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This guide provides you with information about this year's arrangements for qualifications regulated by Ofqual. It also explains what support is in place when taking exams and assessments.

Applies to England

Documents

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If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email publications@ofqual.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Details

This guide is for students taking any of the following qualifications:

GCSEs

AS or A levels

other general qualifications, including International Baccalaureate, core mathematics and Pre-U

Technical Qualification (part of a T Level)

BTEC, Cambridge Technicals and other vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) taken alongside GCSEs and A levels

In this guide, we refer to schools and colleges as a collective term for all schools, colleges and other exam centres.

Some students won't be studying at a school or college and will be private candidates. They are often home educated or are re-taking a qualification after leaving school or college. They may be studying with a distance learning provider, tutor, parent, or without any support. Private candidates will need to register at a school, college or other exam centre to sit their exams. More information on how to do this can be found in this guide. We make clear in this guide where information only applies to a certain type of qualification. If you are not sure exactly which qualifications you are taking, check with your school or college.

This guide talks about awarding organisations and exam boards. All organisations that offer qualifications regulated by Ofqual are called awarding organisations. The 4 awarding organisations that offer GCSEs, AS and A levels in England are also called exam boards.

This guide refers to exams officers. An exams officer is the person in a school or college that organises exams. An exams officer's duties will vary by school or college. Check with your school or college who your exams officer is and how to contact them.

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Report a problem with this page

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This guide provides you with information about this year's arrangements for qualifications regulated by Ofqual. It also explains what support is in place when taking exams and assessments.

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DfE: Guide to post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below in England from 2025

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DfE: Guide to post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below in England from 2025

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Published: 20th April 2023
Summary - Post 16 Level 3 there will be a choice of A level or T level with the option to take additional single size (1 A level equivalent) technical qualification alongside an A level if you wanted a mixed programme. The old style 2 year full time BTEC technical qualifications type programme will gradually disappear.

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An overview of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below for awarding organisations and providers.

Details

The guide provides a high-level overview of the post-16 qualifications landscape from 2025 onwards, including:

changes to the funding approval process and criteria

the subjects that will be considered for funding

the implications for the availability of qualifications for teaching in England

The separate level 2 and 3 timeline documents provide a chronology of important dates for awarding organisations.

Post-16 qualifications at level 2 and below from spring 2023 signposts awarding organisations and providers to information that is already available and which they may find helpful in preparing for the reforms at level 2 and below.

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Guide to post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below in England

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Skip to main content We use some essential cookies to make this website work. We'd like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services.

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Published: 21 March 2023
This guide for students provides information about this year’s arrangements for qualifications regulated by Ofqual. It also explains what support is in place when taking exams and assessments.

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Skip to main content

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We'd like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services.

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You have rejected additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.

Accept additional cookies Reject additional cookies View cookies

This guide provides you with information about this year's arrangements for qualifications regulated by Ofqual. It also explains what support is in place when taking exams and assessments.

Applies to England

Documents

Request an accessible format.

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email publications@ofqual.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Details

This guide is for students taking any of the following qualifications:

GCSEs

AS or A levels

other general qualifications, including International Baccalaureate, core mathematics and Pre-U

Technical Qualification (part of a T Level)

BTEC, Cambridge Technicals and other vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) taken alongside GCSEs and A levels

In this guide, we refer to schools and colleges as a collective term for all schools, colleges and other exam centres.

Some students won't be studying at a school or college and will be private candidates. They are often home educated or are re-taking a qualification after leaving school or college. They may be studying with a distance learning provider, tutor, parent, or without any support. Private candidates will need to register at a school, college or other exam centre to sit their exams. More information on how to do this can be found in this guide. We make clear in this guide where information only applies to a certain type of qualification. If you are not sure exactly which qualifications you are taking, check with your school or college.

This guide talks about awarding organisations and exam boards. All organisations that offer qualifications regulated by Ofqual are called awarding organisations. The 4 awarding organisations that offer GCSEs, AS and A levels in England are also called exam boards.

This guide refers to exams officers. An exams officer is the person in a school or college that organises exams. An exams officer's duties will vary by school or college. Check with your school or college who your exams officer is and how to contact them.

Thank you for your feedback

Report a problem with this page

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This guide provides you with information about this year's arrangements for qualifications regulated by Ofqual. It also explains what support is in place when taking exams and assessments.

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National Statistics: 2022 Alevel and other 16 to 18 results Breakdown

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National Statistics: 2022 Alevel and other 16 to 18 results Breakdown

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Updated: 2nd February 2023

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Release type

National statistics ?

This academic year saw the return of the summer exam series, after they had been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, where alternative processes were set up to award grades. As part of the transition back to the summer exam series adaptations were made to the exams (including advance information) and the approach to grading for 2022 exams broadly reflected a midpoint between results in 2019 and 2021.

The 16 to 18 performance measures reported in this revised release for the 2021/22 academic year, and to be included on the Find School and College Performance Data website, have been affected by our commitment not to include results from qualifications awarded between January 2020 and August 2021 (see section 'Changes to the data in 2021/22').

Throughout this release, comparisons are made with both 2021, the most recent year, and 2019, because it is most meaningful to compare to the last year summer exams were sat. Given the unprecedented change in how A level and vocational and VTQ grades were awarded in 2020 and 2021, as well as changes to the grade boundaries and methods of assessment for 2021/22, users need to exercise caution when considering comparisons over time, as they may not reflect changes in student performance alone.

Related information

Releases in this series

View releases (23)

Methodologies

Headline facts and figures - 2021/22

A level retention

95.1%

An increase of 3.8 ppts from 2018/19

What is this?

This is the headline retention rate for A level programmes. (The percentage of students who completed their A level programme).

Applied general retention

91.7%

An increase of 5.1 ppts from 2018/19

What is this?

This is the headline retention rate for applied general programmes. (The percentage of students who completed their applied general programme).

Tech level retention

91.1%

An increase of 3.2 ppts from 2018/19

What is this?

This is the headline retention rate for tech level programmes. (The percentage of students who completed their tech level programme).

Average Point Score (APS) per entry for all level 3 cohorts is lower compared to 2020/21: A level, -2.8 pts; applied general, -0.7 pts; tech level, - 1.1 pts. However, attainment remains higher compared to 2018/19: A level, +4.9pts; applied general, +3.1 pts; tech level +1.9 pts. [An increase of 10 points is equivalent to an increase in one full grade]. This follows Ofqual's announcement in September 2021 that 2022 will be a transition year where the aim was for exam results to broadly reflect a midway point between 2021 (TAG grades) and 2019 (the last year all students sat exams).

The trend for falling average attainment across level 3 cohorts in 2021/22 compared to 2020/21 was observed across institution types generally (when grouped into state-funded schools, independent schools, sixth form colleges, and 'Other FE sector colleges') with the exception of applied general attainment in sixth form colleges and independent schools which increased in 2021/22 (+ 0.2 pts and + 0.8 pts respectively).

The disadvantage gap (between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students) is at its widest level for all Level 3 cohorts (A level, tech level, and applied general) since disadvantage measures began in 2016/17.

Gender gaps in favour of female students in average attainment at A level, applied general, and tech level have narrowed in 2021/22 compared to 2020/21; average attainment had increased more for female students than males with the alternative Centre Assessment Grade (CAG) and Teacher Assessed Grade (TAG) awarding processes in 2019/20 and 2020/21 compared with 2018/19.

The percentage of students who completed their main or 'core' aim from their study programme, known as the Retention rate, increased across all programmes in 2021/22.

Non-disadvantaged students are more likely to be retained than disadvantaged students, across all cohorts.

Students with higher prior attainment are more likely to be retained than students with lower prior attainment, across all level 3 cohorts.

Given the unprecedented change in the way results were awarded in the summers of 2020 and 2021, as well as the changes to methods of assessment for 2021/22, users need to exercise caution when considering comparisons over time, as they may not reflect changes in pupil performance alone.

The changes seen in the headline statistics likely reflect the changes in methodology for awarding grades and in calculating the measures, rather than demonstrating a difference in standards.

Explore data and files used in this release

View tables that we have built for you, or create your own tables from open data using our table tool

Browse and download open data files from this release in our data catalogue

Learn more about the data files used in this release using our online guidance

Download all data available in this release as a compressed ZIP file

All supporting files from this release are listed for individual download below:

Provisional results (November 2022) for A level and other 16 to 18 results 2021-22

Transition matrices data used for visualising the progress of pupils aged 16 to 18 from key stage 4 (KS4) to key stage 5 (KS5).

Instructions to accompany the transition matrices data

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the summer exam series was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021, and alternative processes set up to award grades. Throughout this release, comparisons are made with both 2021, the most recent year, and 2019, because it is most meaningful to compare to the last year summer exams were sat.

A/AS and vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs)

In summer 2021 students were awarded A/AS grades based on an assessment by their teachers using a range of available evidence. Students were only assessed on the content they had been taught. In 2021 some VTQ grades were decided using teacher-assessed grades, others using normal assessment routes, and some through adapted assessment such as remote invigilation.

Exceptionally in autumn 2020 and 2021 an autumn series was put in place to allow students the opportunity to try to improve their A level or AS grade from the summer, if they wished to do so. Further information on the autumn 2021 series is available at this link:
https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2021/12/16/as-and-a-level-results-in-the-autumn-2021-series/
A/AS exams returned in 2022 and adaptations were made to exams (including advance information), and the approach to grading for 2022 exams broadly reflected a midpoint between results in 2019 and 2021.

The diversity of vocational qualifications meant that Ofqual did not prescribe a single approach to adaptations, so Awarding Organisations (AOs) had flexibility to choose how to adapt their assessments. However, Ofqual's regulatory framework requires AOs as far as possible to ensure VTQ learners were not disadvantaged nor advantaged compared with their A level peers when setting standards.

For further information on the process to award grades in 2021 and 2022 see the following links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/awarding-qualifications-in-summer-2021/awarding-qualifications-in-summer-2021 https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-for-centres-awarding-vtqs-in-2021-and-2022
Reporting of 2022 results by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) and Ofqual

As happens every year on A level results day (18 August for summer 2022 results) JCQ published data on A level entries for qualifications awarded in summer 2022, and for each subject the distribution of grades awarded (with data for the previous summer for reference): https://www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/

The data published by JCQ can be expected to show the same broad patterns as the underlying data published in this statistical release 'Entries and results - A level and AS by subject and student characteristics (single academic year). However, the coverage of the data is different: JCQ data covers all A level entries in the UK by people of all ages. Data in this statistical release covers exam entries by 16 to 18 year olds in schools and colleges in England, and includes breakdowns by a wide range of student characteristics.

In addition, Ofqual also routinely publish data on results day: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/guide-to-as-and-a-level-results-in-england-summer-2022

Data excluded from 2021/22 measures due to alternative assessment arrangements in 2020 and 2021

We have committed not to include results of qualifications achieved between January 2020 and August 2021 in school and college performance measures on Find Schools and College Performance Data website, given the alternative assessment arrangements used to award those grades.

For consistency, when calculating 16 to 18 performance measures for 2021/22 in this statistical release, data will only include entries and grades from qualifications awarded in the 2021/22 academic year, with the exception of AS and A level qualifications taken as part of the extraordinary autumn 2021 examination series which are also excluded.

However, results from qualifications routinely offered in the autumn of 2021 that would usually be approved for reporting, such as vocational and technical qualifications taken in autumn 2021, will be included even if some of the VTQ constituent unit-level grades were awarded between January 2020 and August 2021 via Centre Assessment Grade, Teacher Assessed Grade, or another process.

The table below shows the impact at national level of excluding these data, by comparing the number of students and headline attainment measures for each cohort.

The impact on A level student numbers is modest. It is greater for students entering vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs), who are more likely to enter qualifications over multiple years. It should be noted that students may have results from multiple years including 2021/22. In this case the student is included in this data but some of their results are excluded.

The technical certificate cohort has been substantially impacted by this change, as students are often not triggered for reporting in the same year as they complete the qualification.

Smaller cohorts in 2021/22, do not necessarily translate into impacts on attainment. Nationally, the impact on A level Average Point Score (APS) is minimal (1/200th of a grade) with slightly larger changes for the level 3 vocational and technical qualifications.

Impact of the change

Number of students
-2% -10% -15% -84%

APS
+0.06 +0.60 +0.72 +0.12

Other changes for the 2021/22 release

English and maths progress measures will not be published in this statistical release until these measures return to Find school and college performance data website (likely 2024/25, as set out in 16 to 18 accountability headline measures: technical guide, due to the impact of excluding CAG/TAG grades on this performance measure).

Similarly, 16 to 18 value-added measures, which would rely on KS4 prior attainment including some data from summer 2020, continue not to be published in 2021/22. Value-added measures will return as soon as possible, which will be for the 2023/24 academic year at the earliest; further details are included in the technical guide.

Breakdowns of performance measures by prior attainment, usually published in spring with the Retention update have been brought forward to the provisional release along with other breakdowns by student characteristics. Note, we distinguish between the use of prior attainment data nationally to breakdown measures by student characteristics in this statistical release and their use to calculate performance measures that will be published for individual schools and colleges on Find School and College Performance Data.

SEN Provision contains additional breakdowns by SEN types for the first time in national level data at 16 to 18.

Additional 'bivariate' data giving a breakdown of headline attainment and disadvantage status in combination with other characteristics are available for the first time.

Changes continuing from the 2020/21 release

Characteristic breakdowns usually published in the revised update have been brought forward to the provisional release. This is a permanent change.

The rules for determining when students reach the end of their 16-18 study changed in 2020/21 and students can no longer be triggered solely due to spending two years in the same school or college. The impact of this change on 2020/21 data was to reduce the number of students in each cohort, with vocational and technical qualifications impacted most. In 2021/22, student numbers returned to pre-rule change levels, as expected.

Full details of the trigger change are set out in the section 'Changes introduced in the 2020/21 release' in the Quality and Methodology documentation.

Checking exercise and other amendments

This updated release is based on revised data. Since the release of provisional data in November, amendments to the data have been made. These include the addition of 'late' results from some Awarding Organisations, and changes made by schools and colleges through a 'checking exercise'.

