Summer 2020 Awarding Guidance - ncfe.org.uk · summer as possible, and in order to minimise the burden on ourselves, centres and learners, delaying or re-scheduling assessments should

Summer 2020 Awarding Guidance Version 7 29 June 2020

Printed versions are not subject to version control. Please see website for most up-to-date version.

2

Important message – Centre Assessed Grade submission The extended deadline for submitting Centre Assessed Grades (CAGs) for your learners has now

passed (midday on 24 June). You are still able to submit grades for your learners, using the guidance documents below, and your learners will receive a calculated result. We will do

everything we can to support your learners in this process but must draw your attention to our previous communication which stated that any data received after the extended deadline would not be subject to a guarantee of a result being issued by the published results release date. If you have

any further queries, please contact us. Call 0191 239 8000 Email [email protected] Live chat www.ncfe.org.uk

Contents Page Vocational and Technical Qualifications (VTQ) summer 2020 Awarding Guidance ..... 3

Bite-sized summary ...................................................................................................... 4

Key guiding principles for ‘Estimation’ .......................................................................... 6

Outline Estimation process ........................................................................................... 8

Preparation ............................................................................................................... 8

Step 1: Estimation ..................................................................................................... 9

Rank order .............................................................................................................. 10

Mid-flight learners ................................................................................................... 10

Centre Assessment Grade (CAG) for incomplete components............................... 11

Work generated after 20 March .............................................................................. 13

Role of the Head of Centre ..................................................................................... 13

Guidance for Heads of Centre, Heads of Department and teachers on objectivity in grading and ranking ................................................................................................ 14

Performance Points Qualifications .......................................................................... 15

Work Placements .................................................................................................... 16

Calculate qualifications with adapted work placements .......................................... 16

Adapted assessments with external assessment ................................................... 17

Direct Claims Status (DCS) .................................................................................... 17

Step 2: Quality Assurance .......................................................................................... 17

Step 3: Overall check on qualification level outcomes ................................................ 18

Adaptation .................................................................................................................. 19

General requirements in relation to adaptations ..................................................... 19

Delays ........................................................................................................................ 20

Autumn assessment opportunities ............................................................................. 20

Results days ............................................................................................................... 21

Appendix .................................................................................................................... 22

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ncfe.org.uk/

3





Vocational and Technical Qualifications (VTQ) summer 2020 Awarding Guidance

Please note that the information provided within this guidance document is correct as of 15 May 2020, but is subject to review following the outcome of the Ofqual consultation on ‘Exceptional arrangements for assessment and grading in 2020’. We will update the guidance on a regular basis when we have further details to share. We will also keep you updated through our weekly email bulletin with all of the latest information and advice to best support your planning and preparations.

Please note: This guidance document outlines the process for all NCFE VTQ qualifications. Whilst Functional Skills qualifications are within the VTQ scope and share a lot of the processes outlined in this document, due to the common standards, Awarding Organisations have worked collaboratively to produce Functional Skills specific guidance. Please see our website for the most up to date version of our Functional Skills Guidance document.

The Secretary of State has set out guidance for which qualifications will be included in these exceptional arrangements this summer. We are continuing conversations regarding those not currently in scope and will communicate more information in the coming weeks.



4





Bite-sized summary Estimation

Where the principal mitigation is the issue of calculated results, you will need to provide one or more of the following:

• a Centre Assessment Grades (CAG) (submitted for all learners who were expected

to have completed a component of assessment between the 20 March and 31 July

2020)

• a rank order of learners (to use as part of the quality assurance for numerically

marked graded exam components only).

Preparation

• All learners (who would have been registered to complete assessments by 31 July

2020) must have been registered by 24 June 2020.

• Internal assessments marked and IQA (graded) and ungraded assessments must be

submitted alongside on the portal as normal by 24 June 2020.

• Incomplete internal or external assessments to be submitted as CAGs by 24 June

2020.

Mid-flight learners We will accept a CAG for mid-flight learners. This should only be submitted for internally and externally assessed components that would have been completed before 31 July 2020.

Technical Awards (V Certs) DfE guidance stipulates that learners are only allowed a maximum of 2 attempts at the external assessed component, therefore any learners who have already undertaken 2 attempts will not be eligible for a calculated result. Year 9, 10 and 11 learners who were expecting to complete assessments between 20 March and the 31 July 2020 will be eligible learners for a calculated result and a CAG should be submitted for the external assessment during before the 24 June 2020.



5





Work placements Where placement hours are required for assessment within the unit, the centre should provide a CAG. Where the work placement is a requirement of the qualification and not directly assessed in a unit, placement hours should still be documented clearly as required. This will not be required to be submitted, but should be retained for any future quality assurance purposes. If the candidate has not reached the level of competency required, then further placement will need to be scheduled at a later date and therefore completion of the qualification will be delayed.

