Ofqual and the Department for Education (DfE) have launched a joint consultation on the adaptations to be made for assessments in 2021/22 for our vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) such as Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals. We know you want clarity on next year so you can start to plan ahead.

We’d like to share the approach we propose to take for Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals, which will be subject to the final outcome of the consultation.

In Part A, the Department for Education sets out its policy position and the scope of adaptations to assessments and qualifications that may be necessary to address the ongoing impact of the pandemic and is only consulting on the equalities impacts of this policy.

In Part B, Ofqual sets out the changes to its regulatory arrangements to implement the Department’s policy position. Ofqual is consulting on the impact of changing the categorisation of qualifications in its regulatory framework and on minor updates to the drafting of that framework to reflect the context of the academic year 2021 to 2022.

The consultation closes on 26 July at 23.45.

Our proposals for next year are to encourage schools and colleges to move forwards with assessments as normal alongside teaching the course content to your students. Delivering the content is vital for your students’ progression. However, we will allow reduced assessment of moderated units – as we first announced in December 2020 – if teachers need to free up time spent on assessment to help address students’ loss of learning.

We’ve been working closely with the DfE and Ofqual to give you clarity on arrangements for 2021/2022. The VTQ consultation sets out the DfE policy position for 2022. They aren’t consulting on the policy itself, just the equality impact caused by the policy. Policy position on different types of adaptations is:

• Adaptations are to take account of remaining public health measures. For Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals, that’s permission to produce work from home and to use unit-level adaptations such as alternative forms of evidence e.g. professional discussion in place of performance. We anticipate centres will make use of these in line with schools’ response to the measures so that assessments can take place for all students.
• Disruption to teaching and learning has occurred and there is a need to free up teaching time to address learning loss. Other adaptations such as streamlining assessment can be used. The content must still be taught. For Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals, this means a reduction in assessment.

Above all, we want parity for those studying Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals, so your students are supported with appropriate measures to achieve a result and to progress.

Reduced assessment of optional or mandatory moderated units

With the approval of the DfE, we are allowing assessments of moderated units to be reduced where disruption to teaching has been so great that it is necessary.

Schools and colleges are best placed to decide if they need to use this adaption. We recommend you plan to take all assessments intended for 2021/22, however also identify in your planning which assessment you will not take in 2021/22 if the impact of the disruption caused by the pandemic means you require it. All content must be taught as it is vital for your students’ wider learning and progression. We will ask schools and colleges to provide assurances of this.

It’s in the students interests to take and bank assessments where possible, however, these adaptations are there if you need them and can apply to all students due to complete assessments during 2021/22.

If you’re teaching a course with optional and mandatory units, we will require you to prioritise the assessment of mandatory units. Any reduction in the assessment of moderated mandatory units, including if you’re teaching a course with only mandatory units, should be as a last resort where all other options to complete them have been exhausted.

By reducing the amount of time you and your students spend on the assessments of moderated units, we hope this adaptation gives more time to focus on teaching and learning. 

Students certificating in 2022 must take assessments this year and we recommend you bank assessments as soon as you can. 

We’ll continue to assess knowledge and understanding in the examined units for which there is no option to reduce the assessment. 

For both Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals, we will determine the qualification-level result for students taking account of the reduction. You will not provide teacher assessed grades for these units.

Cambridge Nationals

The adaptation means that assessment due to be taken in 2021/22 can be reduced by one optional moderated unit, or, where circumstances require it, one mandatory moderated unit^[1]:

This would mean for students certifying in 2021/22, this might work as follows^[2]:

• With four units left to take, students are, where necessary, allowed to take three unit assessments
• With three units left to take, students are, where necessary, allowed to take two unit assessments
• With two units left to take, students are, where necessary, allowed to take one unit assessment
• With one unit left to take, students must take one unit assessment.

We've produced guidance on how the reduction of assessment of an optional or mandatory moderated unit works for each Cambridge Nationals qualification for students certifying in 2021/22

Cambridge Technicals

The adaptation means that assessment due to be taken in 2021/22 can be reduced by one or more optional moderated unit, or, where circumstances require it, one or more mandatory moderated unit(s), depending on the guided learning hours (GLH) for the qualification and the unit^[3].

This would mean for students certifying in 2021/22, this might work as follows^[4]:

Level 3 Cambridge Technicals 2012 and 2016

• Diploma (720 GLH) and Extended Diploma (1080 GLH) – students do not have to take assessment for one or more units up to 120 GLH
• Extended Certificate and Introductory Diploma (360 GLH) and Foundation Diploma (540 GLH) – students do not have to take assessment for one or more units up to 60 GLH
• Certificate (180 GLH) – Reductions will apply to all subjects in the 2012 suite and only to Business, Digital Media, and Health and Social Care in the 2016 suite. For these qualifications students do not have to take assessment for one or more units up to 60 GLH. For other 2016 subjects, students must take all assessments.

Level 2 Cambridge Technicals 2016

• Certificates (180 GLH) - students do not have to take assessment for one or more units up to 60 GLH in all subjects, with the exception of the Certificate in Engineering (for the Certificate in Engineering, all assessments must be taken).
• Diplomas (360 GLH) - students do not have to take assessment for one or more units up to 60 GLH in all subjects.

Level 2 Cambridge Technicals 2012

• Extended Certificates (180 GLH) - students do not have to take assessment for one or more units up to 60 GLH in all subjects.
• Diplomas (360 GLH) - students do not have to take assessment for one or more units up to 60 GLH in all subjects.

We've produced further guidance on how the reduction of assessment on optional or mandatory moderated units works for Cambridge Technicals 2012 and 2016.

While we hope these reductions support your delivery in these challenging times, continued teaching of all the content, where feasible, is vital for your students’ wider learning and progression. We will ask schools and colleges to provide assurances of this.

Notes

1  reduction can only include mandatory moderated assessment where a qualification only has mandatory units or the student is certificating in 2021/22 and does not have any optional moderated assessments left to take.

2  Please note there is no reduction in assessment for Cambridge Nationals Information Technologies as it only has two units. We are considering whether further adaptations are needed for this qualification. We will keep you informed about any further adaptations.

3  reduction can only include mandatory moderated assessment where a qualification only has mandatory units or the student is certificating in 2021/22 and does not have any optional moderated assessments left to take.

4  Please note - there will be no reduced assessment for some Cambridge Technicals qualifications due to their size. You can see these exceptions by following the link above.

A wider package of adaptations to support your learners

Our aim is to ensure the disruption you and your students have faced is considered. Alongside the reduction in optional or mandatory moderated unit assessments, we’ve put in place a package of measures, so your students are not disadvantaged. We’ve summarised our package here:

We’d like to thank you for your patience and support this term. We hope this information gives you the clarity you need about the measures we’re putting in place to support you and your students.

If you have any questions about what you have read here, please get in touch by calling us on 01223 553998 or email at support@ocr.org.uk.