English: Thank you, Suzy Davies, for your questions and your acknowledgement of the hard work of the design and delivery group, as I said, made up of headteachers and college principals who have worked at great speed to provide advice and guidance. I'm grateful that they have agreed to continue to do that work with an expanded membership now, as we move into the next phase of operationalising the decisions that have been made. Suzy quite rightly points out the challenges of the centre-determined grades system. All methods of assessment have their upsides and their downsides, and the job is, having decided on an assessment mechanism, how you can mitigate the downsides. Ensuring that there is a consistent moderation scheme when each school's experience during this last year will have been so very, very different does provide real challenges for creating that moderation system, especially if there are pieces of work that have not been possible to complete in some schools. So, you could end up in a situation where you are comparing apples with pears rather than apples with apples. That's the challenge of designing a moderation system in the current climate, but we can take steps to mitigate against that, and that is what the design and delivery group will be aiming to work towards. With regard to WJEC assessments, this is a tool that will be available to schools. Some schools potentially will have lots and lots and lots of material on which to base a centre-determined grade. Other individual classes, teachers, schools perhaps would like some additional support and help, and rather than designing their own, they will be able to avail themselves of material that is quality assured, equalities assured, and has gone through all the processes that you would expect a WJEC assessment to go through. I believe that will offer a valuable opportunity for schools to avail themselves of, but clearly that is a matter for individual schools. But I think it is a valuable resource that the WJEC will make available, and can play an important part in helping teachers assess children and designate a grade. With regard to training, that is for individual teachers to identify the training needs within their individual workforce, and which individuals within their school perhaps are crucial in terms of operating the system, and additional training will be made available. What we have learnt - one of the very few silver linings of this entire pandemic - is that we have transformed the way that we have been able to deliver professional learning, and I am confident that we'll be in a position where those schools that want to or need to avail themselves of this additional support will be able to do so. The evaluation process of the school's procedures is an important part of creating that national approach and that equity and fairness. That's why we will be working initially on the assessment tools, and an assessment framework that will be a national framework, and it is then for schools to identify how they will utilise that framework within their individual setting, and for the WJEC to assure that. With regards to the appeals process, it's only right that, in the first instance, if a candidate is unhappy with the grade they have been designated, then that has to be an appeal to the people who designated the grade. It's simply impossible to make an appeal to the WJEC, who will not have played a part in designating that grade. But clearly, having the WJEC assure a school's processes, if a candidate feels that the school's processes have not been correctly applied, then it is perfectly appropriate in those instances that the WJEC would be responsible for the appeals process. Finally, with regard to AS-levels, the arguments that we rehearsed last year about how UCAS scores are designated in AS-levels, and how that translates into A-levels, still stand. In the absence of being able to run exams or, indeed, our initial procedures, we will revert to the policy that existed this year. All AS candidates will be designated a grade. That is important for those candidates who are deciding not to continue with that subject, but it's only fair that their learning to date for that qualification is awarded and, of course, many students feel that it is very, very valuable to have those grades when it comes to their UCAS application, but their A2 exams - and I hope, my goodness me, that we're in a position to run those examinations - that tier will be the basis on which their entire A-level will be awarded.