Adapted assessments with external assessment Where qualifications have been assigned a principal mitigation of ‘adaptation’, but contain externally assessed components centres should provide a CAG for any externally assessment component before the 24 June 2020.

Adaptions It may not be possible to issue calculated results for some vocational and technical qualifications because such results cannot be awarded reliably or safely. For eligible learners for an adapted assessment, centres should look to submit final claims for External Quality Assurance by 31 July 2020.

Results days We expect the results of our qualifications which will have a calculated result to be awarded no later than A Levels and GCSEs – that’s 13 and 20 August respectively. We will process all results as quickly as possible in order to support progression.



6





Key guiding principles for ‘Estimation’ VTQs offer both diversity and complexity and any attempts to specify a detailed framework for each possible permutation of features would be overly complex and prone to failure. Even within qualifications of apparently the same ‘type’ there is still some diversity. Ofqual and Awarding Organisations (AOs) have agreed that a more appropriate way forward is to use a ‘principles-based’ approach, one which maximises the most trusted evidence and fits an overall ‘estimation blueprint’. With that in mind, this document has been produced to give you as much information as possible about the upcoming process of estimating learners’ results at a high level. We aim to give as much appropriate information to guide your thinking at this stage, but you should be aware that specific approaches for each qualification have not yet been approved and we are keen not to provide any information to you which may be subject to change.



7





Estimation – three elements – ‘the blueprint’ The final solution for all qualifications will follow the basic structure outlined below. 1. Centre Assessment Grades (CAG/s) and/or a calculated grade (determined by the AO)

based on results they already hold for the learner.

2. Quality assurance of the overall calculated result: I. For Teacher estimation – comparison to historic centre outcomes, entries and certification data; recalibration/challenge. II. For AO calculation – evaluation of the model for calculating grades.

3. Overall check on qualification level outcomes

I. Comparison to historic centre and qualification data, to ensure overall qualification attainment is broadly in line with previous years. This may involve further queries with centres if necessary.



8





Outline Estimation process

Preparation

Where the principal mitigation for qualifications is the issue of calculated results, you should ensure eligible learners are registered by the 24 June 2020. After 24 June, we will not include new registrations or CAGs as the process will be closed. So up until that point centres can register and submit a CAG. You must ensure that all learners who have not yet been registered for a qualification but who would have been registered to take the qualification this summer and complete the assessment by the 31 July 2020 are registered in the normal way. Please refer to our Registrations Guidance. It is expected that you will have evidence to prove that the learners would have been ready for assessment and this may be checked as part of our quality assurance process. Graded units Where you have completed units (eg units that have been assessed and internally quality assured for graded qualifications) you should submit these on the portal in the normal way by 24 June 2020. Where you have incomplete units (eg unfinished/started units or units that have not been assessed and internally quality assured) or incomplete external assessments for graded qualifications, then you should submit a Centre Assessment Grade (CAG) for incomplete units through the portal, although you will be asked to do this using the COVID-19 process signposted in the portal by 24 June 2020. Ungraded units Where centres are submitting a mixture of completed units and incomplete units, you should submit a Centre Assessment Grade (CAG) for all units through the CAG portal by 24 June 2020. In the evidence declaration, centres should confirm which units are completed and which are incomplete. This is because a partial certificate claim will be triggered in instances where not all of the units to achieve the qualification are submitted through the normal portal process. More detail on CAGs is provided throughout this guidance document and we’ve created the following table* to support. *Please note this table only refers to CAG submissions

and does not apply to qualifications with a sole primary mitigation of adaption.

Unit status CAG Portal screen Normal Portal screen

All units ungraded complete

All units ungraded incomplete

Mix of incomplete/complete ungraded

Graded incomplete

Graded complete

Mix of complete and incomplete graded Incomplete only Completed only

V Cert model 4 synoptic project Incomplete only Completed and IQA

Ungraded adapt unit (eg placement hours) Incomplete and complete

units



9





Step 1: Estimation

Where the principal mitigation is the issue of calculated results, this will draw on a range of different types of evidence, and this may vary depending upon the qualification. We will consider what evidence is available and develop the most appropriate approach for each qualification.

You should provide ‘assessment grades’ you believe a learner would most likely have achieved if teaching and learning had continued as planned for the remaining incomplete components of the qualification (both internal and external).

Centres should log in to the portal as normal and will be asked to provide an estimated CAG for any remaining qualification components between the 1 and 24 June 2020 – the date by which all evidence contributing towards the calculation of a result must have been submitted. We will be asking you to provide one or more of the following:

a Centre Assessment Grade (CAG)

a rank order of learners, to use as part of the quality assurance. (for numerically

marked exam components only – see the appendix for the full list of qualifications

this applies to).

