FE Week talks medal hopes and teamwork with WorldSkills UK mechatronics competitors Jack Dakin and Danny Slater as the final countdown to Kazan begins.
Reporter Fraser Whieldon travelled to Toyota UK in Derby yesterday to meet the mechatronics duo; both of whom are 24, from Derby, and work at the automotive manufacturer.
The two are no strangers to international competitions, having won a bronze medal for the UK at EuroSkills 2018 in Budapest. What are their hopes of bringing back a silver or gold from WorldSkills next week?
Our aim is to be the highest-ranked European team
“Realistically, there is a lot more competition going from EuroSkills to WorldSkills,” Jack (pictured centre) said. “I think we’ll take it task by task and as long as we come out the other end knowing we have given it our all, we’ll be happy.”
Danny (pictured left) is less coy, saying: “Our aim is to be the highest-ranked European team.”
Their competition will consist of constructing four stations over four days, much of which will be blind tests.
The stations will form a production line which draws on the multiple disciplines of mechatronics, including mechanics, electronics and fluid processes.
For example, a station they had been practising with at Toyota’s on-site academy involved transporting a WorldSkills coin in a pot from one end of the station to another using circuits to power the components and pressurised air to lift the pot around the production line.
Danny explained: “We don’t know what the stations are going to be, how it is going to be laid out, what it’s going to be asking us to do.
“They could throw in new equipment nobody’s seen just to enhance the competition.”
But that’s good for the competition, says Jack, as “everyone’s on the same level, but you’ve never seen it before, so it’s about overcoming those problems”.
Making the playing field more level could play in Danny and Jack’s favour when they are up against some countries like China and Russia, which plough tremendous amounts of time and resources into WorldSkills and compete in a much wider array of events.
While Jack says they are “very lucky” that Toyota invest so much in the competition, going up against countries which prepare so rigidly for this one tournament may prove to be an epic challenge for the pair.
To prepare, the two have been revising the components they know will come up, to hammer down how they will function in the production line.
Another area is speed, trying to perform quicker and more efficiently.
Much like Phoebe MacLavy, Team UK’s hairdressing competitor FE Week spoke to last week, these two have been honing their skills and scouting out the competition at a number of other tournaments.
Other than EuroSkills, Jack and Danny, who completed apprenticeships together at Toyota, have done other competitions in the Netherlands, the UK, and Budapest last week, where they competed against Russia and Hungary – the two teams which bested the UK at EuroSkills – and came second behind Russia.
Danny said: “As we’re working as a pair, we are trying to know each other’s strengths and what we can leave to the other person to save time.”
Helping them along is training manager Calum Knot, who competed in mechatronics at EuroSkills 2014.
There is hardly a better pair of hands for Jack and Danny as, aside from having finished in the top five in 2014, Calum has also worked as an associate lecturer at Middlesex University and goes around the country running training and installing equipment for international technical education company Festo Didactic.
“One of the things about being a training manager is you don’t have to be the quickest person at doing it,” he said.
“The best person at teaching doesn’t have to be the best person at doing it. A football coach doesn’t have to be the star player, just be able to point the star player in the right direction.”
As with other training managers, Calum will stop being a training manager in Kazan and become an expert who must remain neutral and not show favouritism towards their national team.
Of his expert role, Calum said it is very hard to stay “emotionally disconnected” and avoid looking over at what your competitors are doing.
Hopefully he will not have much to worry about, as Jack says: “We are as ready as we can be.”
Team UK will travel to Russia on Monday before four days of intense competition start on 22 August.
FE Week is the exclusive media partner of WorldSkills UK and will be reporting live from Kazan.
Over 200,000 students studying the qualifications up and down the country will today find out whether all their hard work has paid off, and what their next step in life will be.
*** The live blog is now closed. Sorry if your pictures didn’t make it in – we’ve been inundated with stories and there simply hasn’t been time to add them all. We really appreciate you sending them and don’t forget to send them in next year. Congratulations to all the learners who got their results today and best of luck for the future.***
As with previous years, we’ll be sharing some of the success stories from colleges, sixth form colleges and providers from across England on this live blog. Stay tuned!
Sixth form student heading into higher apprenticeship, after impressing employers on his placement
Jacob Moat, an A-level student at Bede Sixth Form, will be enjoying the best of both worlds after being accepted onto a higher apprenticeship.
