Ofqual publishes Consultation on Extraordinary Regulatory Framework to award qualifications in Summer 2020
Ofqual has today published plans for awarding vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) and general qualifications (other than GCSEs, AS and A levels) in 2020 to:
- provide a temporary extraordinary regulatory framework for qualifications that sets out how an awarding organisation (AO) should calculate results or adapt or delay assessments
- allow AOs to provide clarity to schools, colleges and training providers about what evidence they should gather and consider, and what evidence they will submit, where required to calculate a grade
- allow AOs to make clear which learners should receive a calculated result (and how it will be awarded), or be required to complete an assessment
- enable AOs to access, adapt, or build the systems needed to issue results this summer and adapt assessments where this is necessary.
Ofqual’s aim is “to deliver a process which is fair to learners and ensures they have grades which are as valued as those in any other year, so they can progress to the next stage of their lives without further disruption.”
Alongside these plans, Ofqual has published a consultation on our proposals for awarding other general, vocational and technical qualifications and is seeking views on the exceptional arrangements. The consultation is open to anyone, including centres.
The consultation closes on 8th May 2020.
Full news story available on gov.uk website
What’s next?
We are working with Ofqual on awarding approaches that can be applied to ensure that learners expecting results in the summer and who are intending to progress to further learning or employment can achieve the results they require. These approaches include:
- providing an estimated/calculated result
- adapting the assessment
- delaying assessment (e.g. for qualifications that confirm competence)
- no mitigation required.
Our expectation is that for the majority of qualifications, we will be able to apply an estimated result for learners registered before 20th March 2020 and who have not been able to fully complete their qualifications. We aim to confirm these approaches for individual qualifications shortly but must await the Regulator’s confirmation first. We will be in touch with all of our centres as soon as this is received.