A CAG is generated by the centre and is the judgement about the grade that each learner is most likely to have achieved had they been able to complete their assessments in summer 2020. We will generally be asking for a CAG at component (unit) level and NCFE will calculate the overall qualification grade based on the evidence submitted. A CAG should be submitted for all learners who were expected to have completed a component of assessment between the 20 March and 31 July 2020. This may include;

learners who have not previously attempted an assessment

learners who have a banked result for the component but would have been booked

for a resit in the 2019-20 academic year

learners who have not yet completed an internal assessment but would have

completed the assessment or unit(s) during the time frame.

If you were expecting a learner to attempt the assessment but not achieve a grade, you should submit a grade of NYA for these learners. You will need to consider that, where the learner has a banked result on an externally-assessed component, a CAG should only be submitted if the learner would genuinely have been entered for a re-sit. In addition, CAGs submitted as re-sits on externally-assessed components will be checked against re-sit rates at both centre and national level to ensure they are appropriate. Where the final exam of the 2019-20 academic year was not cancelled, or was cancelled after the entry cut-off date, CAGs will only be accepted for learners who were entered to sit the exam and were unable to do so.



10





Rank order

Where you are intending to submit a CAG for numerically-marked externally-assessed graded components, we will also need a rank order of all learners for that component. This rank order must include all learners completing this summer (including those with a final banked exam result, who are not expecting to resit) as well as any mid-flight learners with a CAG submitted for that component. This means you will need to provide a rank order for the full cohort of learners who were expecting to sit the exam and where they have a banked result and not expecting to resit. Please watch our video on rank ordering, which explains this in more detail. Each learner’s position in the rank order should be represented by a numerical value, with 1 being the learner who expected to achieve the best result for this component, 2 being the learner who expected to achieve the second best result, etc. Each learner should have a distinct position in the rank order, with no numeric values repeated. Where an exam is shared across qualifications (level 1 and level 2 in the same subject, for example), the rank order should reflect the position of each learner across the combined cohort. A list of components for which a rank order will be required are included in the appendix. This appendix also confirms where exams are shared across qualifications. This rank order will allow us to ensure that learners not only receive an appropriate grade for the component, but also achieve a result that represents their position within that grade, which may have a material impact on their overall result. This is also important for re-sit learners as the position within the grade may have improved had the learner had the opportunity to re-sit. We’ve created a few short videos to support you with ‘rank ordering’ and the ‘process of submitting CAGs in the portal’, which are available on our COVID-19 webpages.

Mid-flight learners

As part of the estimation process, we will ask you to confirm which learners are completing and which learners are mid-flight. As part of the estimation process, we will accept a CAG for mid-flight learners (ie those who are not intending to certificate this summer but would have completed assessments had centres remained open). A CAG for mid-flight learners should only be submitted for;

internally-assessed components that would have been completed had centres

remained open as normal and would have been completed before the 31 July 2020

externally assessed components which would have been attempted had centres

remained open as normal and would have been completed before the 31 July 2020.

Wherever possible, we will quality assure CAGs for externally-assessed components for mid-flight learners as part of this summer’s estimation activity. However, CAGs for internally-assessed components will not be quality assured and confirmed until learners are certificated. Where a CAG has been submitted for an internally-assessed component but it is subsequently assessed normally after centres re-open, this should be submitted in the normal way.



https://youtu.be/2NBruOtSX4I

https://youtu.be/2NBruOtSX4I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBW_GBQHwzo&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBW_GBQHwzo&feature=youtu.be

https://www.ncfe.org.uk/coronavirus-information-and-advice-for-customers-and-learners

11





It should be noted where a CAG is submitted for an externally-assessed component and confirmed as part of this summer’s estimation activity, it will count as an attempt of the assessment and may be considered as such in determining eligibility for further attempts. For numerically-marked externally-assessed components, learners should be included in the same rank order as completing learners, as described above. Learners who will be completing this year but will not have accrued sufficient units (including CAGs) to achieve a full certificate will be treated as mid-flight learners for the purpose of estimation. You will be in a position to claim partial certificates for these learners at some point following results being released. As part of the portal process, as well as any CAG submissions, you will also need to define the status of the learner as follows:

full certificate

mid-flight

partial claim.

For full instructions on how to do this, please refer to the Guide to submitting Centre Assessed Grades in 2020 on our website.

Where you have learners who require a full or partial claim but the grades have not been signed off by NCFE in order to achieve this, please ensure these learners are identified as full or partial learners as part of the portal process. You do not need to submit CAGs for these learners but they will need to be included in our estimation process in absence of normal EQA activities and therefore you will need to log into the CAG portal to define the learner status.

Sharing CAGs with learners We recommend you do not share your CAG with learners, their family, or anyone else, even within your own centre, who is not required to be involved in this process. This is protect the integrity and validity of the CAG process, to ensure impartiality as results will not be fully confirmed until our results released dates.