18-year-old Jacob (pictured), who achieved a B in media studies, a B in business and a C in economics will be undertaking a level 6 chartered surveyor apprenticeship with PD Ports, which will involve one day a week studying at Northumbria University.
Jacob said he was “ecstatic” about being accepted onto the apprenticeship after partaking in the college’s Logistics Academy programme, which aims to help raise young people’s awareness of the logistics industry by taking part in a series of workshop, masterclasses and site visits.
Top grades for Barnet and Southgate student after coming from Syria just three years ago
A student from Barnet and Southgate College has achieved an A* in physics and chemistry and an A in maths, despite only having arrived in the country from Syria three years ago.
Karim Bakkar (pictured left) has secured a place at Birmingham University to study an integrated BSc and Masters degree in nuclear engineering.
The 20-year-old had to complete an ESOL course before enrolling at the college, but said he had had “a unique time here and I have loved every minute”.
Sector leaders respond to A-level results
The congratulations of FE sector leaders on A-level results day has been tinged with warnings over the future funding for those qualifications and the apprenticeships school leavers may go on to.
Bill Watkin
The chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association Bill Watkin said his members had delivered another “outstanding” year of A-level results, and large specialist providers of sixth form education were leading the way in delivering a “broad, high-quality education to young people”.
However, he said the decline in entries to English literature and language A-levels was a concern, and it is important the government and regulators develop a much clearer explanation about grade boundaries and how they are set.
The latter comes after FE Week reported yesterday on leaked copies of Edexcel’s and OCR’s grade boundaries, which revealed A-level maths students needed as little as 55 per cent for an A grade.
Watkin and AELP policy officer Simon Ashworth also voiced their worries about funding for A-levels and apprenticeships respectively.
Simon Ashworth
Ashworth said: “Congratulations to all those students who have worked so hard to give themselves a chance to thrive in a very uncertain climate.”
But he added: “AELP’s major concern is that employers would currently like to be offering them up to 25 per cent more apprenticeship opportunities if the funding was available and the shortage is being felt most outside the big cities.”
After Boris Johnson said it was “vital” the government invest more in FE and skills, Ashworth said that extra investment needs to be “pumped in quickly” if the prime minister “doesn’t want thousands of disaffected young people on his hands”.
Exeter College student celebrating university offer after tough year
From left to right: Jack’s sister Rose, his mum Juliette, and Jack himself
An Exeter College student is celebrating getting an A*, an A and a B in a year when he had to care for his mother, who has been suffering with aggressive breast cancer.
Jack Smith, who lost his father in 2012, studied A-levels in physics, maths and further maths and will be studying physics at the University of Exeter.
The 17-year-old said: “It has been a tough time for me, but Exeter College have helped me along the way and I’m thrilled to be going to study physics at university.”
West Notts College student doesn’t let health problems stop her securing scholarship
A student at Vision West Nottinghamshire College did not let a curved spine stop her achieving A-levels and getting her hands on a scholarship with the University of Sheffield.
With a B in English literature, B in law, C in politics and a B in her EPQ now under her belt, Emily Gay (pictured) is off to study English literature.
The 19-year-old, who has double-curved scoliosis, which causes curvature of the spine, said: “I’ve had 19 years to get used to my health problems, having scoliosis and my legs are different lengths, but I just get on with things and it’s not stopped me achieving.”
While Emily prepares to start her life at university, 18-year-old Phoebe Stirland (pictured left) will be starting in the world of work – with an apprenticeship.
After an “exhausting and demanding” exam period, from which she gained an A in history, B in English language and C in biology, she will start next week at Launay’s Restaurant and Bar as a chef.
“Most of my friends are going to university, but I’m really looking forward to getting into the world of work,” said Phoebe, who also boasted about her skills with lemon meringue.
UTC sending its first ever student to Oxford
Christian Marriott (pictured) has become the first ever student from his UTC to secure a place at Oxford.
The 18-year-old from UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park scored an two A* grades and an A in maths, further maths and computer science, ensuring his place at Mansfield College to study maths.
Christian said he “had a great time at the UTC”, as he enjoyed both the academic and technical learning, and the opportunity to taking part in other projects, such as the Vex Robotics competition.
Harlow College student who originally missed out on A-levels heading to university
A Harlow College student who did not get the chance to take A-levels on their first time around is “really happy” after opening their results today.