The checking exercise takes place in the autumn term and gives schools and colleges the opportunity to amend their data. Some students are removed from a school or colleges results, for example because the student wasn't on roll or has not yet completed 16-18 study. Some students are added where they are flagged by a school or college as having completed 16-18 study despite not being triggered. Changes need to be approved to be included in revised data.

The 2021/22 academic year saw the return of the school and college checking exercise, after it was suspended in the two previous years. In this release data for 2019/20 and 2020/21 is labelled as 'final' data. This is provisional data adjusted for results from the autumn series for AS and A levels. (The autumn series gave students an opportunity to sit an exam if they were unhappy with the grade awarded to them through the alternative process). Data from 2019/20 and 2020/21 did not go through a checking exercise; schools and colleges did not have an opportunity to amend their data as described above.

The table shows the size of the change between provisional and revised/final data. Generally, the change in the numbers of students included in the data in 2021/22 is relatively small in terms of the overall cohort size, the exception being technical certificates where there are 655 more students in the revised release than the provisional (an increase of 87%). This increase is predominantly due to results being reported late by Awarding Organisations.

The size of the change between provisional and revised data is generally smaller in 2021/22 than in 2017/18 and 2018/19. Changes to the trigger rule were introduced to reduce the burden on schools and colleges. This gives an indication that the change is working as intended.

Change in the numbers of students between the provisional and revised/final data:

Cohort

Report year

2017/18

2018/19

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

The table below shows the size of the change in the average point score between the provisional and the revised release. The changes are minimal. A change of 0.1 pts at A level / applied general / tech level is equivalent to 1/100th of a grade.

Change in Average Point Score (APS) per entry between the provisional and revised/final data.

Report year

2017/18

2018/19

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

Unless stated otherwise statistics reported here refer to 16 to 18 year olds in England:

who reached the end of their 16 to 18 study in 2021/22. Students typically spend either two or three years in the 16 to 18 phase. (Usually, attainment includes results from qualifications entered during all those years. However, this year, attainment excludes results from qualifications that were awarded between January 2020 and August 2021).

who entered qualifications approved for reporting in 2022 school and college performance tables, set out in the 16 to 18 qualifications, discount codes and point scores guidance.

Qualifications are grouped into A level (subset of Academic), Applied General, and Tech Level exam cohorts at level 3, and Technical Certificates at level 2. Students can be reported in more than one exam cohort.

Student numbers by cohort

Students are included in this statistical release when they reach the end of their 16 to 18 study in schools and colleges in England. As set out in the Methodology guidance, the rules for determining when that happens changed in 2020/21, and students are no longer automatically triggered for reporting after spending two years in the same school or college.

The impact of the trigger change in 2020/21 was to reduce the number of students in each cohort, with vocational and technical qualifications impacted most. As expected, student numbers have generally returned to their pre-rule change level in 2021/22, with student numbers in all level 3 cohorts being higher than in 2019/20 and 2020/21.

Results for qualifications awarded between January 2020 and August 2021 have been excluded from the data. The technical certificate cohort has been substantially impacted by this change, as students are often not triggered for reporting until they turn 18, often a year or two after they complete the qualification. More detail is provided in the section 'Changes to the data in 2021/22', where in particular excluding CAG and TAG grades reduced reported technical certificate student numbers by 84%.

The growth in the number of students entered for applied general and tech level qualifications in 2021/22 approved for reporting in performance measures reflects the removal of funding approval from 1 August 2020 for pre-existing qualifications which were running in parallel with newer redeveloped qualifications. Prior to that numbers had been increasing more slowly following big falls in 2017/18 when qualifications were reformed. The number of students in the A level cohort, which includes students who only enter AS levels, has increased after several years of decline. (The previous decline reflected fewer AS level entries following the now completed A level reform to decouple A and AS levels.)

The overall growth in student numbers may also be partly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some students reported here completed their pre-16 study in 2019/20 where higher grades were awarded via Centre Assessment Grades. These higher grades resulted in greater numbers of students applying for post-16 places and may have shifted some students away from level two technical certificates and into level 3 qualifications. There were also fewer alternative options available for these students in terms of apprenticeships and other employment opportunities ( Key stage 4 destination measures showed that a smaller proportion of students who completed key stage 4 in 2019/20 progressed to sustained apprenticeship or employment outcomes in 2020/21).

Disadvantage

Disadvantaged students are all students who were in receipt of pupil premium when they were in their last year of KS4.

Disadvantage measures do not include students who were not reported at the end of KS4 - for example, because they came from overseas. Students who were known to be at independent schools in their last year of KS4 are treated as non-disadvantaged.

Disadvantage measures cover students in state-funded schools or colleges.

23.6% of state-funded students, at the end of 16 to 18 study, were recorded as having disadvantaged status in 2021/22. The percentage of students examined in level 3 vocational and technical qualifications was generally in line with this. (Applied general 23.0% and tech level 23.0%). Disadvantages students were overrepresented at technical certificate with 32.4% of the cohort identified as having disadvantaged status. Disadvantaged students were underrepresented at A level with 14.3% of the cohort identified as having disadvantaged status.

Prior attainment

Prior attainment is a measure of the average points attained per qualification at Key Stage 4. Simple discounting rules apply, with the best result in any subject used when calculating the average point score at KS4. Any GCSE resits or additional qualifications gained during 16 to 18 are ignored. For the vast majority, prior attainment is between 0-9 reflecting the range of possible grades at GCSE (where 9 is the highest grade).

[Note, whilst results from January 2020 to August 2021 are removed from calculation of performance measures, for the purposes of this statistical release they will be retained when calculating a student's prior attainment to explain outcomes in performance measures, in the same way that outcomes nationally are broken down by gender, disadvantage, etc].

In 2021/22, 18.4% of students at the end of their 16 to 18 study had the highest prior attainment (grade 7+). The large majority of students with the highest prior attainment choose to study at least one A/AS level (94.8%). High attainers now make up 36.2% of the A level cohort compared to 4.7% of the applied general and 3.7% of the tech level cohort. The proportion of students with the highest prior attainment has increased year on year for each cohort since 2019/20 (from when KS4 prior attainment has been calculated in this release).

27.5% of students at the end of 16 to 18 study in 2021/22 had the lowest prior attainment (from grade 0 up to grade 4). The proportion of students with the lowest prior attainment has decreased year on year for each exam cohort since 2019/20.

This change in the distribution of prior attainment for exam cohorts, will in part reflect year on year grade increases at KS4 and in part reflect that the majority of students at the end of 16-18 study in 2021/22 will have completed KS4 in 2019/20, and whose GCSE prior attainment will include Centre Assessment Grades (CAG).

Summary

These figures give the average points and average result that students achieved throughout their 16 to 18 study. Results awarded between January 2020 and August 2021 have been excluded from this data. (See the section 'Changes to the data in 2021/22). While the majority of results come from the student's final year of study (in particular for A levels), a small number of results awarded prior to January 2020 are included.

Points are given to all qualifications so we can compare qualifications of different size and grading structures. A maximum of 60 points are available for A level, 50 points for applied general and tech level and 8 points for technical certificates. More information on points, APS bands and grade boundaries can be found in the technical guide for 16 to 18 accountability measures (from page 27).

In September 2021 Ofqual announced that 2022 will be a transition year where the aim was for exam results to broadly reflect a midway point between 2021 and 2019. Consequently, the average results are lower in 2021/22 across all level 3 cohorts than in 2020/21.

A level programmes have seen the largest decrease (2.8 pts, compared to 0.7 pts for applied general and 1.1 pts for tech level). This is as expected due to the larger increases seen in A level grades between 2018/19 and 2020/21 relative to the vocational and technical qualifications. Technical certificates have seen a small increase (0.2 pts) in the average points score. However, interpretation of this increase is undermined by a 58% drop in cohort numbers. Given that 84% of technical certificate students have been excluded form the data (see 'Changes to the data in 2021/22'), technical certificate results will not be discussed in the breakdowns, however the data is available in the table builder tool.

For all Level 3 cohorts, the average result remains the same as in 2020/21.

At A level, the South East, London and East of England tend to do better, being on or near the top in the last 3 years. These same regions have ranked in the bottom 4 for applied general in the same time period.

The North West is in the top half of the table for both A level and applied general, although the region dipped in both exam cohorts in 2020/21 when teacher assessed grades were used.

The East Midlands is in the bottom half of the table for both A level and applied general. The region attained the lowest A level results this year.

Regional rankings are more variable for tech levels (which may be attributable to the smaller total number of tech level entries).

Average results by disadvantage status

The 2021/22 disadvantage gap has increased in comparison to last year for the A level cohort and has remained stable for applied general and tech level cohorts. For the level 3 exam cohorts, the average point score has decreased for both disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students, however for A level students, the decrease was larger for disadvantaged students.

The disadvantage gap for Level 3 cohorts is at its widest point since the measure was introduced in 2016/17. (NB, this statistical release contains data for the last 5 years back to 2017/18, but disadvantage data was first published based on 2016/17 revised data).

To get a fuller picture on the impact of disadvantage status, this data should be looked at in conjunction with data on retention rates (the percentage of students who have completed their main study programme at a provider). In 2020/21, 94.3% of non-disadvantaged A level students were retained and assessed compared to 88.5% of disadvantaged students. Students are only included in the average point score measure if they are entered for examination i.e. if they are retained and assessed. More information on 2020/21 retention can be found in the 2020/21 version of this statistical release. An update to this statistical release with 2021/22 retention figures will be released on 30th March 2023.

Average results by gender

For the level 3 exam cohorts, both female and male students saw a drop in average attainment in 2021/22 when compared to 2020/21. The decrease was larger for female students than male students, which has resulted in a narrowing of the gender gap compared to last year.

When compared to 2018/19, the gender gap is slightly wider for A level students, but slightly narrower for applied general students in 2021/22. For tech level students the gender gap has reversed such that in 2018/19 it was in favour of male students, but since 2020/21 it has been in favour of female students.

The gender gap for the percentage of students achieving at least 2 A levels has been continuously decreasing for the past 5 years, falling from 5.2 ppts in 2017/18 to 0.9 ppts in 2021/22 in favour of female students.

Average results by ethnicity

Of the major ethnicity groups, Black or Black British students attained the lowest average result across all level 3 cohorts in 2021/22. At A level, Black or Black British students' attainment was almost a full grade lower than that of Chinese students. The rank order of attainment by ethnicity has remained almost unchanged at A level through the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes to the grading processes.

Prior attainment

Typically, the higher the average KS4 prior attainment, the higher the average outcome at the end of 16 to 18 study, regardless of the programme of study.

The attainment gap between students with the highest and lowest prior attainment has remained stable throughout different grading processes since 2019/20 (when this prior attainment data is available). The attainment gap at A level is around 25 pts (or 2.5 grades) and at applied general and tech level is around 19 pts (or just under 2 grades).

Average results for other student characteristics

Breakdowns of other student characteristics, including SEN provision, first language and more, are available in the featured tables and create your own tables sections of this statistical release.

This year we have introduced a new data file to this statistical release called 'Attainment and other performance measures - student characteristics and disadvantage status'. This data file gives more detail about disadvantaged students by breaking down the disadvantaged status of students by other student characteristics. In breaking down the data in this way we hope to be able to better identify how student characteristics interact. The following sections show some illustrative analyses.

Disadvantage and prior attainment

The distribution of disadvantaged students is uneven across the prior attainment bands. At A level, 9.3% of students in state-funded institutions with the highest prior attainment (grade 7+) have disadvantaged status, while 27.8% with prior attainment from grade 0 up to grade 4 have disadvantaged status.

At A level the disadvantage gap for students with the lowest prior attainment was 1.3 pts in 2021/22 or just over 1/10th of a grade. The gap increased to 2.8 pts for A level students with prior attainment from grade 4 up to grade 7 and 3.5 pts (or just over 1/3 of a grade) for students with the highest prior attainment.

The increase in the overall A level disadvantage gap was driven by the increase in the disadvantage gap for students with the highest prior attainment. (Up 0.9 pts from 2.7 pts in 2020/21). There was a small increase for those with prior attainment of grade 4 up to grade 7 (up 0.2 pts from 2.6 pts) and the gap stayed steady for those with prior attainment of grade 0 up to grade 4.

Disadvantage and other student characteristics

Across level 3 exam cohorts, non-disadvantaged students with English as their first language obtained higher average results than students with a first language other than English. However, the reverse is true for disadvantaged students. Here students with a first language other than English achieved higher average results.

Disadvantaged Black or Black British students attained the lowest average results in 2021/22 of any ethnicity across level 3 cohorts. Non-disadvantaged Black or Black British students also attained lower average results than their non-disadvantaged peers. White students had the biggest disadvantage gaps (of students with known ethnicity) across level 3 cohorts.

The disadvantage gap remains greater for female students in all level 3 cohorts, as it has since 2019/20.

Summary

Data in this section covers A level entries and results for all students aged 16-18 at the start of the respective year. Students don't need to be triggered for inclusion in this data, so it is not impacted by the change in the 'trigger' rules, introduced in 2020/21, that determined when a student had reached the end of 16-18 study. It is also not impacted by removing CAG and TAG grades from data for 2021/22.

The chart below shows the distribution of A level grades for students aged 16 to 18 for each academic year. Overall, the proportion of entries achieving top grades (between A* and B) has decreased in comparison to 2020/21 but remains higher than 2018/19.

In 2021/22, 14.8% of awarded grades were at A*. This is an increase of 6.9ppts from 2018/19, but a decrease of 4.3ppts from 2020/21. The percentage of entries achieving A*-A grades is now 36.4%, which similarly corresponds to an increase of 10.6ppts compared to 2018/19 but a decrease of 7.9ppts from 2020/21. As previously noted however, year on year comparisons cannot be interpreted as students achieving at a higher standard. Where achievement gaps alter in 2019/20 and 2020/21 compared to previous years, it might reflect the different process by which grades were awarded across these years.

A level results by gender

Overall, in 2021/22 both male and female students were more likely to be awarded the higher A level grades (A*/A/B) than in 2018/19 but less likely than in 2020/21.

