer series.

It will also be open to those who the exam boards believe have a “compelling case about their intention to have entered the summer series”. These will be held in November.

The proportion of GCSEs at grade 7 or above given to pupils in England has risen by 5.7 percentage points from last year after the government U-turn to award teacher grades.

Pupils are receiving either their centre assessed grades or standardised grades, whichever is highest, this morning following the U-turn on Monday. 

In 2019, 21.9 per cent of grades given out to 16-year-olds in England were grade 7 or above, equivalent to the old grade A. Statistics published this morning show that this year, 27.6 of these top grades were handed out. 

The proportion of grade 4s or above has risen by 8.9 percentage points, up from 69.9 per cent last year to 78.8 per cent this year – meaning nearly four in five pupils achieved a standard pass.

Grade 5 and above, a strong pass, has risen from 53.5 last year to 61.5 this year.

And the number of grade 1 and above has also risen from 98.5 last year to 99.6 this year. 

Those receiving the top grade of 9 has risen by 1.9 percentage points from 4.7 last year to 6.6 this year.

Among the subjects that have seen the largest rise in grade 7 awards are a host of creative subjects, including performing and expressive arts, music and drama.

These subjects, along with classical subjects, ‘other sciences’, economics and engineering, which also saw increases of over 10 percentage points, are often taught in smaller cohorts. As with A level results, we have already seen that such subjects have benefited from this year’s awarding system.

Harder to explain may be a close to 11 percentage point increase in grade 7 awards for biology.

German also features among those with the greatest gains at grade 7, despite Ofqual’s efforts to “make an adjustment to the grading standards in GCSE French and German, to provide better alignment with GCSE Spanish.”

Universities have agreed to honour all-first choice offers for thousands of students rejected last week who have now had their results upgraded.

The government’s Higher Education Taskforce, including the Russell Group of universities and representative body Universities UK, has agreed the commitment as the government lifts the cap on places for medicine, dentistry, veterinary science and teaching courses in the next academic year.

Additional funding for teaching grants is also being provided to increase capacity in medical, nursing, STEM and other high-cost subjects.

Universities minister Michelle Donelan (pictured) has said she wants universities “to do all they can” to take on students who achieved the necessary grades this year, or offer alternative courses or deferred places where required.

Universities admissions service UCAS received upgraded results for 160,000 A-level students from the four largest exam boards, after the government U-turned to award students their centre-assessed grades (CAGs), or calculated grades if higher.

100,000 students had already won a place at their first-choice university when the calculated A-level grades were released last week. Of the remaining 60,000 who had their grades updated under the CAG system, around a quarter will now meet the grades for their first-choice.

The government had already lifted temporary controls on student numbers for the 2020/21 academic year on Monday.

If a student receives a CAG which means they could go on to their chosen university, they should get in touch with that provider to discuss their options, it’s been advised. Students can ‘self-release’ from their existing offer of a university place through UCAS and accept a new offer at their preferred institution.

Schools and colleges received the revised A-level and As-level grades yesterday, and UCAS is aiming to share these grades with higher education providers by the end of the week so students can contact them.

Exams regulator Ofqual has released data on GCSE and A-levels today after the government U-turned to award pupils their centre-assessed grade or the grade calculated for them by exam boards – whichever is higher.

The data shows the percentage of A* grades has risen from 7.7 per cent in 2019, to 14.3 per cent in 2020.

Under the calculated grade system, the results of which were released last week, the percentage of A* grades only rose to 8.9 per cent.

Today’s data shows there have been increases in all grades on last year, including grade C or above, which have risen from 75.5 per cent to 87.5 per cent – a rise of 12 percentage points.

Grades A and above have risen from 25.2 per cent in 2019 to 38.1 per cent in 2020; while the proportion of B or above grades has risen from 51.1 per cent to 65.4 per cent.

At AS-level, the number of C or above grades has risen from 56.9 per cent to 73 per cent. And the number of A-grades, the highest grade a student can receive in that qualification, has risen seven percentage points from 20.1 per cent to 27.1 per cent.

Colleges have been told not to issue BTEC results tomorrow after an eleventh hour grading U-turn from Pearson.

The company, which is the custodian of BTECs, told colleges at 4.30pm today the qualifications will be regraded to “apply consistency across teacher assessed internal grades” following the U-turn for GCSEs and A-levels.

While CAGs for internal units, such as coursework, are generally accepted, Pearson had subsequently calculated the grades for the examined units using historical performance data to “maintain overall outcomes over time”.

It has left leaders frantically reopening results envelopes to amend the details that will be given to pupils tomorrow morning, and leaving thousands of youngsters with missing results.