Bevan Collins
22-year-old Bevan Collins is off to the University of York to study theoretical physics after securing an A in maths, a B in physics, and a C in further maths.
He said: “I didn’t get a chance to sit my A Levels the first time around so I was determined to come back to education to take them now.”
Getting his results, he added, was the “the culmination of a four year journey”.
Fellow Harlow student, 18-year-old Sarah Williams, was “overwhelmed” after receiving an unexpected A in politics, B in psychology and B in history.
“My goal was always to go to Sheffield to study History and now I’m doing it!”
Blackburn College student to take maths degree after competing in national challenge
From left to right: Jack Esson, Molly Bailey, Lolita Semjaskina, Leah Clare and Kane Kilburn
Jack Esson (pictured far left) from Blackburn College is off to study for a degree in maths and computer science after getting the chance to partake in a national maths competition.
He achieved an A*, three As and a B in his A-levels after choosing to study at college for the “more adult environment” which allowed him to become more independent and take responsibility for his own studies, as opposed to a school setting.
While at college, Jack was also given the chance to take part in the UK Mathematics Trust Maths Challenge.
Joining him at Lancaster will be Leah Clare, who will be studying physics, astrophysics and cosmology after achieving three As and a B.
She said she had “thoroughly enjoyed” her course, with the standout moments being when she was able to meet a former college student who had gone on to study for a PhD.
Boris forgets colleges… again
First, he forgot to appoint a minister for skills for nearly a week. Now Boris Johnson has forgot colleges also offer courses to do after A-levels in his congratulations to students picking up their results today.
In his message, the Prime Minister said his new government will do “all we can to improve funding for education and to give schools the powers they need to deal with bad behaviour and bullying so that pupils can learn”.
He went onto say that government “must focus much more attention on providing great apprenticeships for all those who do not go to university”, seemingly forgetting colleges also offer routes for school leavers.
His lapse comes after the Department for Education caused outrage by making the same mistake on Twitter, where it said A-level students could either go to university, do an apprenticeship, or get a job after they got their results, with no mention of college courses.
This could be seen as a further snub of colleges and FE from a prime minister who did not appoint a dedicated skills minister in his first reshuffle and instead shared the brief between education secretary Gavin Williamson and children’s minister Kemi Badenoch.
Derby College student following in mother’s footsteps
18-year-old Uther Naysmith from Derby College has secured his place to study law at Oxford after scoring an A* in politics and As in history and french.
He said he had “really enjoyed” his time at the college, and it was his teachers who encouraged him to apply for Oxford, which he had not thought of doing before.
Uther Naysmith
Other success stories from the college include Ethan Lee, 19, who gained A* grades across the board in English language, psychology and sociology.
He is off to the University of Nottingham to study cognitive neuro science and psychology, and said he was “on another level of relieved and thrilled” with his results.
Yousra Jamal (pictured right)
Meanwhile, Jaiya Verma, 18, is “really pleased” with her A grade for Extended Project and B grades in English language, English literature and sociology.
She hopes to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become an English teacher, and will be studying English Literature at either Durham or Newcastle.
Good luck message from education secretary
We kick off today’s blog with a message from new education secretary Gavin Williamson, who said everyone receiving results today should feel “proud” of their achievements – as should the “thousands of teachers that supported them in our brilliant schools and colleges”.
“Today marks the culmination of years of hard work which it’s right to recognise at this time of year,” he added.
“Of course, the minds of thousands of young people getting their results will soon turn to the next chapter in their lives, whether that’s a place at one of our world class universities, earning on an apprenticeship or entering the world of work – and I hope every one of them is excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for them and I wish them the very best of luck for their results today.”
Students would only be able to apply to universities after seeing their A-level and other qualification results under a Labour government.
The party has today pledged to “radically reform” higher education admissions by scrapping offers based on predicted grades.
Labour said the current system, where college and sixth form student applications are made by January – months before sitting their exams in early summer – unfairly penalises disadvantaged students and those from minority backgrounds.
“This would put a further squeeze on the amount of teaching time available”
Its proposed “fairer system” of post-qualification admissions (PQA) would “curb the sharp rise in unconditional offers” and bring an end to the “stressful” clearing process.
The review said the changes were also impractical because students from the four countries of the UK sit their exams at different times of the year, and students might research their university options less thoroughly.