Across the top A* and A*-A grades the gender gap has decreased in comparison to 2020/21. Female students continue to be more likely to achieve these grades, which has been the trend for the last three years (since 2019/20) when a reversal of the gender gap was observed.

At A*-B the gap between female and male student achievement had been continuously increasing since 2017/18, however this year the gender gap has reduced from 6.9ppts in 2020/21 to 4.7ppts.

Data is this section covers A level entries and results for all students aged 16 to 18 at the start of respective year. Students don't need to be triggered for inclusion in this data, so it is not impacted by the change in the 'trigger' rules, introduced in 2020/21, that determined when a student had reached the end of 16 to 18 study. It is also not impacted by removing CAG and TAG grades from data for 2021/22.

STEM subjects here are defined as: biology, chemistry, physics, maths, further maths, and computing.

A level grades in STEM subjects

For 2021/22, the proportion of students achieving top grades (A*, A*-A, A*-B) in STEM subjects compared to 2020/21 has fallen. At A*, the largest decrease was in further maths (8.4ppts) and the smallest decrease was in physics (4.7ppts).

The STEM subjects have generally seen large increases in the proportion of students achieving top grades when compared to 2018/19. The largest increase at A* was further maths rising by 15.7ppts, and the smallest increase was in biology at 6.3ppts. The A*-A grade boundary also observed large increases in the proportion of entries achieving these grades, ranging from computer science (17.1ppts increase) to maths (6.6ppts increase).

This section replaces one that usually describes outcomes in the English and maths progress accountability measures. These are not being created in 2021/22 in Find School and College Performance Data due to the impact of excluding CAG and TAG grades on this measure (set out in more detail in the 16 to 18 accountability measures: technical guide).

These alternative data have been published as part of this statistical release since 2015/16. Coverage is all entries and outcomes in below level 3 English and maths qualifications for students aged 16 to 18 at the start of the respective year. Unlike data based on students at the end of 16-18 study, it means these data are not impacted by the trigger change in 2020/21, and not impacted by removing CAG and TAG grades from data for 2021/22.

It also means a student here can be reported in successive years, for example at age 16 in 2019/20, at age 17 in 2020/21, and at age 18 in 2021/22 if they entered exams in each year.

The tables below focus on GCSEs, and Functional Skills qualifications at level 2, level 1 and Entry level which make up the large majority of English and maths qualifications entered below level 3 (though outcomes for Other level 2, level 1, and Entry Level qualifications are available via the 'Explore data and files' section).

Fewer students are entering below level 3 maths and English qualifications

Most students aged 16 to 18 enter below level 3 English and maths qualifications because they did not achieve a GCSE pass at grade 9-4 or equivalent during key stage 4, and so are required to continue to study those subjects under Condition of Funding rules (CoF).

The overall fall observed in the number of below level 3 entries across both English and maths in GCSEs and Functional Skills is consistent with data published in Key Stage 4 performance showing an increasing proportion of pupils achieving grades 4 or above in English and maths GCSE during key stage 4 ( increasing from 59.8% in 2018/19 to 67.1% in 2020/21 in provisional data) - and so not being required to study below level 3 English or maths during the 16-18 phase.

An additional factor explaining the big fall in entries at GCSE from 2019/20 to 2021/22 (-27% English, -12% maths) is the higher proportion of GCSE entries in 2019/20 and 2020/21 during the 16-18 phase that resulted in a grade 9-4 pass, when grades were awarded through the CAG and TAG processes, because once a student achieves a 9-4 GCSE pass during 16-18 they no longer have to continue studying English and/or maths the following year.

Achievement of Level 2 English and maths through GCSE and Functional Skills qualifications

Many more age 16-18 students enter GCSEs (a level 1/level 2 qualification) than are entered for Functional skills (distinct qualifications at level 2, level 1 and Entry level).

Overall pass rates are broadly comparable at GCSE and L1 and L2 Functional skills. Given that the prior attainment distributions are similar at GCSE and level 2 functional skills (see table below), we might have expected to see a higher level 2 pass rate (grades 9-4) at GCSE. Although it is difficult to make direct comparisons due to range of grades available within the GCSE qualification.

Qualification KS4 Prior Attainment English entries in 2021/22 Proportion of English entries at prior attainment band maths entries in 2021/22 Proportion of maths entries at prior attainment band

All level 1 and level 2 qualifications have had decreases in their pass rates in 2021/22. Mathematics qualifications have seen much larger decreases than English across all qualifications.

Maths L2 functional skills decreased by 20.8 ppts to 63.6% (12.0 ppts fall in English to 81.0%). Maths L1 functional skills decreased by 10.2 ppts to 85.4% (English fall, 3.3ppts to 94.0%). For maths GCSE the overall pass rate (grade 9-1) decreased by 5.8ppts to 84.9% (English decreased by 3.7 ppts to 85.8%) and the level 2 pass rate (grade 9-4) also decreased 16.7ppts to 15.3% for Maths and 13.9ppts to 25.7% for English

In contrast, at KS4 the English language GCSE level 2 pass rate (grade 9-4) fell by more than maths. English language fell by 4.0 ppts and maths by 3.1ppts between 2020/21 and 2021/22 (provisional data).

Pass rates in English and maths at level 2 by institution type

GCSE entries by students at independent schools are most likely to pass at level 2, but it should be noted that Condition of Funding rules are not relevant for these schools, and these students may be resitting GCSEs to improve their KS4 grade, which could have already been at grade 4 or above. Amongst state-funded institutions, students in schools are consistently most likely to pass GCSE at level 2, then sixth form colleges and other FE sector colleges in both English and maths in 2020/21 and 2021/22.

Level 2 Functional Skills entries: within state-funded institutions sixth form colleges and 'Other FE sector' colleges are consistently more likely to pass than schools. Most entries in L2 Functional Skills are in 'Other FE sector' colleges.

Applied general, tech level, and technical certificate qualifications approved for reporting in this statistical release (and institution level performance data) are updated annually and published on gov.uk:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/performance-tables-technical-and-vocational-qualifications
The concept of qualifications approved for reporting has been applied since 2015/16 following Professor Alison Wolf's Review of Vocational Education. From 2017/18 at level 3 and from 2018/19 for technical certificates, the quality threshold for vocational and technical qualifications to be included in performance measures further increased. The later reforms include criteria relating to the size, content, and assessment, including a requirement that a proportion of a qualification's content is subject to external assessment. From 1 August 2020 the ESFA removed funding approval for pre-existing applied general and tech level qualifications (which had been approved in 2015/16 and 2016/17) which were running in parallel with newer redeveloped qualifications.

The measures presented in this section show the students entering these approved qualifications as a proportion of students entering a wider set of vocational qualifications that had been approved by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) for funding during 16 to 18 study.

Proportions entering approved tech level and applied general qualifications continue to increase following a large fall in 2017/18 (when both lists of approved qualifications changed substantially), with a jump in students entering reformed versions of qualifications in 21/22 (in part attributable to the defunding of unreformed pre-existing qualifications).

The coverage of the measure for technical certificates is strongly impacted by the removal of CAG and TAG data from 2021/22 accountability data (as coverage is students at the end of 16-18 study, and level 2 vocational qualifications are more often entered during a student's first year of 16-18 study and so are excluded from the calculation).

The following table shows that there is variation in whether different institution types enter students for qualifications approved for reporting in performance tables versus the wider set of qualifications that were approved for funding.

Overall students in state-funded schools continue to be most likely to enter reformed versions of vocational and technical qualifications at level 3 (reformed in 2017/18), but 2021/22 saw a marked increase in the proportion of students entering approved/reformed applied general and tech levels across all broad institution types.

Introduction to retention measures

The Retention measure shows the percentage of students who are retained to the end of the 'core aim' (or main learning aim) of their study programme at a school or college.

Students are counted as retained if they are recorded as having "completed the learning activities leading to the learning aim" by their institution. This information is collected in the school census or for students that attended sixth form or FE colleges, the Individualised Learner Record (ILR).

Retention measures are not calculated for independent schools or special schools (both independent and maintained) as learning aims data is not available for these schools.

The Retention measure is calculated by dividing the total number of students retained by the total number of students with a core aim, in each of the five programmes approved for reporting in performance tables: academic, A level, applied general, tech level, and at level 2, technical certificate programmes.

Since academic programmes comprise largely of A levels, only data for A level core aims are described here; overall data for academic programmes can be found in the 'create your own tables' section and in the underlying data available to download.

Alongside the headline Retention measure there are two supporting retention measures:

Retained and Assessed: The percentage of students who are retained to the end of their course and are assessed.

Returned and Retained for a second year: The percentage of level 3 students who return to the same provider and complete their programme of study in their second year. (The main difference when compared to Retention is for students who complete their core aim in one year.)

A fuller description of the methodology underlying retention measures can be found in the 16-18 technical guide (from page 41).

Retention measures and the impact of the trigger change in 2020/21

The impact of the trigger rule change, meaning that students were no longer automatically reported after two years in 16-18 study, was to reduce the reported number of students in scope for retention measures across all exam cohorts in 2020/21, with the biggest impact on vocational and technical cohorts (VTQs).

For retention measures, this meant that Retention rates were slightly increased in 2020/21 for level 3 cohorts (A level, applied general, tech level) than would have been seen otherwise. However, the impact on the level 2 technical certificate cohort was a large decrease in Retention rates (and in cohort size).

Fuller analysis on the impact on 2020/21 retention data can be found in the methodology document, in the section 'Changes introduced in the 2020/21 release', under the heading 'Impact of the trigger change on headline retention rates'.

Students whose reporting was delayed for one year due to the 2020/21 trigger change are reported in 2021/22. In other words, the impact of the trigger change was one-off discontinuity in retention data for 2020/21. For this reason, when looking at trends, data for 2021/22 is better compared to data for 2019/20 and earlier years.

All level 3 study programmes show increases in Retention rates in 2021/22 (A level +0.1 pts to 95.1%; applied general +1.8 pts to 91.7%; tech level +0.5 ppts to 91.1%). This continues a trend of increasing Retention rates since 2018/19. A level programmes continue to have the highest Retention rate as has been the case since the measure was introduced in 2015/16, but for the first time applied general programmes have a higher Retention rate than tech levels programmes.

Technical certificates have had lower Retention rates than Level 3 cohorts since being added to performance measures in 2016/17. However, they have seen an increase in Retention rate this year (+4.5 ppts to 86.6%), recovering from the impact of the trigger change that was seen last year and returning to previously-seen levels.

For the A level and applied general cohorts, rates for the Retained and Assessed measure have increasingly followed the same general trend as the Retention rate in recent years. Similarly, the Returned and Retained measure now also follows the same trend. This is most notable for the A level cohort where the phased decoupling of AS and A levels predominantly between 2017 and 2019 has resulted in a much smaller proportion of the A level cohort taking AS levels only and not then returning for a second year of study.

The tech level cohort shows a slightly different pattern this year whereby the Retained and Assessed rate has dropped slightly despite increases in both the Retained rate (retention to the end of the course) and the Returned and Retained rate (retention specifically over two years of a course). This means that within this cohort there was an increase in the proportion of students not being assessed at the end of their course .

The much smaller technical certificate cohort (Level 2) was heavily impacted by the trigger change in 2020/21 and shows less stable trends. In addition, the low cohort numbers mean that breakdowns of the technical certificate data, by student characteristics become increasingly unreliable, and therefore this cohort isn't discussed further.

Due to the similarity in the trends shown by the three retention measures, in particular for the two largest cohorts (A level and applied general), our further narrative will focus on the Retained and Assessed measure. Further breakdowns of the Retention measure and the Returned and Retained measure across all qualification cohorts are available in underlying data and through the table builder.

The Retained and Assessed rate is higher for non-disadvantaged students across all level 3 cohorts. Disadvantaged tech level students are least likely to be Retained and Assessed at 79.1%, which is 7.1 ppts lower than their non-disadvantaged peers. The Retained and Assessed disadvantage gap is smaller for A level and applied general (5.6 ppts and 5.3 ppts respectively).

The disadvantage gap has been narrowing for the A level cohort since 2018/19 (from 8.4 ppts to 5.6 ppts). Similarly, the applied general cohort has, overall, seen a substantial decrease in the gap in that time (from 7.9 ppts to 5.6 ppts). In contrast, the tech level cohort did not consolidate an initial decrease in the gap in 2019/20 and is now only slightly smaller than in 2018/19 (from 7.6 ppts to 7.1 ppts).

Changes to the distribution of prior attainment at A level between 2017/18 and 2021/22

The coverage of the retention measures is different to the attainment measures, and is described above in 'Retention: introduction and changes to the data in 2021/22'. The largest difference is that independent schools are excluded from the data, and this impacts the distribution of the prior attainment groups as students from independent schools have higher prior attainment on average.

The distribution of prior attainment has changed over time for all cohorts. The proportion of A level students with low prior attainment (from grade 0 up to grade 4) has decreased from 8.1% of the cohort in 2017/18 to 1.9% in 2021/22. High prior attaining students (average grade 7 or more) have increased their proportion of the cohort from 16.1% in 2017/18 to 35.3% in 2021/22.

This increase in the proportion of KS4 students achieving grades averaging 7 or more, in part reflects year on year grade increases at KS4, and in part reflects that most A level students at the end of 16-18 study in 2021/22 will have completed KS4 in 2019/20, and so their GCSE prior attainment will include Centre Assessment Grades (CAG).

However, in the vocational and technical cohorts, a larger proportion of students are being reported after three years in 16-18, hence prior attainment for these cohorts is less affected by CAGs. This is following delay in their reporting last year due to the change in the rule in 2020/21 triggering students for reporting.

Overall, students with the highest average prior attainment (grade 7+) are most likely to be Retained and Assessed in their main programme of study and students with the lowest prior attainment (grade 0 up to grade 4) the least likely to be Retained and Assessed. The highest Retained and Assessed rate is for high prior attaining A level students at 98.7%. The lowest Retained and Assessed rate is also for A level students. Low prior attaining A level students have a Retained and Assessed rate of 66.0%.