Centre Assessment Grade (CAG) for incomplete components

This professional judgement is to be derived from:

outcomes from previous/banked assessment attempts (where appropriate), eg previously completed internal and external assessment

evidence held within the centre (learner work or evidence of learner work) and which has been reviewed by subject Teachers/Tutors/Assessors and relevant Heads of Department

mock/practice assessment results

knowledge of working with individual learners

any other learner work towards the qualification (ie work they have undertaken in class or at home)

activity that has occurred within your centre to enable you to make this decision, eg how long you have been running the qualification and how familiar you are with the content and assessment requirements




12





IQA process you have carried out on this evidence, eg sampling, standardisation, etc

any differences in learner volumes higher/lower or any differences in grades compared to previous cohorts

any special considerations you have applied to ensure your learners receive the grade they would have, if given the opportunity to complete the assessment under normal circumstances.

We want you to consider each learner’s performance over the course of study and make a realistic judgement of the grade each learner would have been most likely to receive if they had completed the relevant component(s) or qualification. In some cases this may be a NYA (Not Yet Achieved) or fail. You should not provide a CAG where there is no evidence upon which to base one. While we aim to provide results to as many learners as possible, in cases where there is not sufficient evidence to support an estimated grade for a learner, this would not be accepted by NCFE. We will not routinely be asking centres to supply us with the evidence they have used in making their decisions. However, centres must retain all relevant evidence; this will support the quality assurance process and may be subject to audit by NCFE at a later date. The retention period will be fully outlined in subsequent guidance. For external assessments, we will allow centres to provide a CAG where a learner already has a banked result for the component but would have been entered for a re-sit and would have been expected to improve on the banked result. However, centres should only submit estimated grades for re-sits where the learner has available re-sits and where learners would have genuinely been entered to re-sit an exam. Where necessary, NCFE will carry out checks against centre and national re-sit rates to ensure than volumes of re-sits are reasonable. Ofqual has produced a detailed guidance document for centres on ensuring objectivity in CAGs. Where centres are able to deliver our qualifications to learners as normal, we will not prevent this. We consider that prevention could have unintended consequences and would undermine the aim of securing results for as many learners as possible this summer. We do not, however, consider that there will be many examples where this will be possible. Delivery should only be conducted in line with government guidelines and should not compromise the health and safety of centre staff or learners. If you are in a situation where;

you have been able to continue to deliver our qualifications as normal, eg you are a distance learning provider

you have been able to adapt your way of working within the government guidance, and provided that this does not compromise the validity of the assessments (ie completing controlled assessment work at home under no supervision)

you have completed learners and were ready for an EQA review prior to the suspension of all EQA activity an EQA review should take place, so please contact your EQA to arrange this.

To protect the safety of our EQAs, all information must be sent electronically via our secure file share platform, we will not be accepting any paper-based documents. Your EQA will



https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/886921/Guidance_on_objectivity_in_grading_and_ranking_21MAY2020.pdf


13





provide guidance on how to upload your work once the review has been booked and may need to contact you should they require any further information in order to complete their report. Please note some of our EQAs are on furlough leave which may result in the temporary allocation of a different EQA to your centre and some delays to our normal service level agreements. If you find that your allocated EQA has been furloughed and you haven’t been allocated a replacement, please email [email protected].

Work generated after 20 March

Given the disruption to education caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19), we do not expect you to use evidence generated after centres closed on 20 March for the purposes of determining a CAG for a VTQ, and no learner should be disadvantaged if they are unable to complete any work set after that date. This is in line with government expectations for determining a CAG for GCSEs and A levels. However, we recognise that there may be some exceptions where we may need additional information, generated after 20 March, to secure sufficient evidence to provide a result. There may also be circumstances where teaching, learning or internal assessment has been able to continue, and resulting work could provide good evidence for CAGs and allow a more valid award. We may want to use this, particularly where it does not make sense for any such work to be wasted. However, we are only likely to do so where any such work can be authenticated and considered in a consistent manner that improves rather than compromises wider validity, comparability and fairness of judgements. Where additional work has been completed after 20 March, centres should exercise caution where that evidence suggests a change in performance. In many cases this is likely to reflect the circumstances and context in which the work is done. As part of the portal submission of evidence, centre staff will be required to complete an evidence declaration per qualification to confirm the data is correct, and that key considerations have been made to ensure both equality and accuracy. In addition, centres will be required to complete a Head of Centre Evidence Declaration. Further information on this is included in the next section.

Role of the Head of Centre

The estimation process for qualifications must be overseen and signed off by the Head of Centre. The Head of Centre’s responsibilities are to ensure: only suitably-qualified and experienced staff who have taught the learner whose

component results are being estimated are involved in estimating that learner’s results

all of those who are estimating results are briefed on the process as outlined in this document and are familiar with the requirements of this document and associated materials to support the process




14





that there is sufficient valid evidence available to support the process before any results

are estimated

that as far as possible, where more than one member of staff is involved in teaching an individual learner for any component that these members of staff work together to agree an estimated result

where more than one member of staff are responsible for teaching any component that these staff work together to standardise their judgements in the way described below.