Labour hasn’t addressed those issues in its announcement today. But shadow education secretary Angela Rayner (pictured) said they will work with schools, colleges, and universities to “design and implement the new system, and continue to develop our plans to make higher education genuinely accessible to all”.
She added the current system “isn’t working” and “radical action is needed to change that”.
The Sutton Trust has previously warned poorer students are more likely to have their grades under-predicted than their wealthier peers, meaning they are less likely to apply to the most selective institutions.
But Clare Marchant, UCAS’ chief executive, said while a post-results admissions service has a “natural appeal”, it would be “likely to significantly disadvantage underrepresented and disabled students”, unless school, college and university calendars changed.
“Young people need their teachers’ support when making application choices, and this isn’t readily available to all at the scale required when schools and colleges are closed during August.”
Former UCAS chief executive Mary Curnock-Cook told FE Week that Labour would need to pull some “major system changes out of the hat to ensure that it doesn’t become just one big clearing process over a few short weeks in the summer holidays”.
She said having the “choice of applying early and getting a motivational conditional offer, or applying post-qualifications in what is now a very professional clearing system, is the best of both worlds”.
Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said a review of current arrangements is “welcome”, but “many of our members are concerned that making offers after the publication of A-level results would mean that exams would have to take place at least a month earlier”.
“This would put a further squeeze on the amount of teaching time available – time that has already been reduced following the introduction of linear A-levels,” he added.
Mary Curnock-Cook
David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said the current admissions system “concerns” colleges and “it is clear that pre-results applications are problematic” as “only 16 per cent of applicants achieving their predicted A-level grades”.
“We are keen to explore other approaches and with more than half of university students coming from colleges it is vital that colleges are part of the ongoing discussions about how to make the system work better,” he added.
Labour said PQA is the norm across the world, and England’s reliance on predicted grades is an international outlier.
Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, believes allowing people to apply after they receive their results would “help level the playing field for students”.
“The current system, based on inaccurately predicted results, is failing students and it is time we adopted the type of system used around the rest of the world where university offers are based on actual achievements instead of guesswork,” she added.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Universities must ensure their admissions practices are fair, to ensure everyone can access higher education, or they will face action.”
She added that the Office for Students and Universities UK are already undertaking a review of university admissions to “look at how well current practices serve students and we urge all groups to support them to see how they can be improved”.
The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, has met Team UK representatives during his first visit to a further education college in his new role.
On what the Department for Education described as a unofficial private visit, Westminster Kingsway College hosted a meeting between Williamson and representatives of WorldSkills UK, including chief executive Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann.
The minister also met several Team UK members, including: Jack Goodrum, who will be competing in carpentry; Owen Aldous, cabinet making; Collette Gorvett, restaurant service; Tonicha Roberts, chemical laboratory technician; Ross Megahy, mechanical engineering CAD.
His visit coincided with Vocational Results Day, when learners sitting qualifications such as BTECs receive their externally assessed results.
While he was there, Williamson also got the chance to try his hand at some of the skills himself including hospitality cocktail making and carpentry.
37 competitors representing the #UnitedKingdom will show how brilliant our technical education is next week at @WorldSkillsKZN. So enjoyed hearing about the training all the apprentices and students have undertaken and I am sure all their incredibly hard work will pay off. https://t.co/4fH6Q3omvq
“It was fantastic to meet members of Team UK and see them all in action,” Williamson said.
“There is no greater honour than representing your country on a global platform like this, and I wish them all the very best of luck as they head out to Kazan next week.”
Williamson, who has taken on personal responsbility for the FE and skills brief, also told all those receiving vocational results that today is the “culmination of years of hard work for thousands of young people”.
“It is right that their efforts are celebrated across the country as well as on the front pages – but getting a good set of A levels and then a degree is only half the story.
“As the first education secretary to personally take charge of further education and skills, I’m going to make sure that those people who opt to take a technical or vocational qualification are given the proper recognition for their hard work.”
He added that while some people will be getting their technical and vocational results today, from next year, students finishing their GCSEs will be able to take “one of our new T-levels as a high-quality technical course that will carry the same UCAS points equivalent to three of our world-class A levels”.
“Young people and their parents can be confident that T-levels will be just as stretching as their academic equivalents and will offer progression to the next level whether that is landing a great job, an apprenticeship or going on to do a degree,” he said.
“As the technical ‘gold standard’ option for young people post-16, T-level results will be also be published on the same day as A-levels from 2022.”