The Retained and Assessed rate for low prior attaining A level students has fallen and is now close to the 2018/19 rate, whereas the rate remains higher for other level 3 cohorts.

A full breakdown of all three retention measures by a range of other student characteristics is available through the table builder. Here, we draw attention to small number of breakdowns that may be of interest.

English Language

Across all level 3 cohorts, students with English as their first language have lower Retained and Assessed rates than students who do not. The difference is driven by poor rates for disadvantaged students with English as their first language.

The applied general cohort similarly has an increase in the Retained and Assessed rate since last year for all major (known) ethnicity groups and shows many of the same trends between groups. The Chinese ethnic group has the highest Retained and Assessed rates since 2018/19 (now at 95.8%) and the Black or Black British ethnic group and the Mixed Dual background ethnic group have made the biggest improvements in Retained and Assessed rates over recent years (+9.9 ppts to 89.1%, +9.9 ppts to 87.0% respectively). Again, the White ethnic group shows the largest disadvantage gap and White disadvantaged students have the lowest rates for Retained and Assessed.

The tech level cohort and the technical certificate cohort have very low numbers in some ethnic groups, and show less distinct patterns over recent years.

For the A level cohort, state-funded mainstream schools and Sixth form colleges have seen an increase in rates for Retained and Assessed this year (+1.5 ppts to 95.4% and +0.5 ppts to 92.3% respectively). In contrast, 'Other FE sector colleges' have seen a decrease (-2.3 ppts to 88.2%). However, the decrease for 'Other FE sector colleges' follows very large increases last year; the relative rates of the three major institution types have returned to levels seen before the change to the trigger rule.

There have also been decreases in the Retained and Assessed rate for 'Other FE sector colleges' in the applied general and tech level cohorts, following larger increases in the previous two years. All state-funded mainstream schools continue to have the lowest Retained and Assessed rates for applied general and tech level qualifications. This has been the case since 2018/19.

This data is available through the 'Explore data and files' section in the file called 'Time series - APS per entry by institution type'.

In addition it is accessible through the dashboard linked below. The dashboard combines data from this statistical release (covering the last 5 years) with selected older data compiled from previous versions of the 'A level and other 16 to 18 results' statistical release:
16-18 Time-series attainment and single year entries
On the left-hand side, clicking on the link ' Attainment: APS per entry and average result' brings up the dashboard with attainment data in terms of APS per entry.

Data including the applied general and tech level cohorts starts in 2015/16 (when these cohorts were first defined in this statistical release, and school and college data). Data for the A level cohort starts in 2012/13.

This data is available through the 'Explore data and files' section in the file called 'Time series - A level subject entries and grade by gender'.

In addition it is accessible through the dashboard linked below. The dashboard combines data from this statistical release (covering the last 5 years) with selected older data compiled from previous versions of the 'A level and other 16 to 18 results' statistical release:
16-18 Time-series attainment and single year entries
On the left-hand side, clicking on the link ' Attainment: A level entries and grade distribution' brings up the dashboard with A level entries data by subject, and A level grades by subject.

These data cover A level entries by students aged 16 to 18 within each academic year from 1995/96.

We have moved our Transition Matrices tool into a web based app for easier use. It is available at the following link:
16-18 Transition Matrices
Transition matrices (TM) are a useful tool to help visualise the progression from different groups of attainment at key stage 4 (KS4) to outcomes achieved during 16 to 18 for a range of different subjects.

Note that the 16 to 18 outcomes here will also be impacted by the different process to award grades in 2022, which is likely to impact the relationship between outcomes and KS4 prior attainment in 2021/22 for subjects.

Help and support

Methodology

Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.

National statistics

These accredited official statistics have been independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Accreditation signifies their compliance with the authority's Code of Practice for Statistics which broadly means these statistics are:

managed impartially and objectively in the public interest

meet identified user needs

produced according to sound methods

well explained and readily accessible

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

If you have a specific enquiry about A level and other 16 to 18 results statistics and data:

Attainment statistics team

Email: Attainment.STATISTICS@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Michael Greer

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A level and other 16 to 18 results, Academic year 2021/22

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This academic year saw the return of the summer exam series, after they had been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, where alternative processes were set up to award grades.

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Published: 19th January 2023
"We expect that overall results in summer 2023 will be much closer to the pre-pandemic years than results since 2020. In other words, we expect that overall, nationally, results in 2023 will be lower than they were in 2022."

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Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to be with you this afternoon as Chair of Ofqual. Unfortunately, the Chief Regulator is unable to be with us today, which I know she very much regrets. She spoke to your winter conference last year in remote format, but it's obviously much better to be here face to face and talk in person.

And what a difference a year makes. Last year saw the very welcome return of a normal series of examinations and formal assessments, or nearly normal. Thank you for everything you did to enable those to run smoothly in your colleges. I know it wasn't always easy but we had a really good outcome for young people, nonetheless.

I will be saying something later on exams this summer, but I wanted to start with what is happening on the review of level 3 qualifications, including, for example, courses like BTECs at level 3, but also the whole range of alternative academic and technical qualifications at level 3.

I know that there are questions and potentially some concerns about what is happening, including the approval process for continued funding, and why all this is happening, so I thought it might be helpful for me to offer a brief overview.

Aside from a small number of exceptions, all level 3 alternative academic and technical qualifications (qualifications at level 3 which are not T Levels or A levels, like for example level 3 BTECS, alongside many others) are being required to re-apply for funding as part of a government-led streamlining programme for these qualifications.

The government's aim for this exercise is in essence threefold:

firstly, to simplify the landscape, including addressing what is seen as in some cases unnecessary duplication where that exists

to drive up the quality of qualifications and the assessment that underpins them

and to ensure that appropriate priority is given to T Levels and their place in the landscape

These alternative and technical qualifications constitute a large and complex area in comparison, say, with A levels and T Levels. For example, there are more than 60 awarding organisations offering the qualifications that are in scope, and several thousand different level 3 qualifications in the alternative academic and technical space.

Some of these are large entry and well known to you in your colleges, and some, of course, are very small in terms of entry, and not likely to be on your radar as college leaders.

Last week the government published details of their new qualifications funding approval process for qualifications at level 3. Talking to your colleagues, I know that that is under scrutiny by your representatives and I am sure debate will continue. What the document sets out to do is bring clarity on what type of L3 qualifications are likely to be publicly funded alongside A levels and T Levels, and bring clarity on the timescales.

I recommend that you take a look at this for more detailed information. I believe the Department for Education will be running some webinars to look at some of this in more detail, which may be useful for colleagues here as well.

As part of the process that awarding organisations are going through, re-applying for funding, we, Ofqual, are contributing by providing qualitative feedback to the DfE on each qualification where funding is being reapplied for, as well as on the awarding organisation itself.

This means that these qualifications are coming under much greater individual regulatory scrutiny than has been the case up to now. Ofqual has put in place a range of higher expectations relating to quality that we expect awarding organisations to meet in their reapplications. It is against those expectations that we provide our qualitative feedback to the DfE and the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE).

As the process plays out, the DfE is taking decisions on funding for the reapplications it receives taking into consideration the quality-based advice Ofqual provides, as well as the contribution of IfATE, that represents the employer voice.

It is probably important to flag that the government absolutely recognises that, alongside the aim of simplifying the landscape, there will, in the future, still need to be a range of qualifications at L3 available alongside A levels and T Levels.

For many students these qualifications are important, not only as vehicles for their continued education and engagement in education, but also because they provide important routes for further study or employment. So there will likely be many decisions to approve applications for funding, alongside decisions not to continue to fund.

You might be wondering what this means for you as a college leader.

In short, unless you are a college which offers only A levels and GCSEs, or T Levels, it is almost certain you will be offering some of these qualifications, maybe for example level 3 BTECs or equivalent.

It is also at least possible that the government will determine that some of those qualifications do not meet the criteria for continued funding, which may mean you will need to take decisions about changing the portfolio of courses you provide in the interests of your students to reflect what is available and funded in the future. So following this process, including through your representatives in this association, to make sure that you are up to speed with decisions being taken is critically important. I am sure you will also continue to make your views heard.

Grading in 2023

Moving on now, I will now say something about arrangements for grading GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2023. We published our plans back in September so that higher education institutions could factor in decisions that were being made about grading before they embarked on their offer-making, and of course because some of you will have been arriving at UCAS predictions for students. We felt it was important you had as much information as possible before you started that process. Our plans for 2023 take us a step further on the road to normality, building on what happened in 2022, while also recognising the impact of the pandemic.

You will recall that in summer 2022, we aimed for a staging post on the way back to more normal grading. In 2023, we will return to pre-pandemic grading, but with some protection in place for your students, a soft landing, if you like.

Students in the 2023 cohort have not, during their exam courses, experienced the level of national school or college closures experienced by students in the 2 years before them. But I know, from listening to teachers, college leaders and students themselves, that many have certainly experienced some level of disruption.

So, to achieve that extra bit of protection, Ofqual will put in place the same sort of safeguards used for the first students taking reformed GCSEs and A levels from 2017 onwards.

Back in the reform context, that meant not disadvantaging students in the first cohorts if overall they performed less well because they were the first to sit the new exams.

So how will it work this summer? In practice, as in any year, grade boundaries for every specification will be set by senior examiners after they have reviewed the work produced by students in their exams.

But those senior examiners will be guided in their decisions about where to set grade boundaries by information about the grades achieved in pre-pandemic years, along with prior attainment data for the cohort.

So that means students in 2023 will be protected in grading terms if their examination performance in 2023 is a little lower than it might have been had the pandemic not taken place. That is what I mean by a soft landing.

What that means is, a typical student who would have achieved an A grade in their A level geography before the pandemic will be just as likely to get an A in summer 2023, even if their performance in the assessments is a little weaker in 2023 than it might have been before the pandemic.

We expect that overall results in summer 2023 will be much closer to the pre-pandemic years than results since 2020. In other words, we expect that overall, nationally, results in 2023 will be lower than they were in 2022.

Individual providers, including colleges and schools, should be prepared for this. I know, as a school leader myself, it's worrying if you look at figures that are lower than the previous year.

It's important that we don't compare the results in 2022 with any other year. Lower results in 2023 compared with 2022 will not mean, by itself, that your college's performance has fallen. It will be much more likely to reflect the return nationally to normal grading standards.

It is important to note that, while we aim to return pretty much to normal grading in 2023, this does not mean there is any nationally pre-determined 'quota' of grades. Every set of grade boundaries, qualification by qualification, is determined by human, senior examiners, taking account of all the information they have available, including actual student performance.

I did want to sound one note of caution: if you are using summer or autumn 2022 papers as mock or trial exams, the grade boundaries set for those papers are likely to be more generous, reflecting the approach we took in 2022, both summer and autumn. Do bear that in mind if you are using the results from mocks to give indicative grades for students being examined this year.

For vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) taken alongside or instead of GCSEs and A levels, awarding organisations are expected to take account of the grading approach being used in GCSEs and A levels. So for VTQ qualifications certificating in 2023, this also means a return to normal grading arrangements.

And a word about universities and higher education: decisions about grading by themselves have no effect on the number of higher education places available. That is determined by other factors and has got nothing to do with grading decisions.

Universities themselves will take account of how exams will be graded when they make their offers, including any differences between the 4 nations of the UK (which already exist). Universities are well-experienced in factoring those in to their offering arrangements.

UCAS wrote out to all schools just after Ofqual announced our grading decision, to explain how offers will be made this year, and to confirm that universities would take our grading decision into account. The Chief Regulator also wrote to admissions officers just before Christmas.

Formulae/equation sheets, MFL and resilience

Further points on 2023: there are one or two changes to support students taking GCSEs. Students will be given formulae sheets for GCSE maths and revised equation sheets for GCSE physics and combined science, which we did in 2022 for those GCSEs. This will give some additional reassurance to GCSE students in the exam itself.

And for modern foreign languages GCSEs, Ofqual's changed requirements mean that exams do not have to test unfamiliar vocabulary. That's to make it feel a bit more accessible for students this year.

Delivering exams

Turning now to resilience, the arrangements in place should the unthinkable happen in summer 2023. Clearly the closer we get to the summer, the less likely that becomes, but we've all learned to be cautious in how we predict the future. In November, Ofqual and the DfE jointly published guidance on resilience, in the very unlikely event that exams are not able to go ahead as planned. Some colleges may be running mock exams now and I know this is a big operation, particularly in colleges such as yours with large cohorts of students. You are also, simultaneously, preparing students to take their end of year exams. Ofqual was conscious of this when we published the guidance.

The thrust of that guidance, designed to minimise the burden on you and your students, is that any assessment opportunities you plan should be in line with your normal approaches, as far as possible.

As well as all the work you do to prepare your students to take their assessments through your teaching and learning, we know that the administration and delivery of exams is something you take seriously. We take our hats off to people in colleges leading the examinations operation.

It is enormously complex, but there is training and support available, and I encourage you to make sure those who are charged with doing this work get access to the range of training available for them so they can benefit from it and deliver as well as possible on behalf of students.

If you've looked at the GCSE and A level exam timetables for next year, you'll see there are some changes from 2022.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) listened to feedback about the spacing between exams in the same subject in summer 2022. They have taken this on board for 2023.

They will largely be preserving those gaps, to reduce the risk of students missing all exams in a subject, but the spacing between some papers is slightly less next summer.

I did just want to draw your attention to the contingency days that they have built in. Both the 8 and 15 June will be 'contingency afternoons' and the 28 June will be a contingency day in case there is national or local disruption that would mean exams had to be re-scheduled.

Do please let your students know about this and remind them that they might have to be available on those dates. It's particularly important for them to be aware if they are planning holidays.

There are more details on the JCQ website, and a quick plug for Ofqual's resources as well: every year we provide a guide for students and a guide for schools and colleges. These will be published in the spring, and always live somewhere central on our website. I hope you'll be able to point your students to them.

Vocational and technical qualification results in 2023

And finally, just as Ofqual regulates in the interests of students of all ages and apprentices, we are also convinced of the need for parity of treatment for students across the different sorts of qualifications your colleges provide, whether vocational or academic.