The Head of Centre will need to consider that where the following applies, adaptation or delay may need to be considered:

no suitably qualified member of staff is available who has taught any learner whose component result is being estimated

no evidence is available to support judgement of an estimated result for any learner.

Results must not be estimated and submitted based on judgements made by staff other than those who have taught the learner the subject for which the result is estimated. Results must not be estimated and submitted where there is no valid evidence on which to base the judgement. Once the process of estimation has been completed, the Head of Centre will do a final sign off for all cohorts of learners in a single declaration, whose results they plan to estimate. Sign off is in the form of a declaration that the process has been followed in full and will form part of the portal submission. The declaration includes:

for all learners, confirmation that:

for all components where an estimated result is submitted, only suitably-qualified staff with experience of teaching that component to the learner provided an estimated result

at least one piece of valid evidence per learner was used to support judgement

In cases where there is little or no banked unit data, CAGs are not possible and/or there is little opportunity or evidence to support the generation of CAGs or to support the quality assurance process, we may determine that this is below the minimum evidential threshold. In these cases we expect it will not be possible to calculate a result and that learners affected will be offered an adapted assessment wherever possible, or will have to wait until assessments can be rescheduled. Whilst conducting our quality assurance checks on centre assessed grades, we may need to contact Head of Centres for further information. Please ensure you are available to respond to any queries up until 20 August. If you are unavailable please contact [email protected] with details of alternative contact details. If we are unable to contact the Head of Centre or nominated contact this may result in a delay to your results.

Guidance for Heads of Centre, Heads of Department and teachers on objectivity in grading and ranking

You may find this link helpful for guidance in providing centre assessment grades, especially in terms of meeting responsibilities in relation to equalities.




https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/885337/Guidance_on_objectivity_in_grading_and_ranking_15MAY2020.pdf

15





Performance Points Qualifications

Technical Awards (V Certs) and Technical Certificates The Department for Education (DfE) technical guidance stipulates that learners are only allowed a maximum of two attempts at the external assessed component for these qualifications. Therefore, any learners who have already undertaken two attempts will not be eligible for a calculated result for the externally assessed component. Learners who have undertaken one attempt or less will be eligible for a calculated result. Year 9, 10 and 11 learners who were expecting to complete assessments between 20 March and the 31 July 2020 will be eligible for a calculated result. If a learner has had no attempts or one attempt at external assessment (learners expecting to sit their first attempt or second attempt this summer) will be expected to submit a CAG for the external assessment during the 1 to 24 June 2020 window. Model 4 V Certs (combined L1/2): we understand some centres may have synoptic projects or internal assessments ready for EQA. However, as no standardisation can be undertaken by our EQA team given the current circumstances, we are asking all centres delivering V Certs to submit completed internal assessments that have been through IQA on the portal as normal, alongside CAGs during the 1 to 24 June 2020 window. Any incomplete internally assessed components such as synoptic projects or internal assessments, should be submitted as a CAG during the same window. Please provide any relevant information about IQA activity that has been completed in the relevant evidence declaration. Model 2 or 3 V Certs (separate L1 and L2): will follow the same process as above for incomplete units / external assessment. However, if centres have completed all units and external assessment, then EQA can take place as normal as no standardisation is required for older model V Certs. You can refer to which model the V Cert is, in our V Cert models explained guide on our website. We’ve now created a dedicated V Cert webpage in our COVID-19 webpages to support with further detail on the different approaches to take for V Cert qualifications as part of the estimation process.

Applied Generals and Tech Levels The Department for Education technical guidance also stipulates that learners are only allowed a maximum of two attempts at the external assessed component, however, in the last academic session and this academic session they were allowed a third attempt as a ‘safety net’ for those learners who narrowly miss a pass on one or more externally assessed units. This was because of concerns that learners taking the more challenging new style qualifications this summer may be disadvantaged compared with those taking versions of the qualifications that do not; or no longer meet the requirements for inclusion in performance tables (known as ‘pre-existing’ qualifications). Therefore any learners who’ve already taken up to a maximum of 2 attempts at the externally assessment components will be eligible for a calculated result who were expecting to complete assessments before the 31 July 2020. We haven’t had any further updates to this ‘safety net’ rule from the DfE, but we aim to keep this under review in line with any subsequent government guidance published.





https://www.ncfe.org.uk/coronavirus-information-and-advice-for-customers-and-learners/v-cert-specific-information-estimation