“Technical and vocational educational has played second fiddle to traditional academic options for too long.
“In three years’ time the look and feel of results day will be very different, with students getting their T-level results celebrating their hard work alongside those getting their A-levels.”
This year’s Vocational Results Day comes as the future of thousands of applied general qualifications, including BTECs, hangs in the balance. A government review of those at level 3 and below was launched earlier this, and any that are deemed to overlap with A-levels and T-levels will have their funding removed.
Team UK will travel to Russia on Monday before four days of intense competition start on 23 August, where they’ll battle it out with 65 other nations in a range of disciplines, from mechatronics to cooking.
FE Week is the exclusive media partner of WorldSkills UK and will be reporting live from Kazan.
In response to a knife attack in London on August 8, 2019, Boris Johnson said he is going to put more police on the streets.
Of course he is right to suggest people will feel safer as a result.
However, he couldn’t be more wrong if he had thought that more police would solve the underlying issues that are causing this resurgence in knife crime. This needs to be understood in the context of what is driving young people to seek a life of crime and gangs. Many are themselves vulnerable and need help.
Further education colleges should be at centre of the debate as we seek solutions.
The PM is no doubt aware that more police won’t solve the knife crime problem
In particular, two things need to be addressed – the reduction in college funding and the lack of emphasis on personal development as we focus on qualifications and job readiness.
Funding cuts have meant that colleges are no longer able to offer a broad enough curriculum. This narrowing of the curriculum, to maintain financial viability, comes at the expense of losing provision which would be better suited to engaging some of our more vulnerable young people.
The relentless focus on employability and job readiness, in policy, regulation and funding for FE has neglected that other essential quality of education – the development of character.
Johnson should understand this. His alma mater, Eton, includes among its aims “fostering self-confidence, enthusiasm, perseverance, tolerance and integrity”.
The question is whether these noble qualities should be fostered in the few or the many.
The PM is no doubt aware that more police won’t solve the knife crime problem.
I would argue that cuts in college funding coupled with an education system that is focussed primarily on employability is at best naively dangerous.
One way to chart a more purposeful course would be to promote and regulate FE as a sector with the dual purpose of encouraging employability and job readiness as well as citizenship and community cohesion.
There are multiple approaches to combining the two and this agenda is very much part of the fabric of the FE sector.
To augment a young persons’ educational programme of study with work around purposeful citizenship to help them contribute meaningfully to their local community is relatively straight forward.
There are multiple examples of this kind of work in colleges, including an enquiry-based philosophical approach called AskIt which is promoted by the Helen Hamlyn Trust and adapted to a vocational education setting here at Central Bedfordshire College.
AskIt enables young people to learn to debate, to accept difference, to air their views and to vent any anger in an enlightened and purposeful manner.
AskIt is a methodical approach to learning. It is about how to think, how to question and how to articulate arguments. The college uses AskIt to help young people learn and hone important skills beyond the technical discipline in which they train and work, alongside training to become plumbers, carpenters, hairdressers, social workers, computer programmers, nurses and the many other careers which they can look forward to.
I call upon the Prime Minister to engage with the FE sector in a meaningful way so that we are better able to support community cohesion as much skills. Both are urgent priorities with the advent of Brexit.
Firewalls, data back-ups and training staff to verify email senders are some of the actions colleges should take to protect themselves against cyber attacks, according to new government guidance.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency has published the advice today after colleges fell victim to phishing scams earlier this year, where genuine-looking emails were sent by fraudsters to trick people into sending money or private information.
As well as the tips, the ESFA release warns providers that they “retain responsibility to be aware of the risk of fraud, theft and irregularity and address it by putting in place proportionate controls”.
Phishing scams and malvertising – when malicious code is downloaded onto a victim’s computer after they click on, or even just hover over an advert online – are two traps the ESFA has warned providers of.
The release lists five strategic questions that education providers should use as a “starting point to consider cyber risk in their organisation”.
They include: Does the organisation have a clear and common understanding of the range of information assets it holds? Does the organisation have a clear understanding of cyber threats and their vulnerabilities? Is the organisation proactively managing cyber risks? Does the organisation have a balanced approach to managing cyber risk? Does the education provider have sound governance processes to ensure actions to mitigate threats are effective?
