Guidance Maintaining education and skills training provision: further education providers
Examinations and assessments
No exams will be taking place in schools and FE providers this summer.
Our priority is to ensure that learners and adult learners can move on as
planned to the next stage of their lives, including starting university,
college or sixth form courses, or apprenticeships in the autumn or getting a
job or progressing in work.
Learners who were due to sit A level, AS level or GCSE exams this summer will
receive a calculated grade, as set out in Ofqual’s guidance on awarding GCSE,
AS and A levels, which includes the implications for non-exam
assessment. Ofqual has consulted on aspects of the new system and will be
publishing a response shortly.
There is a very wide range of vocational and technical qualifications as well
as other qualifications for which learners were expecting to undertake final
assessment and/or sit exams this summer. These are offered by a large number
of awarding organisations and have differing assessment approaches.
On 9 April, the
department and
Ofqual set out further detail in relation to the approach to
Vocational and Technical qualifications, and Ofqual consulted on these
measures, their response to which will be published shortly.
As far as possible, vocational and technical qualifications used for
progression to higher and further education will be treated in a similar way
to GCSEs, AS and A levels, with learners receiving a calculated result.
Similarly, learners due to take assessments for Functional Skills
qualifications before the end of the summer will receive a calculated result.
For other qualifications, adapting assessment may be a more appropriate
approach. But for some qualifications, for example those which have a narrow
occupational focus, adapting assessments may not be appropriate. The
department continues to work with Ofqual and the awarding organisations to
agree, in these cases, what the best approach is to ensure that learners are
not disadvantaged.
As part of supporting the exceptional arrangements for assessment and grading
of vocational and technical qualifications and other general qualifications
which Ofqual has announced, Ofqual has confirmed it will extend the regulation
end date for legacy Functional Skills qualifications in English and
Mathematics to 31 December 2020. This is to allow learners who are currently
on these qualifications, but who are yet to certificate, an opportunity to
complete their qualification. Once Ofqual has confirmed the certification end
date has been extended on the Register of regulated qualification, we will
similarly extend the validity and funding end dates for these qualifications
for continuing learners on the Learning Aims Reference Service (LARs). It
remains the case that new starts of these qualifications is not permitted.
We are aware that currently some awarding organisations (AOs) are not issuing
formal certificates for learners who have achieved qualifications. We
recognise the need for this to be the case as a result of logistical impacts
of coronavirus (COVID-19), on AOs and consider completion confirmation emails
to be a valid recognition of a learners’ completion of their qualification.
The hard copy qualification certificate will be dispatched when the AO is able
to do this. These completion confirmation emails should also show learner
details, certification run date and unique number.
Ofqual and AOs are working through the detail, with further information to be
issued in the coming days and weeks.
*[FE]: further education