Ofqual said Pearson “initially did not think there would need to be significant changes” but has now “decided to revise its arrangements”.

They said this would “ensure that students’ qualification-level results better reflect the unit-level results that students have already secured through internally-assessed units”.

A spokesperson for the regulator added: “Everyone is working as quickly as possible to confirm results as soon as possible, recognising the impact that delays are having on schools, colleges and students.”

Pearson has asked schools not to issue level 1 and 2 BTECs tomorrow as they are now being regraded, along with the level 3 nationals.

In a letter to colleges, Cindy Rampersaud, senior vice president, said: “We appreciate this will cause additional uncertainty for students and we are sorry about this.

“Our priority is to ensure fair outcomes for BTEC students in relation to A levels and GCSEs and that no BTEC student is disadvantaged.”

She added they will “work urgently … to reissue these grades”.

Association of Colleges chief executive David Hughes said they had asked Pearson to look at a “small number of results which looked unfair”.

He added that BTEC students “deserve equal footing with A-levels and GCSEs,”  as there has been a “perception that using CAG grades for some exams and not for BTEC students was unfair”.

But he expressed concern with the timing, as thousands of students were due to get their results tomorrow, while others have already received theirs.

“It is vital for students that this is sorted in days rather than weeks so that students have the chance to celebrate and to plan their next steps. It is a stressful time and this delay will extend the uncertainties.”

Students who want to move onto further or higher education will be the “most worried,” Hughes continued, and the AoC are communicating with the DfE, Ofqual and Pearson to “make sure BTEC students applying for universities can still be treated fairly”.

---

LETTER IN FULL

Dear Colleague,

Following Ofqual’s announcement that A Level and GCSE students are to receive Centre Assessment Grades, we have reviewed the impact on BTEC students and taken on board feedback from teachers, schools and colleges. Following our review and your feedback we have decided to apply Ofqual’s principles for students receiving BTECs this summer.

This means we will now be regrading all the following BTECs – BTEC Level 3 Nationals (2010 QCF and 2016 RQF), BTEC Level 1/2 Tech Awards, BTEC Level 2 Technicals and BTEC Level 1/2 Firsts.

BTEC qualification results have been generally consistent with teacher and learner expectations, but we have become concerned about unfairness in relation to what are now significantly higher outcomes for GCSE and A Levels.

Although we generally accepted Centre Assessment Grades for internal (i.e. coursework) units, we subsequently calculated the grades for the examined units using historical performance data with a view of maintaining overall outcomes over time. Our review will remove these calculated grades and apply consistency across teacher assessed internal grades and examined grades that students were unable to sit.

We will work urgently with you to reissue these grades and will update you as soon as we possibly can. We want to reassure students that no grades will go down as part of this review.

We appreciate this will cause additional uncertainty for students and we are sorry about this. Our priority is to ensure fair outcomes for BTEC students in relation to A Levels and GCSEs and that no BTEC student is disadvantaged.

Therefore, we ask schools and colleges not to issue any BTEC L1 and L2 results tomorrow as these will be reviewed and where appropriate, regraded.

We will share more information as soon as we can. Please contact us if you have any questions. We thank you in advance for your understanding and patience.

Best wishes,

Cindy Rampersaud
Senior Vice-President
BTEC & Apprenticeships

The Department for Education has made another exams U-turn by saying it now has “full confidence” in the regulator – just a day after education secretary Gavin Williamson refused to do so.

Williamson has been widely reported as attempting to lay the blame for this year’s results fiasco with Ofqual. He was reported as refusing four times yesterday to express “confidence” in Sally Collier, the chief regulator (pictured).

A DfE spokesperson said: “As the government has made clear, we have full confidence in Ofqual and its leadership in their role as independent regulator and we continue to work closely with Ofqual to deliver fair results for our young people at this unprecedented time.”

The department also clarified that it was Ofqual who took the decision to move to centre assessment grades.

The spokesperson added: “The decision they took to move from moderated grades to centre assessed grades was one that we agreed with.

“Our focus remains on working with Ofqual to ensure students receive their final GCSE, AS level and A level results this week so that they can move on to the next stage of their lives.”

The backing comes amid calls from some Conservative MPs for the regulator to be scrapped.

There are still 500 BTEC results “outstanding,” the chief executive of Association of Colleges said this morning. 

Speaking to ITV’s This Morning, David Hughes said those students would get their results today or tomorrow. 

A spokesperson for Pearson, the BTEC awarding body, said: “We are aware that some students are still waiting to receive their Level 3 BTEC results. We apologise for any stress and frustration this may have caused. We are working closely with the students and colleges involved to look into this urgently and provide any outstanding results as soon as we can.” 

