Highlights of week ending 18 June 2021
The Second Reading of the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill took place in the House of Lords. Although the Bill was largely well-received from all sides, opposition parties made it clear there was a lot of work to be done to make sure it’s fit for purpose. The question of choice at age 16 was raised, as were the new powers for the Secretary of State and IFATE.
Pearson published initial findings from its review into the future of qualifications and assessment.
A consultation of over 6000 people, including students, parents and teachers found no “evidence of a strong desire” to remove GCSEs or replace our current assessment system with an entirely new one. However, people still want education to be more inclusive, more empowering and more relevant to people’s lives.
The University Alliance joined ten other education bodies representing staff and students in schools, colleges and universities to urge the Government to rethink plans to remove funding for applied general qualifications such as BTECs.
Ofqual has decided lift mandatory requirements for fieldwork in subjects such as GCSE and A level geography for the 2022 summer exams. This means the regulator will implement all of the proposals set out in the consultation that ran in May.