16





Work Placements

Where the situation arises for qualifications that have a principal mitigation of a ‘calculated result’, but also have an element of work placement, then you should follow the guidance contained within this document for estimation for a calculated result and then follow the guidance below for the work placement element. Where placement hours are required for assessment within the unit, the centre should provide a CAG. Where placement hours are a condition required to achieve the qualification and sit outside of assessment within any unit components, then you should follow the following guidance. Placement hours should still be documented clearly as required, but the focus is not on the hours or percentage, it is around the judgement of competency for the learner over the time of study at the relevant level. All learners must have been observed by their assessor before they can be certificated to support clear judgements of competency met. In all cases, the expectation is that all criteria within these units should be referenced to evidence which has been assessed. Where a small number of assessment criteria do not have evidence as expected – then alternative methods eg Q&A, Professional Discussion, Expert Witness Testimonies (EWT) and reflective accounts may be used to fill the gaps. In these circumstances the EWT may describe an event which is retrospective as long as the event took place during the learner’s registration period. If the learner has not reached the level of competency required, then further placement will need to be scheduled at a later date and therefore completion of qualification will be delayed. Placement hour documentation and evidence to confirm units completed and competency met will not be required to be submitted, but should be retained for any future quality assurance purposes. We have created a separate section in the adaptions guidance documents that highlights qualifications with the primary mitigation of ‘calculate’ but may also have a secondary mitigation of ‘adaption’ for the work placement element. In line with this guidance, you should also refer to this guidance for specific detail on permitted adaptions for each qualification in which this may be present.

Calculate qualifications with adapted work placements

For qualifications that are calculated, but have work placements that can be adapted, you should follow this guidance:

for graded units you don't submit CAGs for these, you submit the completed unit on

the portal as normal before 31 July 2020. The adapted evidence for this will then be

externally quality assured.

for ungraded units, you will need to submit these as a CAG in the CAG portal before

the 24 June 2020 for a grade you expect the learner to achieve. Our EQA team will be

in touch to arrange remote EQA of the ungraded work placement unit. The adapted

work placement unit will need to be completed before 31 July 2020. If you have DCS,

this will be reviewed in the following year.



17





Adapted assessments with external assessment

Where qualifications have been assigned a principal mitigation of ‘adaptation’, but contain externally assessed components, centres should provide a CAG for any externally assessment component during the 1 to 24 June 2020 window. This will ensure that learners who would have expected to undertake these assessments between 20 March and 31 July will received a ‘calculated result’ for the externally assessed components only. Please note, when logging onto the CAG portal you will see all units available within the qualification, however you are only required to submit a CAG for the externally assessed unit(s). The permitted adaptations will apply to the internally assessment components and will be expected to be submitted before 31 July 2020. We are working on the principle that wherever possible IQA activity should continue to take place as normal. Where this is problematic due to the individual circumstances of your centre, please speak to your EQA. Please see further information in the Adaptations section of this guidance document.

Direct Claims Status (DCS)

If you have achieved or maintained DCS which has lapsed or is due to lapse between 23 March 2020 and 25 September 2020 as a result of not being able to accommodate an EQA review, we’ll apply a DCS extension to allow you to claim certificates up until 25 September 2020. Please note this will not apply to centres where their reliability of assessment has been graded C or D, where evidence of malpractice or maladministration has been identified or for licence to practice qualifications. During your next EQA review it’s vital that all learner portfolios that have been certificated via DCS must be made available for the EQA to choose their sample. Your EQA will inform you which learners they want to sample prior to your review. If at any point during the EQA review evidence isn’t deemed appropriate, we may need to invalidate certificates and apply appropriate sanctions.

Step 2: Quality Assurance We will then quality assure CAGs which are submitted to us and/or AO calculated grades. To generate calculated results, and as part of the quality assurance process, we may also draw on evidence we already hold, including:

banked component marks or grades for completed component assessments – including external assessments as well as internal assessments where the marks/grades have already been through the normal moderation or verification process

data about how your qualifications work, for example, whether performance on one component is predictive of performance on another component



18





data and information about each centre, for example, your historical performance

qualification outcomes, risk profiles, centre visit information, direct claims status and records of any investigations.

The quality assurance process and the overall check on outcomes are both important parts of the process, because they ensure that the results awarded will be fair and reliable. So, we will ensure that we use at least one source of trusted evidence along with a sufficiently robust basis for quality assurance. More detail can be found on pages 24 and 25 of Ofqual’s Consultation Document of what Ofqual consider to be the most reliable evidence. In cases where there is little or no banked component data, or where CAGs are not possible, and/or there is little opportunity or evidence to support the generation of CAGs or the quality assurance process, we may determine that this is below the minimum evidential threshold. In these cases we expect it will not be possible to calculate a result. Our expectation is that in these circumstances, learners affected will be offered an adapted assessment wherever possible, or will have to wait until assessments can be rescheduled. Where NCFE identify any concerns with a centre’s submission for any reason. The submission would then be queried with the centre to discuss; what our concerns are, ask for supporting evidence to be supplied to us, or request an amendment to the submitted information. Once we have performed our internal checks we may need to contact you to collect more evidence to validate your estimations and you should be prepared to provide this information. We may also request information on your centre’s management and information systems, internal resources, assessment and internal quality assurance processes. When making decisions about estimated grades you should consider the evidence below. You must also consider learners with special considerations and ensure that the grade submitted is reflective of any special arrangements that would have been put in place. It is your responsibility to also ensure that, no unconscious bias has been introduced to the process which may disadvantage learners who have protected characteristics. It is important you retain information on how you arrived at your calculated grade as this may be requested during our quality assurance checks. The more information you can provide to justify your marks will enable us to sufficiently verify your decisions. Please note that although you will not be asked to submit any learner evidence to support your calculated results, this must be retained at your centre and may be subject to future quality assurance activity. If the query is resolved to our satisfaction we would then approve the submission, or return for further query, before results move to the final stage of checks. If a query cannot be resolved then NCFE would not be able to release results for the centre/learner in question.