It comes after delays in the release of the results, which had been due last Thursday and awarding body Pearson has put down to some colleges and schools submitting student information after their deadlines.  

Exams regulator Ofqual yesterday tried to explain why the results for vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) like BTECs had been delayed, saying they are “structured differently to A levels and GCSEs, and so the approach to awarding results has been different”. 

Whereas A-level and GCSE results were calculated using teacher-assessed grades, VTQ results have been arrived at using evidence of work completed during the course, or even taken from adapted assessments taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department for Education has published its first set of board minutes since February 2018 – more than two years ago. It follows freedom of information requests from FE Week’s sister title  FE Week asking for the information.

The DfE first told FE Week it could not release the board minutes because it planned to published them. However when asked for evidence of a publication schedule – the department admitted it didn’t have one, and vowed to publish them by the end of last month.

That deadline was missed, but they were finally published yesterday. Here’s what we found out.

 

1. Non-execs given more policy power just before former Tory aide appointed

In February’s board meeting, education secretary Gavin Williamson decided that non-executive directors would “take more in-depth roles” to support the DfE deliver its objectives.

The minutes state he said NEDs had “very valuable breath of skill and experience”, adding “while they would not be asked to influence policy, their advice at an early stage on policy implementation, delivery and departmental transformation would be extremely valuable”.

The following month, in March, Nick Timothy, the former adviser to Theresa May while she was prime minister, was appointed as a non-exec director.

The pair seem to be on good terms, for instance Timothy, who also formerly led the New Schools Network charity, was vocal in his support of Williamson when he was under fire as defence secretary.

NEDs are usually a ministerial appointment and advise on and monitor delivery of the department’s strategic priorities.

 

2. Exams weren’t discussed once at June’s board meeting

The most recent minutes relate to a board meeting in June. Given the uproar of the past few days over the now ditched grading system, it seems somewhat surprising exams weren’t discussed at all during that meeting.

This is despite another big issue caused by the coronavirus – how to reopen schools – getting a good airing.

Williamson has come under fire for his oversight of the exams fiasco – admitting that he hadn’t even seen details of the Ofqual algorithm or results until the weekend. He said the department had asked challenging questions of Ofqual during the development of the system, but said the regulator had reassured him the system was fair and robust.

 

3. Board members told Agnew’s controversial cost-cutting measures were ‘great’

Then education secretary Damian Hinds introduced an item on the government’s school resource management adviser scheme at a board meeting on May 16 last year.

The board was updated on the “reduction of non-staff spend and the great advice provided through the School Resource Management Advisors”.

Describing the advice as “great” may be up for debate. The board meeting was just two months after FE Week had revealed the advisers told schools to cut down on food portion sizes and pocket money raised for charity to save cash.

The government was later challenged over the findings of our investigation. One MP at the time said the advice “belonged to the days of the workhouse”.

The minutes also note that board members said there were “great opportunities for schools to make savings”, but that “people have different priorities in terms of cost, service quality and responsiveness and those need to be considered as part of this process”.

 

4. Government praises itself over handling of Carillion collapse – weeks before hundreds of jobs lost

The government patted itself on the back over the way it handled the fallout from the collapse of major construction company Carillion – just weeks before almost 350 of the company’s ex-apprentices lost their wages.

According to the minutes from a meeting on 21 June 2018, the board “discussed there had been a number of successes in the last quarter including the response to Carillion”.

But FE Week reported on 31 July that 341 apprentices, whose wages had been paid by a government receiver after Carillion went into liquidation the previous January, would have that support removed, meaning attempts to find them work had failed.

The Construction Industry Training Board, which had been tasked with finding Carillion’s apprentices new work or education opportunities, said the previous April that over 800 apprentices had been found a new job or education provider. The Department for Education said 777 had been found new employment with wages.

 

5. And finally … why is the department so sluggish? (a note from FE Week editor John Dickens)

Putting aside for a moment that the minutes themselves are shockingly lacking any real details, the principle of a government department being transparent about what is said by its most senior members is important.

Even more so given the hypocrisy this situation exposes.

The DfE names and shames academy trusts for not submitting accounts on time, and is looking to do the same for councils.

The department’s own further education commissioner very publicly rapped Hull College for not publishing up-to-do minutes.

Meanwhile, before yesterday’s release, the latest DfE board meeting minutes we had access to were from February 2018 –30 months ago. (Despite this, they have some strange errors: June’s meeting has a February date on it. In a heading, school resource management is spelt as ‘SCHOOL RESROUCE MANAGMENT’)

Why is this the case? We’ve no idea – but there doesn’t appear to be any good reason why the department continues to shun the principles that it insists other must follow.