General Qualifications Bulletin - UK - Issue 2
I know from speaking with many of you last week it’s continued to be an incredibly challenging and uncertain time with schools remaining closed to most students and work still underway to understand the arrangements for awarding grades to students this summer.
As ever, thank you for everything you have done and continue to do. I hope to speak to and hear from many more of you as we work to ensure you have all the support you need in the coming months.
Ofqual consultation
The Ofqual consultation about the arrangements for Summer 2021 closed on Friday 29 January.
During the last two weeks we have been listening and talking with as many of you as possible about the consultation as we work through what we believe to be the best approach.
I know that many of you have shared your insight and experience and this gives Ofqual the best chance of ensuring that the approach developed meets the needs of a range of stakeholders.
Entries Deadline
The entry deadline is rapidly approaching, and it is important that you make your entries as usual by 21 February, to ensure that students receive their qualification grade this summer.
Schools and colleges must make entries to the relevant Awarding Organisation for the specification that your students have studied.
Where you may be supporting private candidates we would also advise you to make entries for them to help enable their progression.
We appreciate that the arrangements are not yet clear for private candidates and so we will not penalise private candidates making entries or withdrawing after the deadline and until 22 March.
Support for grading in 2021: Our commitment to you
I know that you are keen to start preparing for grading candidates for our UK General Qualifications, and we are fully committed to making sure you’ll have everything you need for each individual qualification at the very earliest opportunity.
We will continue to send these bi-weekly newsletters, share important information on our website and social media channels, publish detailed guidance, users guides and videos at the very earliest opportunity and ensure that we provide enhanced support and training to support you in making the best decisions.
We appreciate it may be frustrating at times, as we won’t have all the information and detail until the results of the Ofqual consultation are released.
However, as soon as information becomes available over the coming weeks and months, we promise to get it to you as quickly as possible.
To ensure you have the latest information, please continue to visit our dedicated support page, and follow us on Twitter (@ PearsonEdexcel) to keep up to date. If you would like to speak to us directly, you can get in touch with any questions via our contact form, or by calling the relevant team for your role.
My thanks again to you and your colleagues for the amazing work you are doing every day.
Hayley White
Assessment Director
We understand that many of you are keen to understand the potential timescales of the work that will need to be undertaken this year, particularly that the Ofqual consultation is now closed.
The dates provided below are an estimated timeline based on what we know at present but will be subject to change.
- 15 January: Ofqual consultation opens
- 29 January: Ofqual consultation closes
- 22 February: Ofqual announce outcome of consultation
- 21 February: Entries deadline for GCSE, AS/A Level
- From February half term: Support and training from Pearson
- TBC: System for submitting Teacher Assessment Grades Open
- TBC: System for submitting Teacher Assessment Grades Closes - To be finalised.
While the final arrangements for assessment of GCSE, AS and A levels in Summer 2021 are continuing to evolve, Awarding Organisations will be providing training, assessment materials and quality assurance processes to support you in making your teacher assessment decisions.
We will work closely with you and provide all the support you need to ensure that students receive grades this summer that fairly reflect what they know, understand and can do. We are monitoring closely the impact of arrangements as they finalise, and as with this past summer, we will be passing on any net savings, where they exist, to you after the summer assessments.
In the meantime, the entry deadline is rapidly approaching, and it is important that you make your entries as usual by 21 February, to ensure that students receive their qualification grade this summer. Schools and colleges must make entries to the relevant Awarding Organisation for the specification that your students have studied.
We appreciate that the arrangements are not yet clear for private candidates and so we will not penalise private candidates making entries or withdrawing after the deadline and until 22 March . If your centre requires entries to be made for a private candidate between 22 February and 21 March for GCSE, GCE, Mathematics in Context or Entry Level Certificate, please email the entries (using this template to: eprocessing@pearson.com). We will make the entries on your behalf and back-date so you do not receive late fees.
If you are contacted by a private candidate but feel you cannot support them, please advise them to visit our website.
We will have more information on this page once the arrangements for this summer have been confirmed by Ofqual.
The modified paper deadline was 31 January, it is important to still make these orders whilst decisions are being made on assessment materials to support you in making your teacher assessment decisions.
If you were unable to meet this deadline then please contact us at the earliest opportunity so that we can ensure all formats of material are available.
The Joint Council of Qualifications has released an update on their website about the latest position regarding non-examined assessment.
In announcing their consultation on the alternative assessment arrangements for summer 2021, Ofqual have confirmed that students should be given the opportunity to continue to complete work on their non-exam assessments (NEA) while the consultation is ongoing. This is so that student performance on the NEA can contribute to the evidence teachers use to recommend the grade the student will receive in summer 2021.
To facilitate this, we have agreed that centres may allow students to undertake their NEA remotely. This is in addition to the adaptations to NEA that have already been announced and are available on our website following Ofqual's earlier consultation about the revised arrangements for summer 2021. Students may complete their NEA from home or remotely where it is safe and possible for them to do so.
It is important that students are reminded that the work must be their own, with assistance acknowledged. It is also important that teachers can authenticate work completed for NEA, so regular checks, through question & answers sessions and online video conferencing, for example, will be required for written or practical work.
For performance work, teachers should authenticate by supervising candidates' performances via live video conference, though, depending on the subject, it might be appropriate instead for teachers to review video or audio recordings, photographic or written evidence and have a discussion with the candidate about their work.
Centres must follow their own risk assessment and safeguarding policies when allowing candidates to complete NEA remotely. Candidates must only complete NEA remotely when it is safe and possible for them to do so. For some performance or practical NEA components, therefore, it may be necessary to limit the NEA that is conducted at home to those parts of it that can be completed safely.