It goes on to list 10 “cyber security tests”, which are based on the National Cyber Security Centre’s ‘10 steps to cyber security’ guide.
As well as verifying email senders before sending payment or data, college staff should be trained to ensure they “understand the risks of using public Wi-Fi” and “understand the risks of not following payment checks and measures”, according to the ESFA.
Fraudsters, perpetrating a phishing scam, hacked into the email account of principal Chris Nattress and sent a link to his contacts to “review and sign”.
When Nattress’s contacts replied to check if the email was genuine, the fraudster replied saying that it was.
They also changed the college’s phone number in the email signature by one digit, and made up a mobile number, so contacts could not check in that way.
The college’s digital team identified the issue before staff received any reports of a problem.
Education providers were first warned about phishing in an ESFA update in June, which said some had suffered “financial losses” after falling for this type of scheme, but it is unclear how many.
This is not the first time education providers have been targeted in such a manner: in 2014, emails purportedly from the Skills Funding Agency were sent to providers, asking them to send details that would allow the fraudster to take money from the provider’s bank account.
The UK’s data watchdog has sided with FE Week in our long-running freedom of information battle with Highbury College to obtain expense claims made on the principal’s corporate card.
A request for this information spanning the past five academic years was put in 10 months ago, but the college refused to comply and cited section 14(1) of the FOI Act on the basis it was “vexatious”.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has today finally ruled the college is not “entitled” to rely on this exemption, and must now issue a “fresh response” to FE Week.
These are legitimate interests to have and the request does have serious purpose and value
In her preliminary assessment of the case, Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said: “The complainant has an interest in the finances of college, how it is being managed and how public funds are being spent both by the principal and other members of staff.
“These are legitimate interests to have and the request does have serious purpose and value.”
Highbury College must now provide a new response within 35 days and failure to comply “may result in the commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court”.
The material is expected to show the college’s spending on international flights. From a previous FOI, FE Week found that Highbury principal Stella Mbubaegbu used college cash to pay for a first-class return flight from London to Dallas at a cost of £4,132.
The college will have paid out for a lot more flights over the past five years, considering its various ventures in other countries including Nigeria – where the college’s lawyers are trying to recover a long-running £1.4 million debt – and Saudi Arabia, where the college runs Jeddah College.
Local Portsmouth newspaper, The News, received an FOI back from the college last month which listed some expense claims over the past four years.
The information shows how the principal had racked up a £5,000 phone and data bill, which included calls and expense claims made to Abu Dhabi, Italy, Ireland, Portugal and the Netherlands.
Claims for taxi fares were also racked up in New Orleans and Orlando in America, Sao Paulo Brazil, Hong Kong, Stuttgart, and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, dating back to 2014.
The data obtained by The News only listed two flights: one from London to Texas in June 2014 costing £2,860, and another for two people in October 2017 costing a combined total of £1,050 taking them to Saudi Arabia – with a note stating the flight was an “upgrade”.
Following today’s ruling, a spokesperson for Highbury College said: “The college will continue to work with the ICO to ensure all FOI requests are handled correctly and in accordance with ICO guidelines.”
Highbury College crashed two grades from ‘outstanding’ last year. It axed its A-level provision two months ago due to financial pressures, which put 13 jobs at risk.
Its accounts for 2017/18 show a £2.48 million deficit, and board minutes from March 2019 state that the college’s last pay award to staff was “in January 2013″.
The college has been subject to widespread media attention following its decision to block FE Week’s website after we revealed its debt in Nigeria at the beginning of the year.
Its attempt to suppress the report from its staff led to the story being published to a wider audience, following articles by the Press Gazette, Private Eye, and The News.
It also attracted heavy criticism from top sector officials, including skills minister Anne Milton and Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman.
Questions from an entire Edexcel A-level maths paper were circulated on social media before the exam this year, rather than just a small extract as was originally thought, Pearson has admitted.
Edexcel’s parent company also confirmed that 78 students who sat the exam are having their results withheld while it investigates the leak, which has so far led to the arrests of two people.
Two questions from the A-level maths 3 paper were posted and circulated on Twitter before the exam was sat on June 14, but Pearson has today said its investigations team later discovered that questions from the entire paper had also been circulated within “closed social media networks”.
Although it is not clear how many students had access to these closed social media networks, Pearson’s responsible officer Derek Richardson said in a video statement today that the leak had been traced to one specific centre, which is believed to be in London.
