York College
‘ofqual’
Further education providers have been warned they could be left with a bill for greater numbers of compulsory English and maths learners as the new numbered GCSE grades regime makes it harder to achieve a pass. Under a condition of Department for Education (DfE) funding, providers must make 16 to 19 learners who have not […]
News
Awarding organisations could be forced to withdraw qualifications with units shared with other bodies after Ofqual announced plans to close its “unit bank”. Under the proposals set out in a letter from the regulator, awarding organisations have until July 31 to withdraw units shared and developed with others or allow those competitors to “treat them […]
Amanda Spielman does not consider herself a pedant, but is a self-confessed hater of unclear or “fuzzy” language. She doesn’t want to sound like someone who writes to newspapers complaining about the state of modern English and signing off, as she puts it, “Disgusted, from Tunbridge Wells”. “Of course language has to grow and change,” […]
Profiles
An East Midlands college has issued an exams blanket ban on wristwatches over fears learners could cheat using powerful new “smart watches” that can access the internet. A North Nottinghamshire College (NNC) statement on its website says candidates will be banned from wearing their watches in all exams following the “emergence of smart watches that […]
Awarding organisations have spelled out their “rigorous” anti-fraud measures for private security industry training after it emerged that 129 security guard licenses were set to be revoked after malpractice. An undercover BBC investigation aired in March alleged staff at Ashley Commerce College (ACC), in Ilford, were prepared to sit exams for students training to work […]
Ofqual is asking for views on its plans to replace the Qualifications Credit Framework (QCF), which is due to be scrapped. The qualifications watchdog launched a three-month 19-question consultation today on the successor to the QCF, which it says it wants to be “simple and descriptive”. It is proposing that all regulated qualifications should be described by a […]
The system of Functional Skills qualifications is “not broken, but could be improved,” according to the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) review of non-GCSE English and maths, out today. The review, launched in January and led by former Jersey principal Professor Ed Sallis, was tasked with examining the perception and value of non-GCSE English and […]
Ofqual hopes to ensure English apprenticeships will continue to be recognised in Europe after the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) has been scrapped, the regulator has told FE Week. Its assurances come after Angus Gray, head of the European Social Fund division at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), told the House of Lords […]
The method used by other European states to recognise English apprenticeships relies on the doomed Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF), a senior civil servant has admitted. Angus Gray (pictured), head of the European Social Fund division at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was giving evidence to the House of Lords EU internal market, […]
