Assessments could be reduced for vocational and technical qualifications in 2020-21, Ofqual announced this morning. 

In a position paper published today, entitled Vocational and technical qualifications and assessments 2020-21, the exams regulator sets out its plans on how to approach assessment in the next academic year. 

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Background: Ofqual confirms plan for technical qualifications

Ofqual said there were four key factors that had emerged from discussion with the sector that will “inform” the regulator’s approach:

• The potential for reducing the assessment burden across a range of qualifications 
  The document says: “In some qualifications, skills are subject to repeated assessment, and there may be the potential to reduce this, increasing available teaching time. Likewise, greater recognition of prior vocational and technical qualifications and assessments in 2020-21 learning may be possible.”
• Minimising reductions in VTQ content
  The document says that there is “little appetite” from the sector to reduce content - and that any changes to content would need to be considered carefully due to the risk of devaluing qualifications. It does say, however, that there may “be appetite for other changes such as reducing the number of optional routes through a qualification”.
• Enabling flexible assessment delivery
  Ofqual says that there is demand for flexibility around assessment delivery to assist centres in delivering assessments with social distancing in place and to help deal with the impact of any “localised disruption”. Options being considered are more assessment opportunities, increasing the availability of on-demand assessments or wider assessment windows, or maximising early assessment opportunities, so that these are “banked” and safeguard against potential further disruption.
• Making implementation manageable
  The document says: “Centres need time to prepare for delivery and to prepare learners for potentially different forms of assessment. This drives the calls for approaches that will make implementation more manageable: early clarity, and consistency across VTQ awarding organisations, as well as coordinated communications and arrangements.”

Coronavirus: Ofqual’s key principles for assessment

Ofqual has set out the 11 principles it will structure the approach to 2020-21 around. They are:

1. Learners taking VTQs should not be advantaged or disadvantaged against their peers taking general qualifications; this is particularly important where learners are competing for the same progression opportunities.
2. Assessments must secure that qualifications are a reliable indication of the knowledge, skills and understanding specified in the qualification and any required standards of practical competence must not be compromised.
3. Standards should be maintained in line with our statutory objective as far as is possible.
4. Qualification content should not, in general, be reduced and any content changes will need to be considered carefully. However, where awarding organisations can restructure the content so it can reasonably be streamlined, such as in relation to optional units, we should allow them some discretion to do that.
5. Assessment manageability should be managed, where this will allow for an increase in teaching time in order to minimise the impact on outcomes, noting that this needs to be carefully balanced with the need to ensure that qualifications remain sufficiently valid and reliable. 
6. Steps should be taken to maximise flexibility in how and how often assessments are delivered so as to reduce the impact of disruption, illness or quarantine, including at a local level.
7. Steps should be taken to increase resilience and safeguard against future disruption in 2020-21, including exploring opportunities presented by the inherent flexibility of the modular delivery modes of many vocational and technical qualifications so that learners can bank assessments as soon as they are ready.
8. Ofqual should seek to secure, as far as is possible, that awarding organisations act consistently, particularly when delivering similar qualifications. 
9. Clear guidance should be given to awarding organisations regarding how they should approach special consideration where learners miss or do not complete assessments, which they were preparing to take, due to factors outside of their control.
10. The amount of information that centres have to process should be limited by centralising communications or coordinating communications between awarding organisations as much as we can.
11. Other parties, including government, should be proactively supported in reducing disadvantage to learners where those risks cannot be addressed through the regulation of qualifications.

Three groupings 

Vocational and technical qualifications will be grouped into three categories by Ofqual when considering the arrangements for delivery next year - they differ from the categories used for delivering results this summer. 

The three grouping are on demand/roll-on, roll-off qualifications; competency qualifications; and qualifications used for educational progression. 

On-demand/roll-on roll-off qualifications 
The document says: “These qualifications and assessments are already delivered flexibly. As they are available when learners are ready to take them, it should be possible for assessment opportunities to be rearranged so that learners are able to take them and the awarding process can run as normal. This flexibility should accommodate further localised disruption. Additional flexibilities may also be possible and these may include remote invigilation or assessment adaptations to reduce assessment burden.”

Competency qualifications 
The document says: “For these qualifications, assessments directly evidence the required standards of practical competence which must not be compromised. These qualifications indicate what a person can do, or that they are job-ready, as well as being reliable indicators of knowledge, skills and understanding. It would not be appropriate for awarding organisations to alter the standard to be attained or increase risking the reliability of the assessment; likewise, they should not reduce the content of the qualifications, for that may prevent a learner from demonstrating their competence, unless that content is optional or duplicative. It would be appropriate for awarding organisations to review their approach to the assessment and to look to reduce assessment burden, particularly in lower-risk sectors.”

Qualifications used for educational progression
The document says: “This group of qualifications are those which serve the same purpose as GCSEs and A levels. So, it includes Applied Generals, Technical Awards that sit alongside GCSEs, and others which have similar purposes, and are funded by government. They are considered as a group to ensure there is a consistent approach to securing outcomes for these VTQs compared to GQ-Vocational and technical qualifications and assessments 2020-21 equivalents, which enables mitigation of the risk of disadvantage or advantage to VTQ learners against their peers undertaking GQs.”