Step 3: Overall check on qualification level outcomes A final, overall check on outcomes will take place to check the overall results profile, prior to issuing results, against previous years and other data to make sure that is in line with expectations, at an AO level.



https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/881008/Exceptional_arrangements_for_assessment_and_grading_in_2020.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/881008/Exceptional_arrangements_for_assessment_and_grading_in_2020.pdf

19





Adaptation It may not be possible to issue calculated results for some vocational and technical qualifications because such results cannot be awarded reliably or safely. This is likely to be the case for some qualifications that are used to signal occupational competence, and where such competence cannot be evidenced using the usual, expected methods at present. Where this is the case, we will consider whether we are able to suitably and manageably adapt our assessments and related processes in order that learners might complete their qualifications. For some qualifications, a calculated result approach would not be suitable, in particular those that are designed to signal occupational or professional or regulated competence (including licence to practise). Providing a result that signals competency that has not been evidenced to the usual expected standards creates risks, including those relating to health and safety. It could mean that a learner does not possess the skills required by the role to which the qualification relates, or does not meet the standards set by professional bodies or in regulations. There might also be cases where it is not possible to generate a CAG. In these cases, the principal mitigation is for us to adapt their assessments. A list of qualifications whereby adaptations are permitted has been published by NCFE on our website. The specific detail to support what adaptations are permitted and not permitted will be available in subsequent guidance.

General requirements in relation to adaptations There are a number of ways in which we may make changes to a VTQ to maximise the number of learners that receive results this spring and summer. These include: 1. changing the way in which assessments are delivered, for example, by using an online

rather than paper-based test, or carrying out an assessment remotely rather than face-to-face

2. adapting assessment methods, for example, by using a practical simulation in place of an observation, or professional discussion in place of a practical demonstration

3. changing invigilation requirements, for example, by allowing the use of online invigilation so that assessments can take place in a wider range of settings

4. waiving or adjusting work experience or placement requirements, for example, allowing learners to undertake a shorter period of work experience

5. changing the way in which a qualification is quality assured, for example, by allowing for standardisation or external quality assurance to take place remotely or online.

We will give due regard to any specific requirements put in place by professional and sector bodies when making judgements about adaptations. We will ensure, as far as possible, that any adaptations minimise any disadvantage to learners with special education needs or a protected characteristic. However, where we can offer an adapted assessment but only in a way that, despite our best efforts, does disadvantage some learners, we will still offer the adapted assessment. We think that this is in line with the overall aim of the government’s policy of ensuring that as many learners as possible are provided with results. In making provisions for adaptations, NCFE will take all reasonable steps to minimise risks to validity by ensuring that coverage of the key areas of the construct of the qualification is



20





retained within any adapted assessment. In doing so, we will act within the limits of our capacity and capability. Where we do not reasonably consider that any adaptations we make will result in an assessment that provides valid and reliable results, we will not seek to provide such an assessment. We will instead delay the provision of assessments until a specified date. Where qualifications have a principal mitigation for an adapted assessment, but include externally assessment components, whereby these would have taken place between 20 March and the 31 July 2020, then centres should follow the estimation process to submit a CAG for the externally assessment component only during the 1 to 24 June 2020. Please refer to earlier guidance in this document for the process of submitting a CAG. The remaining internally assessed components should follow the adaptation guidance provided. For eligible learners for an adapted assessment, centres should look to submit final claims for External Quality Assurance by the 31 July 2020.* We are working on the principle that wherever possible IQA activity should continue to take place as normal. Where this is problematic due to your centre’s individual circumstances, please speak to your EQA. Please note that the results released dates of 13 and 20 August are solely for qualifications, which will have a calculated result and not for qualifications with adapted assessments. We will process all results as quickly as possible in order to support progression. *We’ve received some queries around the 31 July deadline for adapted assessments, with some extension requests. The reason for 31 July deadline is to enable us to release our results in line with Centre Assessed Grades (CAGs), supporting learners to move on as planned to the next stage of their

lives from September 2020. However if you’re unable to meet this deadline and do not require results in

the 13-20 August window for your learners’ progression, we can still accept adaptations to assessments after the deadline (31 July) and results will be issued (following EQA sign off) but without

a guaranteed results release date. We do expect that once we move into September, there will be no

further need for adaptations to assessments. Where centres are unable to operate as normal after September, this can be reviewed on a case by case basis and you can raise this with your External Quality Assurer (EQA).