So I wanted to reassure you that we have in train a series of actions to prevent a repeat of the delayed results in vocational and technical qualifications that we saw last August. I know this affected some of you and your students.

We were shocked by what became apparent in August. Not only that around 20,000 students from 1,550 centres had delayed results, but that for some time, there hadn't been a single date by which VTQ students could expect results - even when they were used for progression. That is not acceptable and Ofqual will work with the sector to fix this, not just for this summer, but for the long term and in the interests of being fair to students taking these qualifications.

Our investigation of the awarding organisations involved continues, as does our review of the extent of the problem. We will consider whether enforcement action is appropriate after that concludes.

In December, we published the 5 key actions that Ofqual, working with you and others in the sector, will deliver.

These actions cover a range of areas, and there isn't time to cover them in detail here. They include putting in place clear deadlines, improving data sharing, introducing check-ins for colleges and awarding organisations, improving information accessibility about these qualifications, improving communications from awarding organisations to centres, improving training for staff running exams, and monitoring the implementation of all this via a joint taskforce from around the sector chaired by the Chief Regulator.

We are certain that taken together these actions will to a very significant extent address the issues we saw playing out this summer (and which to a greater or lesser extent have been endemic in the system).

Thank you very much for your attention - I think we still have a few moments for any questions.

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Sir Ian Bauckham CBE at the Sixth Form Colleges Association winter conference

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Ofqual's Chair looks ahead to assessment and examination results in 2023.

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Inspiration Teaching School Hub: Spring Newsletter

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Inspiration Teaching School Hub: Spring Newsletter

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For schools in Mid, South and East Norfolk

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Julian Teaching School Hub: NPQ IN LEADING TEACHING

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Julian Teaching School Hub: NPQ IN LEADING TEACHING

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February 2023 Start

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Julian Teaching School Hub: NPQ IN SENIOR LEADERSHIP

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Julian Teaching School Hub: NPQ IN SENIOR LEADERSHIP

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February 2023 Start

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Ofqual: Letter to Heads and Principals - arrangements for exams and assessments in 2023

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Ofqual: Letter to Heads and Principals - arrangements for exams and assessments in 2023

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Published: 9th December 2022

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Thank you to you and your colleagues for the vital part you played in the successful return to exams and formal assessments earlier this year. Over one million students received more than 5 million qualifications despite the disruption caused by the pandemic. From talking to teachers and students wh…

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This is a free opportunity for artists to come into school in November, December or early January with all the resources required to work with classes.
School's designs will be included in larger window artwork to be publicly displayed at night, to shine across Norfolk beginning January 2023.

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National Statistics: 2021/22 16 to 18 Results and Performance Measures 

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National Statistics: 2021/22 16 to 18 Results and Performance Measures 

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Published: 10th November

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This academic year saw the return of the summer exam series, after they had been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, where alternative processes were set up to award grades. As part of the transition back to the summer exam series adaptations were made to the exams (including advance information) and the approach to grading for 2022 exams broadly reflected a midpoint between results in 2019 and 2021.

The 16 to 18 performance measures reported in this revised release for the 2021/22 academic year, and to be included on the Find School and College Performance Data website, have been affected by our commitment not to include results from qualifications awarded between January 2020 and August 2021 (see section 'Changes to the data in 2021/22').

Throughout this release, comparisons are made with both 2021, the most recent year, and 2019, because it is most meaningful to compare to the last year summer exams were sat. Given the unprecedented change in how A level and vocational and VTQ grades were awarded in 2020 and 2021, as well as changes to the grade boundaries and methods of assessment for 2021/22, users need to exercise caution when considering comparisons over time, as they may not reflect changes in student performance alone.

Related information

Releases in this series

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Methodologies

Headline facts and figures - 2021/22

A level retention

95.1%

An increase of 3.8 ppts from 2018/19

What is this?

This is the headline retention rate for A level programmes. (The percentage of students who completed their A level programme).

Applied general retention

91.7%

An increase of 5.1 ppts from 2018/19

What is this?

This is the headline retention rate for applied general programmes. (The percentage of students who completed their applied general programme).

Tech level retention

91.1%

An increase of 3.2 ppts from 2018/19

What is this?

This is the headline retention rate for tech level programmes. (The percentage of students who completed their tech level programme).

Average Point Score (APS) per entry for all level 3 cohorts is lower compared to 2020/21: A level, -2.8 pts; applied general, -0.7 pts; tech level, - 1.1 pts. However, attainment remains higher compared to 2018/19: A level, +4.9pts; applied general, +3.1 pts; tech level +1.9 pts. [An increase of 10 points is equivalent to an increase in one full grade]. This follows Ofqual's announcement in September 2021 that 2022 will be a transition year where the aim was for exam results to broadly reflect a midway point between 2021 (TAG grades) and 2019 (the last year all students sat exams).

The trend for falling average attainment across level 3 cohorts in 2021/22 compared to 2020/21 was observed across institution types generally (when grouped into state-funded schools, independent schools, sixth form colleges, and 'Other FE sector colleges') with the exception of applied general attainment in sixth form colleges and independent schools which increased in 2021/22 (+ 0.2 pts and + 0.8 pts respectively).

The disadvantage gap (between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students) is at its widest level for all Level 3 cohorts (A level, tech level, and applied general) since disadvantage measures began in 2016/17.

Gender gaps in favour of female students in average attainment at A level, applied general, and tech level have narrowed in 2021/22 compared to 2020/21; average attainment had increased more for female students than males with the alternative Centre Assessment Grade (CAG) and Teacher Assessed Grade (TAG) awarding processes in 2019/20 and 2020/21 compared with 2018/19.

The percentage of students who completed their main or 'core' aim from their study programme, known as the Retention rate, increased across all programmes in 2021/22.

Non-disadvantaged students are more likely to be retained than disadvantaged students, across all cohorts.

Students with higher prior attainment are more likely to be retained than students with lower prior attainment, across all level 3 cohorts.

Given the unprecedented change in the way results were awarded in the summers of 2020 and 2021, as well as the changes to methods of assessment for 2021/22, users need to exercise caution when considering comparisons over time, as they may not reflect changes in pupil performance alone.

The changes seen in the headline statistics likely reflect the changes in methodology for awarding grades and in calculating the measures, rather than demonstrating a difference in standards.

Explore data and files used in this release

View tables that we have built for you, or create your own tables from open data using our table tool

Browse and download open data files from this release in our data catalogue

Learn more about the data files used in this release using our online guidance

Download all data available in this release as a compressed ZIP file

All supporting files from this release are listed for individual download below:

Provisional results (November 2022) for A level and other 16 to 18 results 2021-22

Transition matrices data used for visualising the progress of pupils aged 16 to 18 from key stage 4 (KS4) to key stage 5 (KS5).

Instructions to accompany the transition matrices data

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the summer exam series was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021, and alternative processes set up to award grades. Throughout this release, comparisons are made with both 2021, the most recent year, and 2019, because it is most meaningful to compare to the last year summer exams were sat.

A/AS and vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs)

In summer 2021 students were awarded A/AS grades based on an assessment by their teachers using a range of available evidence. Students were only assessed on the content they had been taught. In 2021 some VTQ grades were decided using teacher-assessed grades, others using normal assessment routes, and some through adapted assessment such as remote invigilation.

Exceptionally in autumn 2020 and 2021 an autumn series was put in place to allow students the opportunity to try to improve their A level or AS grade from the summer, if they wished to do so. Further information on the autumn 2021 series is available at this link:
https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2021/12/16/as-and-a-level-results-in-the-autumn-2021-series/
A/AS exams returned in 2022 and adaptations were made to exams (including advance information), and the approach to grading for 2022 exams broadly reflected a midpoint between results in 2019 and 2021.

The diversity of vocational qualifications meant that Ofqual did not prescribe a single approach to adaptations, so Awarding Organisations (AOs) had flexibility to choose how to adapt their assessments. However, Ofqual's regulatory framework requires AOs as far as possible to ensure VTQ learners were not disadvantaged nor advantaged compared with their A level peers when setting standards.

For further information on the process to award grades in 2021 and 2022 see the following links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/awarding-qualifications-in-summer-2021/awarding-qualifications-in-summer-2021 https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-for-centres-awarding-vtqs-in-2021-and-2022
Reporting of 2022 results by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) and Ofqual

As happens every year on A level results day (18 August for summer 2022 results) JCQ published data on A level entries for qualifications awarded in summer 2022, and for each subject the distribution of grades awarded (with data for the previous summer for reference): https://www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/

The data published by JCQ can be expected to show the same broad patterns as the underlying data published in this statistical release 'Entries and results - A level and AS by subject and student characteristics (single academic year). However, the coverage of the data is different: JCQ data covers all A level entries in the UK by people of all ages. Data in this statistical release covers exam entries by 16 to 18 year olds in schools and colleges in England, and includes breakdowns by a wide range of student characteristics.

In addition, Ofqual also routinely publish data on results day: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/guide-to-as-and-a-level-results-in-england-summer-2022

Data excluded from 2021/22 measures due to alternative assessment arrangements in 2020 and 2021

We have committed not to include results of qualifications achieved between January 2020 and August 2021 in school and college performance measures on Find Schools and College Performance Data website, given the alternative assessment arrangements used to award those grades.

For consistency, when calculating 16 to 18 performance measures for 2021/22 in this statistical release, data will only include entries and grades from qualifications awarded in the 2021/22 academic year, with the exception of AS and A level qualifications taken as part of the extraordinary autumn 2021 examination series which are also excluded.

However, results from qualifications routinely offered in the autumn of 2021 that would usually be approved for reporting, such as vocational and technical qualifications taken in autumn 2021, will be included even if some of the VTQ constituent unit-level grades were awarded between January 2020 and August 2021 via Centre Assessment Grade, Teacher Assessed Grade, or another process.

The table below shows the impact at national level of excluding these data, by comparing the number of students and headline attainment measures for each cohort.

The impact on A level student numbers is modest. It is greater for students entering vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs), who are more likely to enter qualifications over multiple years. It should be noted that students may have results from multiple years including 2021/22. In this case the student is included in this data but some of their results are excluded.

The technical certificate cohort has been substantially impacted by this change, as students are often not triggered for reporting in the same year as they complete the qualification.

Smaller cohorts in 2021/22, do not necessarily translate into impacts on attainment. Nationally, the impact on A level Average Point Score (APS) is minimal (1/200th of a grade) with slightly larger changes for the level 3 vocational and technical qualifications.

Impact of the change

Number of students
-2% -10% -15% -84%

APS
+0.06 +0.60 +0.72 +0.12

Other changes for the 2021/22 release

English and maths progress measures will not be published in this statistical release until these measures return to Find school and college performance data website (likely 2024/25, as set out in 16 to 18 accountability headline measures: technical guide, due to the impact of excluding CAG/TAG grades on this performance measure).

Similarly, 16 to 18 value-added measures, which would rely on KS4 prior attainment including some data from summer 2020, continue not to be published in 2021/22. Value-added measures will return as soon as possible, which will be for the 2023/24 academic year at the earliest; further details are included in the technical guide.

Breakdowns of performance measures by prior attainment, usually published in spring with the Retention update have been brought forward to the provisional release along with other breakdowns by student characteristics. Note, we distinguish between the use of prior attainment data nationally to breakdown measures by student characteristics in this statistical release and their use to calculate performance measures that will be published for individual schools and colleges on Find School and College Performance Data.

SEN Provision contains additional breakdowns by SEN types for the first time in national level data at 16 to 18.

Additional 'bivariate' data giving a breakdown of headline attainment and disadvantage status in combination with other characteristics are available for the first time.

Changes continuing from the 2020/21 release

Characteristic breakdowns usually published in the revised update have been brought forward to the provisional release. This is a permanent change.

The rules for determining when students reach the end of their 16-18 study changed in 2020/21 and students can no longer be triggered solely due to spending two years in the same school or college. The impact of this change on 2020/21 data was to reduce the number of students in each cohort, with vocational and technical qualifications impacted most. In 2021/22, student numbers returned to pre-rule change levels, as expected.

Full details of the trigger change are set out in the section 'Changes introduced in the 2020/21 release' in the Quality and Methodology documentation.

Checking exercise and other amendments

This updated release is based on revised data. Since the release of provisional data in November, amendments to the data have been made. These include the addition of 'late' results from some Awarding Organisations, and changes made by schools and colleges through a 'checking exercise'.

The checking exercise takes place in the autumn term and gives schools and colleges the opportunity to amend their data. Some students are removed from a school or colleges results, for example because the student wasn't on roll or has not yet completed 16-18 study. Some students are added where they are flagged by a school or college as having completed 16-18 study despite not being triggered. Changes need to be approved to be included in revised data.

The 2021/22 academic year saw the return of the school and college checking exercise, after it was suspended in the two previous years. In this release data for 2019/20 and 2020/21 is labelled as 'final' data. This is provisional data adjusted for results from the autumn series for AS and A levels. (The autumn series gave students an opportunity to sit an exam if they were unhappy with the grade awarded to them through the alternative process). Data from 2019/20 and 2020/21 did not go through a checking exercise; schools and colleges did not have an opportunity to amend their data as described above.

The table shows the size of the change between provisional and revised/final data. Generally, the change in the numbers of students included in the data in 2021/22 is relatively small in terms of the overall cohort size, the exception being technical certificates where there are 655 more students in the revised release than the provisional (an increase of 87%). This increase is predominantly due to results being reported late by Awarding Organisations.

The size of the change between provisional and revised data is generally smaller in 2021/22 than in 2017/18 and 2018/19. Changes to the trigger rule were introduced to reduce the burden on schools and colleges. This gives an indication that the change is working as intended.

Change in the numbers of students between the provisional and revised/final data:

Cohort

Report year

2017/18

2018/19

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

The table below shows the size of the change in the average point score between the provisional and the revised release. The changes are minimal. A change of 0.1 pts at A level / applied general / tech level is equivalent to 1/100th of a grade.

Change in Average Point Score (APS) per entry between the provisional and revised/final data.

