Government announcements  and updates –
Covid-19

Ofqual have produced a guide for students on how GCSEs, A levels, vocational and technical qualifications will be graded and awarded in summer 2021.

View the guide

As you may be aware the direction from government for most areas is that teaching, learning and assessment should continue where it is safe to do so and we have put a number of arrangements in place to support this, including our adaptations and remote assessment offer. However, where exams and assessments cannot take place then the Teacher Assessed Grades process will be available.

Ofqual will be publishing the final version of the VTQ Contingency Regulatory Framework (VCRF) in the week commencing Monday 22 March. We will begin to share centre guidance that week on our alternative arrangement processes and timelines - alongside webinars to walk you through the guidance and answer any questions you may have. We will be posting updates here including further details on the categories of qualifications affected and the TAG submission process, so please look out for updates on these pages.

Today the Department of Education and Ofqual published the outcomes of their January consultation, and the new assessment arrangements for 2021.

We are here to support you with the new arrangements and offer support as you plan ahead.We appreciate that you will have many questions, and over the coming days and weeks we will be issuing a clear timetable of communications, support, webinars and resources so that we can work together to support learners this year.

We have a new web page below that provides more information in light of the DfE and Ofqual announcements today, which includes some initial details on the types of qualifications in scope, adaptations, results, appeals and the option of Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs).  

Please visit our webpage to find out more.

We communicated on 15 January that Gavin Williamson’s letter to Ofqual stated:

“…for all other VTQs with written exams scheduled in February and March (including BTECs and other qualifications included in performance tables) it is no longer viable for these exams to go ahead. Views on alternative arrangements for these qualifications should be sought in the consultation”.

This will have an impact on dated exams planned for City & Guilds Technical Qualifications and the proposals being that the Spring series exams will now NOT take place in March and April.

Affected exams can be viewed here on the Exams Timetable for the Spring series exams 2021:

We will continue to work on further guidance on Technical qualifications and will update you as soon as we are able.

For other qualifications that are able to proceed in Feb and March, (including Medical Terminology, Electrical Installations, Vet Nursing and Road Haulage) – please refer to our update here.

Update for Northern Ireland

The NI Economy Minister, Diane Dodds stated last Friday “Therefore, I want to provide clarity and certainty and have taken the decision to cancel all external vocational exams for the remainder of this year, including Essential Skills and BTECs and all other vocational exams scheduled for February / March, and the scheduled summer exam series.”

Therefore this will impact the dated exams planned for City & Guilds Technical Qualifications for both Spring and Summer series, and they will now NOT take place. Affected exams can be viewed here on the Exams Timetable for the Spring and Summer series exams 2021: note the Spring series see above and the Summer series runs from 2 June to 22 June 2021.

For other qualifications that are able to proceed in Feb and March, (including Medical Terminology, Electrical Installations, Vet Nursing and Road Haulage) – please refer to our update here.

We communicated on 15 January that further to Gavin Williamson’s letter to Ofqual, and proposals that February and March dated assessments were no longer viable and may not go ahead, some of our qualifications may be impacted.

We are now able to confirm that the following exams will go ahead;

February

5519-220, 330 and 5528-265 L2 and L3 Medical Terminology

March

2396-402 Level 4 Design, Construction Management and Initial Verification of Electrical Installations

3415-399 Level 3 Certificate of Professional Competence for Transport Managers (Road Haulage) (Written Case Study Exam)

7457-33 Level 3 Diploma in Small Animal Veterinary Nursing (400/600, 401/601, 402/602)

7457-43 Level 3 Diploma in Equine Veterinary Nursing (405/605, 406/606, 407/607)

Veterinary Nursing (7457) customers must ensure that only arrangements approved by City & Guilds are used for assessments, including Remote Invigilation for on-demand exams where prior approval must be sought before use. The option to take on-demand exams in the workplace is not permitted for Veterinary Nursing and must not be used.

It is not mandatory for these examinations to take place, but we are keen to continue to offer examination opportunities to any candidates who may be ready for assessment, particularly where achieving these qualifications impacts their progression and employment prospects. 

Where examinations do take place, it is important to note that they should only take place where:

• they can be delivered safely by centres and in line with public health information and guidance
• candidates feel that they have had sufficient teaching and learning and feel well prepared to take the exam
• candidates feel comfortable and safe taking the examination and are not putting themselves or others at risk.

We are currently drawing up more detailed guidance for all centres approved to offer these qualifications and will communicate again early next week. If it is not possible for examinations to take place or candidates are not able to do so, future dates are available and we will remind you of these in the communications we send to you. 

Please also note that this only relates to dated (fixed date) examinations, not on demand examinations such as ESOL and Functional Skills which can be scheduled to be taken on any date.

1. The joint consultation from DfE and Ofqual is now live and open for two weeks, closing at 11.45pm on 29 January 2021. It can be accessed here. Please take part and make your views heard.
2. Impact on scheduled dated exams in February, March and April

In Gavin Williamson’s letter to Ofqual it states that;

“…for all other VTQs with written exams scheduled in February and March (including BTECs and other qualifications included in performance tables) it is no longer viable for these exams to go ahead. Views on alternative arrangements for these qualifications should be sought in the consultation”.

This will have an impact on dated exams planned for City & Guilds Medical, Veterinary and Technical qualifications, the proposals being that these will not now take place in February, March and April. We will contact centres affected directly with further information in due course.

Ofqual’s consultation on alternative arrangements for the award of VTQs and other general qualifications is now live. We will communicate any alternative arrangements which are agreed as a result of the consultation as soon as we are able.

This is the current known position at this time. We are aware of the concern that this is causing centres and learners, and will be issuing communications as soon as we know the outcomes of the consultation. Thank you for your patience at this time.

Letter from Gavin Williamson to Simon Lebus

Simon Lebus responds to the Secretary of State’s letter of 13 January 2021

Both letters reference an imminent consultation that will be open for the duration of two weeks. The consultation is now live and available. City & Guilds will be responding to this and encouraging providers to contribute directly to the consultation.

Since the Government introduced a national lockdown, the DfE and Ofqual have published statements regarding vocational education and exams that can be accessed below.

Both updates emphasise the intention to keep learning and assessment going during the lockdown period, where it is safe to do so. The DfE updated their guidance on 5th January to give schools and colleges the choice to offer students vocational exams, should schools and colleges judge it right to do so. The full DfE guidance can be accessed here.

Simon Lebus, Interim Chief Regulator at Ofqual, published a message yesterday to provide an update on the latest position, urging students to continue to engage with their learning as best they can whilst educational establishments are closed. You can read the message here.

We will continue to work with Ofqual and Government to ensure that we can support learners and providers during the lockdown period, so that no learners are disadvantaged. Both City & Guilds and ILM run assessments throughout the year and have wide ranging adaptations in place to enable most of them to continue throughout the Covid19 pandemic and lockdowns.  In relation to our Spring and Summer exams series, we are working with our regulators and government departments on how to proceed and will communicate with all of our centres and customers as soon as possible.