Delays Our overall aim is to provide as many learners with sufficiently valid and reliable results this summer as possible, and in order to minimise the burden on ourselves, centres and learners, delaying or re-scheduling assessments should be the option of last resort or where this has been stipulated by professional and sector bodies. We will consider making assessment opportunities available, including taking all reasonable steps to do so where we would normally do so, and also consider additional assessment opportunities where there is demand for these, as well as providing guidance on when this might not be practical.

Autumn assessment opportunities The government considers that learners who are unable to receive a calculated result and other learners who do not feel their result reflects their ability should be afforded an opportunity to complete an assessment at the earliest available opportunity.



21





There are a number of qualifications with a unitised structure where further assessment opportunities will already be available in the autumn. However, we recognise that this is not true in all cases and that there are significant feasibility issues with providing such opportunities where large or lengthy practical assessments and portfolios are required. Therefore, we are proposing that only where we ordinarily have an autumn assessment opportunity available in a specific qualification we will expand that to make it available to all learners. Where we do not have such an assessment opportunity already available, we will consider making assessments available where sufficient demand exists and that meeting the demand would not create a disproportionate burden, on ourselves or centres.

Results days We expect the results of our qualifications to be awarded no later than A Levels and GCSEs – that’s 13 and 20 August respectively. This is so that no learner who is hoping to progress onto further or higher education is disadvantaged.



22





Appendix The following qualifications will require rank ordering when submitting a Centre Assessment Grade as they contain numerically marked externally assessed graded components.

Qualifications Unit Name Shared

NCFE CACHE Level 3 Certificate in Preparing to Work in Early Years Education and Care

Short Answer Examination NO

NCFE Level 1 Technical Award in Music Technology, NCFE Level 2 Technical Award in Music Technology

Technical Award Music Technology - External Assessment Practical

YES

NCFE Level 1 Technical Award in Music Technology, NCFE Level 2 Technical Award in Music Technology

Technical Award Music Technology - External Assessment Written

YES

NCFE Level 3 Applied General Certificate in Music Technology

Applied General Music Technology - External Assessment Practical

NO

NCFE Level 3 Applied General Certificate in Music Technology

Applied General Music Technology - External Assessment Written

NO

NCFE CACHE Technical Level 3 Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care

Anatomy and Physiology for Health and Social Care NO

NCFE Level 3 Applied General Certificate in Art and Design

Applied General Art & Design – External Assessment NO

NCFE Level 3 Applied General Certificate in Business and Enterprise

Applied General Business and Enterprise – External Assessment

NO

NCFE Level 1 Technical Award in Graphic Design, NCFE Level 2 Technical Award in Graphic Design

Technical Award Graphic Design – External Assessment YES

NCFE Level 1 Technical Award in Interactive Media, NCFE Level 2 Technical Award in Interactive Media

Technical Award Interactive Media – External Assessment YES

NCFE Level 1/2 Technical Award in Health and Fitness Introduction to Body Systems and Principles of Training in Health and Fitness

NO

NCFE CACHE Level 3 Applied General Award in Health and Social Care, NCFE CACHE Level 3 Applied General Certificate in Health and Social Care

External Assessment Short Answer Examination YES

NCFE Level 1/2 Technical Award in Business and Enterprise

Introduction to Business and Enterprise NO

NCFE Level 1/2 Technical Award in Performance Skills Working in the Performance Industry NO

NCFE Level 1/2 Technical Award in Engineering Understanding the Engineering World NO

NCFE Level 1/2 Technical Award in Art & Design Understanding the Creation of Art and Design Work NO

NCFE CACHE Level 3 Applied General Award for Early Years, Childcare and Education, NCFE CACHE Level 3 Applied General Certificate for Early Years, Childcare and Education

External Assessment Short Answer Examination YES

NCFE CACHE Level 2 Technical Certificate in Working with Children in Early Years and Primary Settings


NCFE CACHE Level 2 Technical Award in Child Development and Care

Child Care and Development 0-5 Years NO



23





NCFE CACHE Level 2 Technical Award in Health and Social Care


NCFE Level 3 Certificate in Mathematics for Everyday Life

A/100/9090: Maths – External Assessment (mandatory) and one of the following three options: A/100/8080: Business Administration – External Assessment (optional); A/100/7070: Engineering and Manufacturing – External Assessment (optional); A/100/6060: Health and Science – External Assessment (optional)

NO



Documents

Summer 2020 Awarding Guidance - ncfe.org.uk · summer as possible, and in order to minimise the burden on ourselves, centres and learners, delaying or re-scheduling assessments should