Richardson also accepted there was “speculation that exposure was broader” across social media networks, but said Pearson must base judgements on this issue “on hard evidence rather than speculation”.
“I’d like to reassure you that we detected the breach quickly, took the appropriate action and by reviewing all the relevant exam papers in detail we have ensured that all students who took the exam according to our rules will be issued a fair grade that reflects their work.”
He said Pearson was able to examine the phones of those interviewed about the leak, and police seized equipment from two people who were subsequently arrested. He added that Pearson hopes the police enquiry “will end in a criminal prosecution” for those responsible for the leak.
Hayley White, Pearson’s UK assessment director, defended the decision not to discount the two questions that were widely circulated on Twitter.
“Through our various levels of analysis we found that student performance on these questions was as expected and it wouldn’t be fair to disadvantage everyone by removing them,” she said.
“In the limited instances where we discovered anomalies – for example students scoring particularly well on these questions versus the rest of the paper – we have taken these students out of any further statistical analysis that we used to determine the grade boundaries and we’ve had a closer look at their performance.”
This year marked the third year in a row that questions from an Edexcel maths paper have been leaked online before the exam, despite Pearson’s efforts to strengthen its security process including introducing microchips to track when schools receive the papers.
White also responded to concerns that the Edexcel maths paper 2 was too difficult.
She said independent experts had “confirmed that paper 2 was a fair and valid exam” but admitted that “the first two questions were more challenging than we would typically expect initial questions to be”.
“Going forward, we will make adjustments to our papers to improve the experience students have when sitting our exams.”
A former sector leader has hit back at an ex-special adviser to education secretary Damian Hinds after the latter said colleges are “too complex to run”.
David Harbourne, a former chief executive of The Edge Foundation and ex-senior official at the old Skills Funding Agency, accused Jon Yates of being a “snowflake who can’t stand having his thoughts exposed as vacuous” today on social media.
Among his comments he said there are “not enough great leaders” in FE: “We have some brilliant leaders and governors. Genuinely amazing. But not enough. Colleges are complex – too complex – to run. Plus they face extreme challenges with a board of entirely voluntary trustees.”
5. Not enough great leaders
We have some brilliant leaders and governors. Genuinely amazing. But not enough. Colleges are complex – too complex – to run. Plus they face extreme challenges with a board of entirely voluntary trustees.
He also spoke of a “broken market”: “We rely on FE colleges competing to raise standards. Wrong. There is no market in the world where low margins, high capital costs & competition leads to quality. Why? Because only a fool invests in capital equipment if the upside is uncertain and v small.
“The result of competition and low margins? Colleges rationally focus on low cost courses. In other words not technical courses.”
“I have been blocked by @jonpayates for calling out his bullshit. I will need to ask my twitter friends what further nonsense he writes in the next few days. (thread),” he tweeted.
“He said further education colleges are ‘too complex to run’. I asked if he would say the same about universities, BAE Systems or HMRC. ‘Of course not,’ I said. ‘This is bullshit!
“He said the only purpose of technical courses at FE is to make people competent to do skilled jobs. I said full-time courses provide foundational knowledge and skills, and that competence comes later, through experience gained in the workplace.
“I said it’s the same for university graduates. A degree in English provides knowledge and opportunities to practise, but competence as (eg) an advertising copywriter comes later, after experience in the workplace.”
He went on to say that Yates “tried to blame colleges for providing only 15 hours of contact time to 16-18s” and he “pointed out that hours have fallen because of cuts to funding since 2010 and asked him politely not to blame colleges for the government’s decisions”.
However, the former special adviser had actually said: “Colleges need more money. Imagine if your local school could only afford 15 hours a week per student (incl help with Maths & English). Standard practice in colleges. Why is Europe beating us at technical education? Partly because their students learn all week.”
Harbourne concluded: “It seems that Jon, holder of a first class degree in PPE, (a) knows remarkably little about further education and (b) is a snowflake who can’t stand having his thoughts exposed as vacuous.”
I have been blocked by @jonpayates for calling out his bullshit. I will need to ask my twitter friends what further nonsense he writes in the next few days. (thread)
The 19-year-old, who has double-curved scoliosis, which causes curvature of the spine, said: “I’ve had 19 years to get used to my health problems, having scoliosis and my legs are different lengths, but I just get on with things and it’s not stopped me achieving.”