Report year

2017/18

2018/19

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

Unless stated otherwise statistics reported here refer to 16 to 18 year olds in England:

who reached the end of their 16 to 18 study in 2021/22. Students typically spend either two or three years in the 16 to 18 phase. (Usually, attainment includes results from qualifications entered during all those years. However, this year, attainment excludes results from qualifications that were awarded between January 2020 and August 2021).

who entered qualifications approved for reporting in 2022 school and college performance tables, set out in the 16 to 18 qualifications, discount codes and point scores guidance.

Qualifications are grouped into A level (subset of Academic), Applied General, and Tech Level exam cohorts at level 3, and Technical Certificates at level 2. Students can be reported in more than one exam cohort.

Student numbers by cohort

Students are included in this statistical release when they reach the end of their 16 to 18 study in schools and colleges in England. As set out in the Methodology guidance, the rules for determining when that happens changed in 2020/21, and students are no longer automatically triggered for reporting after spending two years in the same school or college.

The impact of the trigger change in 2020/21 was to reduce the number of students in each cohort, with vocational and technical qualifications impacted most. As expected, student numbers have generally returned to their pre-rule change level in 2021/22, with student numbers in all level 3 cohorts being higher than in 2019/20 and 2020/21.

Results for qualifications awarded between January 2020 and August 2021 have been excluded from the data. The technical certificate cohort has been substantially impacted by this change, as students are often not triggered for reporting until they turn 18, often a year or two after they complete the qualification. More detail is provided in the section 'Changes to the data in 2021/22', where in particular excluding CAG and TAG grades reduced reported technical certificate student numbers by 84%.

The growth in the number of students entered for applied general and tech level qualifications in 2021/22 approved for reporting in performance measures reflects the removal of funding approval from 1 August 2020 for pre-existing qualifications which were running in parallel with newer redeveloped qualifications. Prior to that numbers had been increasing more slowly following big falls in 2017/18 when qualifications were reformed. The number of students in the A level cohort, which includes students who only enter AS levels, has increased after several years of decline. (The previous decline reflected fewer AS level entries following the now completed A level reform to decouple A and AS levels.)

The overall growth in student numbers may also be partly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some students reported here completed their pre-16 study in 2019/20 where higher grades were awarded via Centre Assessment Grades. These higher grades resulted in greater numbers of students applying for post-16 places and may have shifted some students away from level two technical certificates and into level 3 qualifications. There were also fewer alternative options available for these students in terms of apprenticeships and other employment opportunities ( Key stage 4 destination measures showed that a smaller proportion of students who completed key stage 4 in 2019/20 progressed to sustained apprenticeship or employment outcomes in 2020/21).

Disadvantage

Disadvantaged students are all students who were in receipt of pupil premium when they were in their last year of KS4.

Disadvantage measures do not include students who were not reported at the end of KS4 - for example, because they came from overseas. Students who were known to be at independent schools in their last year of KS4 are treated as non-disadvantaged.

Disadvantage measures cover students in state-funded schools or colleges.

23.6% of state-funded students, at the end of 16 to 18 study, were recorded as having disadvantaged status in 2021/22. The percentage of students examined in level 3 vocational and technical qualifications was generally in line with this. (Applied general 23.0% and tech level 23.0%). Disadvantages students were overrepresented at technical certificate with 32.4% of the cohort identified as having disadvantaged status. Disadvantaged students were underrepresented at A level with 14.3% of the cohort identified as having disadvantaged status.

Prior attainment

Prior attainment is a measure of the average points attained per qualification at Key Stage 4. Simple discounting rules apply, with the best result in any subject used when calculating the average point score at KS4. Any GCSE resits or additional qualifications gained during 16 to 18 are ignored. For the vast majority, prior attainment is between 0-9 reflecting the range of possible grades at GCSE (where 9 is the highest grade).

[Note, whilst results from January 2020 to August 2021 are removed from calculation of performance measures, for the purposes of this statistical release they will be retained when calculating a student's prior attainment to explain outcomes in performance measures, in the same way that outcomes nationally are broken down by gender, disadvantage, etc].

In 2021/22, 18.4% of students at the end of their 16 to 18 study had the highest prior attainment (grade 7+). The large majority of students with the highest prior attainment choose to study at least one A/AS level (94.8%). High attainers now make up 36.2% of the A level cohort compared to 4.7% of the applied general and 3.7% of the tech level cohort. The proportion of students with the highest prior attainment has increased year on year for each cohort since 2019/20 (from when KS4 prior attainment has been calculated in this release).

27.5% of students at the end of 16 to 18 study in 2021/22 had the lowest prior attainment (from grade 0 up to grade 4). The proportion of students with the lowest prior attainment has decreased year on year for each exam cohort since 2019/20.

This change in the distribution of prior attainment for exam cohorts, will in part reflect year on year grade increases at KS4 and in part reflect that the majority of students at the end of 16-18 study in 2021/22 will have completed KS4 in 2019/20, and whose GCSE prior attainment will include Centre Assessment Grades (CAG).

Summary

These figures give the average points and average result that students achieved throughout their 16 to 18 study. Results awarded between January 2020 and August 2021 have been excluded from this data. (See the section 'Changes to the data in 2021/22). While the majority of results come from the student's final year of study (in particular for A levels), a small number of results awarded prior to January 2020 are included.

Points are given to all qualifications so we can compare qualifications of different size and grading structures. A maximum of 60 points are available for A level, 50 points for applied general and tech level and 8 points for technical certificates. More information on points, APS bands and grade boundaries can be found in the technical guide for 16 to 18 accountability measures (from page 27).

In September 2021 Ofqual announced that 2022 will be a transition year where the aim was for exam results to broadly reflect a midway point between 2021 and 2019. Consequently, the average results are lower in 2021/22 across all level 3 cohorts than in 2020/21.

A level programmes have seen the largest decrease (2.8 pts, compared to 0.7 pts for applied general and 1.1 pts for tech level). This is as expected due to the larger increases seen in A level grades between 2018/19 and 2020/21 relative to the vocational and technical qualifications. Technical certificates have seen a small increase (0.2 pts) in the average points score. However, interpretation of this increase is undermined by a 58% drop in cohort numbers. Given that 84% of technical certificate students have been excluded form the data (see 'Changes to the data in 2021/22'), technical certificate results will not be discussed in the breakdowns, however the data is available in the table builder tool.

For all Level 3 cohorts, the average result remains the same as in 2020/21.

At A level, the South East, London and East of England tend to do better, being on or near the top in the last 3 years. These same regions have ranked in the bottom 4 for applied general in the same time period.

The North West is in the top half of the table for both A level and applied general, although the region dipped in both exam cohorts in 2020/21 when teacher assessed grades were used.

The East Midlands is in the bottom half of the table for both A level and applied general. The region attained the lowest A level results this year.

Regional rankings are more variable for tech levels (which may be attributable to the smaller total number of tech level entries).

Average results by disadvantage status

The 2021/22 disadvantage gap has increased in comparison to last year for the A level cohort and has remained stable for applied general and tech level cohorts. For the level 3 exam cohorts, the average point score has decreased for both disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students, however for A level students, the decrease was larger for disadvantaged students.

The disadvantage gap for Level 3 cohorts is at its widest point since the measure was introduced in 2016/17. (NB, this statistical release contains data for the last 5 years back to 2017/18, but disadvantage data was first published based on 2016/17 revised data).

To get a fuller picture on the impact of disadvantage status, this data should be looked at in conjunction with data on retention rates (the percentage of students who have completed their main study programme at a provider). In 2020/21, 94.3% of non-disadvantaged A level students were retained and assessed compared to 88.5% of disadvantaged students. Students are only included in the average point score measure if they are entered for examination i.e. if they are retained and assessed. More information on 2020/21 retention can be found in the 2020/21 version of this statistical release. An update to this statistical release with 2021/22 retention figures will be released on 30th March 2023.

Average results by gender

For the level 3 exam cohorts, both female and male students saw a drop in average attainment in 2021/22 when compared to 2020/21. The decrease was larger for female students than male students, which has resulted in a narrowing of the gender gap compared to last year.

When compared to 2018/19, the gender gap is slightly wider for A level students, but slightly narrower for applied general students in 2021/22. For tech level students the gender gap has reversed such that in 2018/19 it was in favour of male students, but since 2020/21 it has been in favour of female students.

The gender gap for the percentage of students achieving at least 2 A levels has been continuously decreasing for the past 5 years, falling from 5.2 ppts in 2017/18 to 0.9 ppts in 2021/22 in favour of female students.

Average results by ethnicity

Of the major ethnicity groups, Black or Black British students attained the lowest average result across all level 3 cohorts in 2021/22. At A level, Black or Black British students' attainment was almost a full grade lower than that of Chinese students. The rank order of attainment by ethnicity has remained almost unchanged at A level through the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes to the grading processes.

Prior attainment

Typically, the higher the average KS4 prior attainment, the higher the average outcome at the end of 16 to 18 study, regardless of the programme of study.

The attainment gap between students with the highest and lowest prior attainment has remained stable throughout different grading processes since 2019/20 (when this prior attainment data is available). The attainment gap at A level is around 25 pts (or 2.5 grades) and at applied general and tech level is around 19 pts (or just under 2 grades).

Average results for other student characteristics

Breakdowns of other student characteristics, including SEN provision, first language and more, are available in the featured tables and create your own tables sections of this statistical release.

This year we have introduced a new data file to this statistical release called 'Attainment and other performance measures - student characteristics and disadvantage status'. This data file gives more detail about disadvantaged students by breaking down the disadvantaged status of students by other student characteristics. In breaking down the data in this way we hope to be able to better identify how student characteristics interact. The following sections show some illustrative analyses.

Disadvantage and prior attainment

The distribution of disadvantaged students is uneven across the prior attainment bands. At A level, 9.3% of students in state-funded institutions with the highest prior attainment (grade 7+) have disadvantaged status, while 27.8% with prior attainment from grade 0 up to grade 4 have disadvantaged status.

At A level the disadvantage gap for students with the lowest prior attainment was 1.3 pts in 2021/22 or just over 1/10th of a grade. The gap increased to 2.8 pts for A level students with prior attainment from grade 4 up to grade 7 and 3.5 pts (or just over 1/3 of a grade) for students with the highest prior attainment.

The increase in the overall A level disadvantage gap was driven by the increase in the disadvantage gap for students with the highest prior attainment. (Up 0.9 pts from 2.7 pts in 2020/21). There was a small increase for those with prior attainment of grade 4 up to grade 7 (up 0.2 pts from 2.6 pts) and the gap stayed steady for those with prior attainment of grade 0 up to grade 4.

Disadvantage and other student characteristics

Across level 3 exam cohorts, non-disadvantaged students with English as their first language obtained higher average results than students with a first language other than English. However, the reverse is true for disadvantaged students. Here students with a first language other than English achieved higher average results.

Disadvantaged Black or Black British students attained the lowest average results in 2021/22 of any ethnicity across level 3 cohorts. Non-disadvantaged Black or Black British students also attained lower average results than their non-disadvantaged peers. White students had the biggest disadvantage gaps (of students with known ethnicity) across level 3 cohorts.

The disadvantage gap remains greater for female students in all level 3 cohorts, as it has since 2019/20.

Summary

Data in this section covers A level entries and results for all students aged 16-18 at the start of the respective year. Students don't need to be triggered for inclusion in this data, so it is not impacted by the change in the 'trigger' rules, introduced in 2020/21, that determined when a student had reached the end of 16-18 study. It is also not impacted by removing CAG and TAG grades from data for 2021/22.

The chart below shows the distribution of A level grades for students aged 16 to 18 for each academic year. Overall, the proportion of entries achieving top grades (between A* and B) has decreased in comparison to 2020/21 but remains higher than 2018/19.

In 2021/22, 14.8% of awarded grades were at A*. This is an increase of 6.9ppts from 2018/19, but a decrease of 4.3ppts from 2020/21. The percentage of entries achieving A*-A grades is now 36.4%, which similarly corresponds to an increase of 10.6ppts compared to 2018/19 but a decrease of 7.9ppts from 2020/21. As previously noted however, year on year comparisons cannot be interpreted as students achieving at a higher standard. Where achievement gaps alter in 2019/20 and 2020/21 compared to previous years, it might reflect the different process by which grades were awarded across these years.

A level results by gender

Overall, in 2021/22 both male and female students were more likely to be awarded the higher A level grades (A*/A/B) than in 2018/19 but less likely than in 2020/21.

Across the top A* and A*-A grades the gender gap has decreased in comparison to 2020/21. Female students continue to be more likely to achieve these grades, which has been the trend for the last three years (since 2019/20) when a reversal of the gender gap was observed.

At A*-B the gap between female and male student achievement had been continuously increasing since 2017/18, however this year the gender gap has reduced from 6.9ppts in 2020/21 to 4.7ppts.

Data is this section covers A level entries and results for all students aged 16 to 18 at the start of respective year. Students don't need to be triggered for inclusion in this data, so it is not impacted by the change in the 'trigger' rules, introduced in 2020/21, that determined when a student had reached the end of 16 to 18 study. It is also not impacted by removing CAG and TAG grades from data for 2021/22.

STEM subjects here are defined as: biology, chemistry, physics, maths, further maths, and computing.

A level grades in STEM subjects

For 2021/22, the proportion of students achieving top grades (A*, A*-A, A*-B) in STEM subjects compared to 2020/21 has fallen. At A*, the largest decrease was in further maths (8.4ppts) and the smallest decrease was in physics (4.7ppts).

The STEM subjects have generally seen large increases in the proportion of students achieving top grades when compared to 2018/19. The largest increase at A* was further maths rising by 15.7ppts, and the smallest increase was in biology at 6.3ppts. The A*-A grade boundary also observed large increases in the proportion of entries achieving these grades, ranging from computer science (17.1ppts increase) to maths (6.6ppts increase).

This section replaces one that usually describes outcomes in the English and maths progress accountability measures. These are not being created in 2021/22 in Find School and College Performance Data due to the impact of excluding CAG and TAG grades on this measure (set out in more detail in the 16 to 18 accountability measures: technical guide).