Welsh: Diolch, Suzy Davies, am eich cwestiynau a'ch cydnabyddiaeth o waith caled y grŵp dylunio a chyflawni, fel y dywedais, sy'n cynnwys prifathrawon a phenaethiaid colegau sydd wedi gweithio'n gyflym iawn i roi cyngor ac arweiniad. Rwy'n ddiolchgar eu bod wedi cytuno i barhau i wneud y gwaith hwnnw gydag aelodaeth estynedig nawr, wrth i ni symud i'r cam nesaf o weithredu'r penderfyniadau a wnaed. Yn gwbl briodol, mae Suzy yn tynnu sylw at heriau'r system graddau a bennir gan ganolfannau. Mae manteision ac anfanteision i bob dull asesu, a'r gorchwyl yw, ar ôl penderfynu ar fecanwaith asesu, sut y gallwch chi liniaru'r anfanteision. Mae sicrhau bod cynllun cymedroli cyson pan fydd profiad pob ysgol yn ystod y flwyddyn ddiwethaf wedi bod mor wahanol yn cynnig heriau gwirioneddol o ran creu'r system gymedroli honno, yn enwedig os oes darnau o waith na fu'n bosib eu cwblhau mewn rhai ysgolion. Felly, fe allech chi fod mewn sefyllfa lle yr ydych chi'n cymharu tebyg ac annhebyg yn hytrach na chymharu tebyg a thebyg. Dyna'r her o gynllunio system gymedroli yn yr hinsawdd sydd ohoni, ond fe allwn ni fynd ati i liniaru hynny, a dyna fydd y grŵp dylunio a chyflawni yn bwriadu gweithio tuag ato. O ran asesiadau CBAC, mae hwn yn offeryn a fydd ar gael i ysgolion. Mae'n bosib y bydd gan rai ysgolion lawer iawn o ddeunydd i seilio gradd a bennir gan ganolfannau arno. Efallai y byddai dosbarthiadau, athrawon, ysgolion eraill efallai yn hoffi rhywfaint o gymorth a help ychwanegol, ac yn hytrach na chynllunio eu rhai eu hunain, byddant yn gallu manteisio ar ddeunydd sydd wedi ei sicrhau o ran ansawdd, cydraddoldeb, ac sydd wedi mynd drwy'r holl brosesau y byddech yn disgwyl i asesiad CBAC fynd drwyddynt. Credaf y bydd hynny'n cynnig cyfle gwerthfawr i ysgolion fanteisio arno, ond mae'n amlwg mai mater i ysgolion unigol yw hynny. Ond rwy'n credu ei fod yn adnodd gwerthfawr y bydd CBAC yn ei ddarparu, a gall chwarae rhan bwysig wrth helpu athrawon i asesu plant a dynodi gradd. O ran hyfforddiant, mater i athrawon unigol yw nodi'r anghenion hyfforddi yn eu gweithlu unigol, a pha unigolion yn eu hysgol efallai sy'n hanfodol o ran gweithredu'r system, a bydd hyfforddiant ychwanegol ar gael. Yr hyn yr ydym ni wedi'i ddysgu - un o'r ychydig iawn o agweddau cadarnhaol yr holl bandemig hwn - yw ein bod ni wedi trawsnewid y ffordd yr ydym ni wedi gallu cyflawni dysgu proffesiynol, ac rwy'n ffyddiog y byddwn ni mewn sefyllfa lle bydd yr ysgolion hynny sydd eisiau manteisio ar y cymorth ychwanegol hwn neu y mae angen iddyn nhw fanteisio arno yn gallu gwneud hynny. Mae proses werthuso gweithdrefnau'r ysgol yn rhan bwysig o greu'r dull cenedlaethol hwnnw a'r cydraddoldeb a'r tegwch hwnnw. Dyna pam y byddwn yn gweithio i ddechrau ar yr offer asesu, a fframwaith asesu a fydd yn fframwaith cenedlaethol, ac yna mater i ysgolion yw penderfynu sut y byddant yn defnyddio'r fframwaith hwnnw yn eu lleoliad unigol, ac i CBAC sicrhau hynny. O ran y broses apelio, nid yw hi ond yn briodol, yn y lle cyntaf, os yw ymgeisydd yn anhapus â'r radd a roddwyd iddo, yna mae'n rhaid apelio i'r bobl a roddodd y radd. Mae'n amhosib apelio i CBAC, na fydd wedi chwarae rhan yn y gwaith o ddynodi'r radd honno. Ond yn amlwg, os yw CBAC yn sicrhau prosesau ysgol, os yw ymgeisydd yn teimlo nad yw prosesau'r ysgol wedi'u cymhwyso'n gywir, yna mae'n gwbl briodol yn yr achosion hynny mai CBAC fyddai'n gyfrifol am y broses apelio. Yn olaf, o ran Safon Uwch Gyfrannol, mae'r dadleuon a wnaethom ni y llynedd ynglŷn â sut y mae sgoriau UCAS wedi'u dynodi gyda Safon Uwch Gyfrannol, a sut mae hynny'n cyfateb i Safon Uwch, yn dal yn wir. Yn absenoldeb gallu cynnal arholiadau neu, yn wir, ein gweithdrefnau cychwynnol, byddwn yn dychwelyd at y polisi a fodolai eleni. Bydd pob ymgeisydd Uwch Gyfrannol yn cael gradd. Mae hynny'n bwysig i'r ymgeiswyr hynny sy'n penderfynu peidio â pharhau â'r pwnc hwnnw, ond nid yw hi ond yn deg y cydnabyddir eu dysgu hyd yma ar gyfer y cymhwyster hwnnw ac, wrth gwrs, mae llawer o fyfyrwyr yn teimlo ei bod yn werthfawr iawn cael y graddau hynny o ran eu cais UCAS, ond eu harholiadau A2 - a gobeithio, bobl bach, ein bod ni mewn sefyllfa i gynnal yr arholiadau hynny - yr haen honno fydd y sail ar gyfer dyfarnu eu Safon Uwch gyfan.