Correspondence

Letter to schools and colleges June 2023

Published 30 June 2023

Applies to England

Dear colleague,

Update on progress towards Level 3 VTQ results in 2023

I am writing to thank you for your support in ensuring that students taking Level 3 vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) get their results on time this year. Around 2,500 schools and colleges have now confirmed, with awarding organisations, which students expect to receive a result this summer. Fewer than 75 schools or colleges are yet to entirely complete this activity, according to our records.

As well as helping secure timely results for your students, your work is contributing to parity of treatment between VTQs and General Qualifications such as A Levels. This summer, for the first time, we will be able to announce the number of VTQ Level 3 entries, in a similar way to A levels and GCSEs entries which have been collected for many years.

Ofqual is working with members of the VTQ Taskforce, including the Association of Colleges, the Sixth Form Colleges Association, the Association of School and College Leaders, the Confederation of School Trusts, as well as with the Department for Education, to follow up with schools and colleges where data or information is missing, to ensure results are issued to students on time.

We have heard many examples where these early checks have already helped awarding organisations, schools and colleges identify and resolve problems early, so thank you once again for engaging with this important work.

Checkpoint 2

Ofqual now expects awarding organisations to share details of the information and evidence they hold so far for each confirmed student. Schools and colleges can then see clearly what information they still need to provide, which could include outstanding unit marks or samples of students’ work, so that students will be eligible to receive a result in the summer.

It is also important that awarding organisations know if students change their plans. Please work with awarding organisations to ensure all student records are up to date. If a school or college chooses not to submit unit grades for students or if a student chooses not to certificate this summer, requires more time for assessments, or changes their mind, the student may no longer be eligible for a result this summer. Awarding organisations need to know this, so that they can accurately track progress and know which results are still expected.

Ofqual has asked awarding organisations to complete these checks with you by 23 June. This activity will help exams officers to then work with teachers to track and provide any remaining information.

Activity towards checkpoint 2 supports and does not replace the awarding organisations’ normal moderation or verification processes, which will continue to take place as planned. Please ensure that you respond to requests for information or samples of student work in line with awarding organisation deadlines. We know this is a new way of working and we are grateful for your engagement. The goal is to identify issues early, bringing resolution forward into term time, rather than waiting until results are due in August. This will avoid your students being disappointed or missing out on a higher education or training place.

A new information hub which collates all the key dates from awarding organisations is now available to support your exams office with these efforts. Ofqual has also produced new support materials for exams officers.

Returning information on time

The vast majority of schools and colleges are returning information on time and when requested to awarding organisations, however, there are also examples of consistently late responses which jeopardise students receiving their results on time. It is important to note that schools and colleges could face investigation or even sanctions if they do not cooperate with requests for information or miss deadlines. Individual or repeated instances of this could be considered a form of maladministration which could result in awarding organisations issuing warnings, suspensions, withholding student results, or even centre approval being withdrawn. Further information should be available in each awarding organisation’s malpractice policy on its website.

I know we all work in the best interests of students and that is why I hope you will ensure your teaching staff and exams officers comply with awarding organisations’ requests, have the time to engage with checkpoint 2 and any actions arising afterwards. Please do contact awarding organisations urgently if you have any doubts about whether your students are on track to receive their results. As a former school leader, I appreciate you will want to reassure your students that they will be able to progress to the next stage of their lives and enjoy the same results day experience as their peers taking A levels.

If you have any feedback or queries about the content of this letter, please email Ofqual via discussions@ofqual.gov.uk. Please do share this important information with your exams officers, teachers and curriculum leads.

Yours sincerely,

Jo Saxton PhD, Chief Regulator