These alternative data have been published as part of this statistical release since 2015/16. Coverage is all entries and outcomes in below level 3 English and maths qualifications for students aged 16 to 18 at the start of the respective year. Unlike data based on students at the end of 16-18 study, it means these data are not impacted by the trigger change in 2020/21, and not impacted by removing CAG and TAG grades from data for 2021/22.

It also means a student here can be reported in successive years, for example at age 16 in 2019/20, at age 17 in 2020/21, and at age 18 in 2021/22 if they entered exams in each year.

The tables below focus on GCSEs, and Functional Skills qualifications at level 2, level 1 and Entry level which make up the large majority of English and maths qualifications entered below level 3 (though outcomes for Other level 2, level 1, and Entry Level qualifications are available via the 'Explore data and files' section).

Fewer students are entering below level 3 maths and English qualifications

Most students aged 16 to 18 enter below level 3 English and maths qualifications because they did not achieve a GCSE pass at grade 9-4 or equivalent during key stage 4, and so are required to continue to study those subjects under Condition of Funding rules (CoF).

The overall fall observed in the number of below level 3 entries across both English and maths in GCSEs and Functional Skills is consistent with data published in Key Stage 4 performance showing an increasing proportion of pupils achieving grades 4 or above in English and maths GCSE during key stage 4 ( increasing from 59.8% in 2018/19 to 67.1% in 2020/21 in provisional data) - and so not being required to study below level 3 English or maths during the 16-18 phase.

An additional factor explaining the big fall in entries at GCSE from 2019/20 to 2021/22 (-27% English, -12% maths) is the higher proportion of GCSE entries in 2019/20 and 2020/21 during the 16-18 phase that resulted in a grade 9-4 pass, when grades were awarded through the CAG and TAG processes, because once a student achieves a 9-4 GCSE pass during 16-18 they no longer have to continue studying English and/or maths the following year.

Achievement of Level 2 English and maths through GCSE and Functional Skills qualifications

Many more age 16-18 students enter GCSEs (a level 1/level 2 qualification) than are entered for Functional skills (distinct qualifications at level 2, level 1 and Entry level).

Overall pass rates are broadly comparable at GCSE and L1 and L2 Functional skills. Given that the prior attainment distributions are similar at GCSE and level 2 functional skills (see table below), we might have expected to see a higher level 2 pass rate (grades 9-4) at GCSE. Although it is difficult to make direct comparisons due to range of grades available within the GCSE qualification.

Qualification KS4 Prior Attainment English entries in 2021/22 Proportion of English entries at prior attainment band maths entries in 2021/22 Proportion of maths entries at prior attainment band

All level 1 and level 2 qualifications have had decreases in their pass rates in 2021/22. Mathematics qualifications have seen much larger decreases than English across all qualifications.

Maths L2 functional skills decreased by 20.8 ppts to 63.6% (12.0 ppts fall in English to 81.0%). Maths L1 functional skills decreased by 10.2 ppts to 85.4% (English fall, 3.3ppts to 94.0%). For maths GCSE the overall pass rate (grade 9-1) decreased by 5.8ppts to 84.9% (English decreased by 3.7 ppts to 85.8%) and the level 2 pass rate (grade 9-4) also decreased 16.7ppts to 15.3% for Maths and 13.9ppts to 25.7% for English

In contrast, at KS4 the English language GCSE level 2 pass rate (grade 9-4) fell by more than maths. English language fell by 4.0 ppts and maths by 3.1ppts between 2020/21 and 2021/22 (provisional data).

Pass rates in English and maths at level 2 by institution type

GCSE entries by students at independent schools are most likely to pass at level 2, but it should be noted that Condition of Funding rules are not relevant for these schools, and these students may be resitting GCSEs to improve their KS4 grade, which could have already been at grade 4 or above. Amongst state-funded institutions, students in schools are consistently most likely to pass GCSE at level 2, then sixth form colleges and other FE sector colleges in both English and maths in 2020/21 and 2021/22.

Level 2 Functional Skills entries: within state-funded institutions sixth form colleges and 'Other FE sector' colleges are consistently more likely to pass than schools. Most entries in L2 Functional Skills are in 'Other FE sector' colleges.

Applied general, tech level, and technical certificate qualifications approved for reporting in this statistical release (and institution level performance data) are updated annually and published on gov.uk:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/performance-tables-technical-and-vocational-qualifications
The concept of qualifications approved for reporting has been applied since 2015/16 following Professor Alison Wolf's Review of Vocational Education. From 2017/18 at level 3 and from 2018/19 for technical certificates, the quality threshold for vocational and technical qualifications to be included in performance measures further increased. The later reforms include criteria relating to the size, content, and assessment, including a requirement that a proportion of a qualification's content is subject to external assessment. From 1 August 2020 the ESFA removed funding approval for pre-existing applied general and tech level qualifications (which had been approved in 2015/16 and 2016/17) which were running in parallel with newer redeveloped qualifications.

The measures presented in this section show the students entering these approved qualifications as a proportion of students entering a wider set of vocational qualifications that had been approved by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) for funding during 16 to 18 study.

Proportions entering approved tech level and applied general qualifications continue to increase following a large fall in 2017/18 (when both lists of approved qualifications changed substantially), with a jump in students entering reformed versions of qualifications in 21/22 (in part attributable to the defunding of unreformed pre-existing qualifications).

The coverage of the measure for technical certificates is strongly impacted by the removal of CAG and TAG data from 2021/22 accountability data (as coverage is students at the end of 16-18 study, and level 2 vocational qualifications are more often entered during a student's first year of 16-18 study and so are excluded from the calculation).

The following table shows that there is variation in whether different institution types enter students for qualifications approved for reporting in performance tables versus the wider set of qualifications that were approved for funding.

Overall students in state-funded schools continue to be most likely to enter reformed versions of vocational and technical qualifications at level 3 (reformed in 2017/18), but 2021/22 saw a marked increase in the proportion of students entering approved/reformed applied general and tech levels across all broad institution types.

Introduction to retention measures

The Retention measure shows the percentage of students who are retained to the end of the 'core aim' (or main learning aim) of their study programme at a school or college.

Students are counted as retained if they are recorded as having "completed the learning activities leading to the learning aim" by their institution. This information is collected in the school census or for students that attended sixth form or FE colleges, the Individualised Learner Record (ILR).

Retention measures are not calculated for independent schools or special schools (both independent and maintained) as learning aims data is not available for these schools.

The Retention measure is calculated by dividing the total number of students retained by the total number of students with a core aim, in each of the five programmes approved for reporting in performance tables: academic, A level, applied general, tech level, and at level 2, technical certificate programmes.

Since academic programmes comprise largely of A levels, only data for A level core aims are described here; overall data for academic programmes can be found in the 'create your own tables' section and in the underlying data available to download.

Alongside the headline Retention measure there are two supporting retention measures:

Retained and Assessed: The percentage of students who are retained to the end of their course and are assessed.

Returned and Retained for a second year: The percentage of level 3 students who return to the same provider and complete their programme of study in their second year. (The main difference when compared to Retention is for students who complete their core aim in one year.)

A fuller description of the methodology underlying retention measures can be found in the 16-18 technical guide (from page 41).

Retention measures and the impact of the trigger change in 2020/21

The impact of the trigger rule change, meaning that students were no longer automatically reported after two years in 16-18 study, was to reduce the reported number of students in scope for retention measures across all exam cohorts in 2020/21, with the biggest impact on vocational and technical cohorts (VTQs).

For retention measures, this meant that Retention rates were slightly increased in 2020/21 for level 3 cohorts (A level, applied general, tech level) than would have been seen otherwise. However, the impact on the level 2 technical certificate cohort was a large decrease in Retention rates (and in cohort size).

Fuller analysis on the impact on 2020/21 retention data can be found in the methodology document, in the section 'Changes introduced in the 2020/21 release', under the heading 'Impact of the trigger change on headline retention rates'.

Students whose reporting was delayed for one year due to the 2020/21 trigger change are reported in 2021/22. In other words, the impact of the trigger change was one-off discontinuity in retention data for 2020/21. For this reason, when looking at trends, data for 2021/22 is better compared to data for 2019/20 and earlier years.

All level 3 study programmes show increases in Retention rates in 2021/22 (A level +0.1 pts to 95.1%; applied general +1.8 pts to 91.7%; tech level +0.5 ppts to 91.1%). This continues a trend of increasing Retention rates since 2018/19. A level programmes continue to have the highest Retention rate as has been the case since the measure was introduced in 2015/16, but for the first time applied general programmes have a higher Retention rate than tech levels programmes.

Technical certificates have had lower Retention rates than Level 3 cohorts since being added to performance measures in 2016/17. However, they have seen an increase in Retention rate this year (+4.5 ppts to 86.6%), recovering from the impact of the trigger change that was seen last year and returning to previously-seen levels.

For the A level and applied general cohorts, rates for the Retained and Assessed measure have increasingly followed the same general trend as the Retention rate in recent years. Similarly, the Returned and Retained measure now also follows the same trend. This is most notable for the A level cohort where the phased decoupling of AS and A levels predominantly between 2017 and 2019 has resulted in a much smaller proportion of the A level cohort taking AS levels only and not then returning for a second year of study.

The tech level cohort shows a slightly different pattern this year whereby the Retained and Assessed rate has dropped slightly despite increases in both the Retained rate (retention to the end of the course) and the Returned and Retained rate (retention specifically over two years of a course). This means that within this cohort there was an increase in the proportion of students not being assessed at the end of their course .

The much smaller technical certificate cohort (Level 2) was heavily impacted by the trigger change in 2020/21 and shows less stable trends. In addition, the low cohort numbers mean that breakdowns of the technical certificate data, by student characteristics become increasingly unreliable, and therefore this cohort isn't discussed further.

Due to the similarity in the trends shown by the three retention measures, in particular for the two largest cohorts (A level and applied general), our further narrative will focus on the Retained and Assessed measure. Further breakdowns of the Retention measure and the Returned and Retained measure across all qualification cohorts are available in underlying data and through the table builder.

The Retained and Assessed rate is higher for non-disadvantaged students across all level 3 cohorts. Disadvantaged tech level students are least likely to be Retained and Assessed at 79.1%, which is 7.1 ppts lower than their non-disadvantaged peers. The Retained and Assessed disadvantage gap is smaller for A level and applied general (5.6 ppts and 5.3 ppts respectively).

The disadvantage gap has been narrowing for the A level cohort since 2018/19 (from 8.4 ppts to 5.6 ppts). Similarly, the applied general cohort has, overall, seen a substantial decrease in the gap in that time (from 7.9 ppts to 5.6 ppts). In contrast, the tech level cohort did not consolidate an initial decrease in the gap in 2019/20 and is now only slightly smaller than in 2018/19 (from 7.6 ppts to 7.1 ppts).

Changes to the distribution of prior attainment at A level between 2017/18 and 2021/22

The coverage of the retention measures is different to the attainment measures, and is described above in 'Retention: introduction and changes to the data in 2021/22'. The largest difference is that independent schools are excluded from the data, and this impacts the distribution of the prior attainment groups as students from independent schools have higher prior attainment on average.

The distribution of prior attainment has changed over time for all cohorts. The proportion of A level students with low prior attainment (from grade 0 up to grade 4) has decreased from 8.1% of the cohort in 2017/18 to 1.9% in 2021/22. High prior attaining students (average grade 7 or more) have increased their proportion of the cohort from 16.1% in 2017/18 to 35.3% in 2021/22.

This increase in the proportion of KS4 students achieving grades averaging 7 or more, in part reflects year on year grade increases at KS4, and in part reflects that most A level students at the end of 16-18 study in 2021/22 will have completed KS4 in 2019/20, and so their GCSE prior attainment will include Centre Assessment Grades (CAG).

However, in the vocational and technical cohorts, a larger proportion of students are being reported after three years in 16-18, hence prior attainment for these cohorts is less affected by CAGs. This is following delay in their reporting last year due to the change in the rule in 2020/21 triggering students for reporting.

Overall, students with the highest average prior attainment (grade 7+) are most likely to be Retained and Assessed in their main programme of study and students with the lowest prior attainment (grade 0 up to grade 4) the least likely to be Retained and Assessed. The highest Retained and Assessed rate is for high prior attaining A level students at 98.7%. The lowest Retained and Assessed rate is also for A level students. Low prior attaining A level students have a Retained and Assessed rate of 66.0%.

The Retained and Assessed rate for low prior attaining A level students has fallen and is now close to the 2018/19 rate, whereas the rate remains higher for other level 3 cohorts.

A full breakdown of all three retention measures by a range of other student characteristics is available through the table builder. Here, we draw attention to small number of breakdowns that may be of interest.

English Language

Across all level 3 cohorts, students with English as their first language have lower Retained and Assessed rates than students who do not. The difference is driven by poor rates for disadvantaged students with English as their first language.

The applied general cohort similarly has an increase in the Retained and Assessed rate since last year for all major (known) ethnicity groups and shows many of the same trends between groups. The Chinese ethnic group has the highest Retained and Assessed rates since 2018/19 (now at 95.8%) and the Black or Black British ethnic group and the Mixed Dual background ethnic group have made the biggest improvements in Retained and Assessed rates over recent years (+9.9 ppts to 89.1%, +9.9 ppts to 87.0% respectively). Again, the White ethnic group shows the largest disadvantage gap and White disadvantaged students have the lowest rates for Retained and Assessed.

The tech level cohort and the technical certificate cohort have very low numbers in some ethnic groups, and show less distinct patterns over recent years.

For the A level cohort, state-funded mainstream schools and Sixth form colleges have seen an increase in rates for Retained and Assessed this year (+1.5 ppts to 95.4% and +0.5 ppts to 92.3% respectively). In contrast, 'Other FE sector colleges' have seen a decrease (-2.3 ppts to 88.2%). However, the decrease for 'Other FE sector colleges' follows very large increases last year; the relative rates of the three major institution types have returned to levels seen before the change to the trigger rule.

There have also been decreases in the Retained and Assessed rate for 'Other FE sector colleges' in the applied general and tech level cohorts, following larger increases in the previous two years. All state-funded mainstream schools continue to have the lowest Retained and Assessed rates for applied general and tech level qualifications. This has been the case since 2018/19.

This data is available through the 'Explore data and files' section in the file called 'Time series - APS per entry by institution type'.

In addition it is accessible through the dashboard linked below. The dashboard combines data from this statistical release (covering the last 5 years) with selected older data compiled from previous versions of the 'A level and other 16 to 18 results' statistical release:
16-18 Time-series attainment and single year entries
On the left-hand side, clicking on the link ' Attainment: APS per entry and average result' brings up the dashboard with attainment data in terms of APS per entry.

Data including the applied general and tech level cohorts starts in 2015/16 (when these cohorts were first defined in this statistical release, and school and college data). Data for the A level cohort starts in 2012/13.

This data is available through the 'Explore data and files' section in the file called 'Time series - A level subject entries and grade by gender'.

In addition it is accessible through the dashboard linked below. The dashboard combines data from this statistical release (covering the last 5 years) with selected older data compiled from previous versions of the 'A level and other 16 to 18 results' statistical release:
16-18 Time-series attainment and single year entries
On the left-hand side, clicking on the link ' Attainment: A level entries and grade distribution' brings up the dashboard with A level entries data by subject, and A level grades by subject.

These data cover A level entries by students aged 16 to 18 within each academic year from 1995/96.

We have moved our Transition Matrices tool into a web based app for easier use. It is available at the following link:
16-18 Transition Matrices
Transition matrices (TM) are a useful tool to help visualise the progression from different groups of attainment at key stage 4 (KS4) to outcomes achieved during 16 to 18 for a range of different subjects.

Note that the 16 to 18 outcomes here will also be impacted by the different process to award grades in 2022, which is likely to impact the relationship between outcomes and KS4 prior attainment in 2021/22 for subjects.

Help and support

Methodology

Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.

National statistics

These accredited official statistics have been independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Accreditation signifies their compliance with the authority's Code of Practice for Statistics which broadly means these statistics are:

managed impartially and objectively in the public interest

meet identified user needs

produced according to sound methods

well explained and readily accessible

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

If you have a specific enquiry about A level and other 16 to 18 results statistics and data:

Attainment statistics team

Email: Attainment.STATISTICS@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Michael Greer

Press office

If you have a media enquiry:

Telephone: 020 7783 8300

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If you have a general enquiry about the Department for Education (DfE) or education:

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A level and other 16 to 18 results, Academic year 2021/22

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This academic year saw the return of the summer exam series, after they had been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, where alternative processes were set up to award grades.

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Paul Hamlyn Foundation: Arts-based Learning Fund

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Paul Hamlyn Foundation: Arts-based Learning Fund

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This Fund supports work which enables pupils in formal education settings, particularly those experiencing systemic inequality or disadvantage, to thrive through engagement with high quality, arts-based learning. By arts-based learning we mean learning experiences which incorporate arts-based content, and/or use arts-based approaches to secure access to or enhance engagement with the curriculum. Formal education settings may include Early Years, Primary, Secondary, Alternative Provision and Further Education.
The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the way in which systemic inequality and barriers to learning have a huge impact on the life chances of children and young people. The disruption to education during Covid-19 has led to significant learning loss which has disproportionately impacted those pupils already experiencing barriers to engaging in education. The disruption has also adversely affected children and young people's mental health and wellbeing through loss of structure, social connection and safe space. We want to support work that tackles this challenge head on.

As education settings support recovery and rebuild their learning communities we believe that arts-based teaching and learning can add value and play a role in helping them achieve their aspirations for pupils, particularly those experiencing systemic inequality and barriers to learning. Through the Covid-19 crisis we have been made increasingly aware that inequality plays out in ways that connect and intersect across race, gender, sexuality, class, disability and other characteristics. We recognise the importance of strong partnerships between education settings and the arts and cultural sectors and acknowledge the uncertain and complex environment that both sectors are working within. We want to support activity which helps in this context.

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Arts-based Learning Fund - Paul Hamlyn Foundation

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This Fund supports work which enables pupils in formal education settings, particularly those experiencing systemic inequality or disadvantage, to thrive through engagement with high quality, arts-based learning. By arts-based learning we mean learning experiences which incorporate arts-based content, and/or use arts-based approaches to secure access to or enhance engagement with the curriculum.

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18:00-20:00
8th December 2022
Norwich University of the Arts.

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Thursday 8 December | 6.00 to 8.00pm

Join Jon Dunleavy, Course Leader for BA (Hons) Animation and BA (Hons) Animation and Visual Effects for this follow up session on digital drawing on campus at Norwich University of the Arts.

You'll have an opportunity to experiment in Adobe Photoshop, to explore drawing techniques and will begin to develop your own character cast sheet. This session is for teachers, technicians and advisers and you do not need to have attended the first session in October 2022.
This event is being hosted for Teachers, Technicians and Advisers.

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Thursday 8 December | 6.00 to 8.00pm You'll have an opportunity to experiment in Adobe Photoshop, to explore drawing techniques and will begin to develop your own character cast sheet. This session is for teachers, technicians and advisers and you do not need to have attended the first session in October 2022.

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JCQ: Key dates in the examination cycle document - June 2023

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JCQ: Key dates in the examination cycle document - June 2023

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Published: 8th November 2022
Contingency days update: Timetabled for the afternoons of the 8 and 15 June and all day of 28 June 2023. To be used in the event of national or significant local disruption to examinations

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We are the National Society for  Education in Art and Design | NSEAD

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We are the National Society for Education in Art and Design | NSEAD

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Why join? Member benefits Healthcare HMCA discounts benefits For Individuals For Students and ECTs For Educational Institutions NSEAD Member Assistance Programme Member Portal Join Us

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Agenda Item: Health and Safety/Risk Assessments

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Agenda Item: Health and Safety/Risk Assessments

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Agenda Item: Discussion - What motivates Boys?

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Agenda Item: Discussion - What motivates Boys?

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T Levels - Available from September 2023 onwards 'CRAFT AND DESIGN'

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T Levels - Available from September 2023 onwards 'CRAFT AND DESIGN'

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Students will develop an understanding of a broad range of issues relevant to the sector, including:

the creative economy

the individual in the creative industries

cultural context and vocabulary

audience and consumer needs

legal and regulatory requirements

professional standards and conduct in the workplace

equality, diversity and inclusion requirements

research skills

project methodology and administration

continued professional development

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Students will develop an understanding of a broad range of issues relevant to the sector, including: the creative economy the individual in the creative industries cultural context and vocabulary audience and consumer needs legal and regulatory requirements professional standards and conduct in the workplace equality, diversity and inclusion requirements research skills project methodology and administration continued professional development

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Artsmark Celebration Week 7th-11th November

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Artsmark Celebration Week 7th-11th November

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Info and Resources available

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Every year we host Artsmark Celebration Week to shout out about the fantastic achievements of our Artsmark settings and advocate for cultural education across the curriculum.

For 2022, Artsmark Celebration Week will take place from 7 - 11 November and aim to celebrate the importance of community in young people's lives, and the role creativity can play in strengthening connections and wellbeing.

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Every year we host Artsmark Celebration Week to shout out about the fantastic achievements of our Artsmark settings and advocate for cultural education across the curriculum. For 2022, Artsmark Celebration Week will take place from 7 - 11 November and aim to celebrate the importance of community in young people's lives, and the role creativity can play in strengthening connections and wellbeing.

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Ofqual: Apply to be an external expert with Ofqual - Subject matter expertise in vocational and technical subject areas

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Ofqual: Apply to be an external expert with Ofqual - Subject matter expertise in vocational and technical subject areas

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Updated: 20th October 2022

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Find out what the role of an external expert involves and how to apply.

We often require advice from people with expertise to help with our work on qualifications and assessments for GCSEs, A levels, a wide range of vocational and technical qualifications and new apprenticeship end-point assessments.

External experts are invaluable to the work we do to ensure the qualifications we regulate are fit for purpose ensuring that the right things can be assessed in a consistent way.

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Ofqual & DfE: Consultation on Ensuring the resilience of the qualifications system in 2023: GCSE, AS, A level, Project and AEA

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Ofqual & DfE: Consultation on Ensuring the resilience of the qualifications system in 2023: GCSE, AS, A level, Project and AEA

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Published: 29th September 2022
Deadline: 20th October 2022

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Detail of outcome

As outlined in our consultation document, both the DfE and Ofqual have responsibilities in this area, and so we consulted jointly.

The DfE is responsible for its policy for qualifications (including whether the government considers that exams can go ahead safely and fairly as planned) and the subject content that is taught and assessed. Ofqual is responsible for assessment arrangements and is therefore responsible for setting rules to implement alternative arrangements, if required.

As outlined in the consultation, the DfE considers that, if it becomes necessary to cancel exams this should apply to all students and a TAG approach should be implemented nationally. This would only happen due to an event like the pandemic which has such severe and catastrophic consequences for a significant number of students. The DfE has also confirmed that TAGs would not be used to award a grade when exams take place.

In line with our respective responsibilities, Ofqual and the DfE have decided to implement the proposals set out in the consultation about the provision of guidance for teachers on how they should collect evidence of student performance. The DfE has decided that the provision of guidance for schools and colleges is appropriate, given its responsibilities in this area. Ofqual has decided that the proposed guidance would support schools and colleges in gathering evidence of student performance that could be used to determine a TAG should exams not be able to go ahead as planned. Ofqual has revised the guidance consulted on, in response to feedback, with a view to minimise further the burden on students, schools and colleges. Ofqual has taken a decision to publish the final guidance, in line with its responsibilities for qualifications and assessments, including in the unlikely case that exams cannot go ahead.

The government is firmly committed to exams taking place. Schools and colleges are, therefore, not asked to determine TAGs and should not seek to do so. Guidance on how to determine a TAG, and on any quality assurance and appeal processes, will be provided only in the unlikely event that exams are not able to go ahead safely or fairly. These arrangements would depend on the nature and timing of any decision that exams cannot take place.

In this decisions document and the accompanying analysis, we have not sought to discuss every point made by those who responded to our consultation. In taking our respective decisions and finalising the guidance we have, however, considered all the points made in response to the consultation.

Detail of feedback received

The Department for Education (DfE) and Ofqual welcomed the return of exams and other formal assessments in summer 2022, for the first time since 2019. Exams and other formal assessments are the best and fairest way of assessing what students know and can do. That's why it was so important that students were able to take exams in 2022 and can continue to take them in 2023 and in the future.

The national cancellation of exams - and the need for alternative assessment arrangements - is now very unlikely. The government does not expect to ever be in the situation again where exams do not go ahead, but good public policy means having contingency, even for extremely unlikely scenarios.

A consultation, prepared jointly by the DfE and Ofqual, invited views on guidance to schools and colleges about gathering assessment evidence to support resilience in the exams system in the unlikely event it is necessary to use that evidence to inform Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs). The proposed guidance was designed to allow schools and colleges to decide how to gather evidence of student performance in assessments in ways that align with their normal arrangements for preparing students for exams. The consultation asked for the views of relevant people and institutions, such as students, teachers, exam boards, schools and colleges and their representatives on the proposed guidance. In particular, it sought their views on whether it supported the gathering of evidence to build resilience in the system whilst minimising any additional burden on teachers and students.

Responses to the consultation have informed the arrangements for gathering assessment evidence to support resilience in the exams system in 2023 that we have now put in place. The decisions taken on the final form of the guidance are set out in a decisions document, and the final guidance itself can be found here . The consultation was available online for 21 days and received 213 responses.

Original consultation

Summary

Consultation proposals for gathering evidence of student performance in GCSE, AS, A level, Project and AEA qualifications to support qualification system resilience in 2023.

This consultation ran from

Consultation description

We welcomed the return of exams and other formal assessments in summer 2022, for the first time since 2019. Exams and other formal assessments are the best and fairest way of assessing what students know and can do. That's why it was so important that we got back to students taking them in 2022, and that this continues next year.

The national closure of schools or cancellation of exams - necessitating the use of alternative assessment arrangements - is now very unlikely. The government does not expect to ever be in the situation again where exams do not go ahead, but good public policy means having contingency, even for extremely unlikely scenarios.

It is important to learn lessons from the past 3 years. We have taken into account feedback received on the arrangements in place in 2022 and we propose to put in place arrangements which will build resilience in the exam system next year. We know that most schools and colleges have robust and effective assessment activities in place to monitor students' progress and prepare them for exams, such as mock exams, and these are well established.

This document, prepared jointly by the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofqual, invites views on guidance to schools and colleges about gathering assessment evidence to support resilience in the exams system in the unlikely event it is necessary to use that evidence to inform Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs). It is designed to allow schools and colleges to determine arrangements to gather evidence that align with their normal arrangements for preparing students for exams.

The proposals in this consultation apply to GCSEs, AS, A levels, Project Qualifications and the Advanced Extension Award (AEA) in mathematics.

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Ensuring the resilience of the qualifications system in 2023: GCSE, AS, A level, Project and AEA

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Consultation proposals for gathering evidence of student performance in GCSE, AS, A level, Project and AEA qualifications to support qualification system resilience in 2023.

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NATRE: Spirited Arts & Poetry Competition

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NATRE: Spirited Arts & Poetry Competition

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Deadline: Monday 31 July 2023

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Get involved in the 2023 competition!

Join hundreds of schools from around the world taking part in this year's Spirited Arts competition! We welcome entries in (almost!) any art form your pupils can think of, including:

Winning entries will provide a good response to one of the 5 themes, and judges will be asking 'Is it original?' 'Is it well-crafted?' And (most importantly!) 'Is it excellent RE?'

Pupils can enter individually, in pairs or groups, or as whole class, year, or school entries. We have also been pleased to receive entries from whole community groups in previous years.

The annual competition starts at the beginning of every school year and runs through the spring and summer terms. All entries must be received before Monday 31 July 2023.

Many schools host their own Spirited Arts competition and send their 10 winning entries into our international competition. What a great way to engage all your teachers and pupils and raise the profile of RE in your school! To enable teachers to incorporate the art competition into their RE lessons, many schools have a 'Spirited Arts' unit of work or a special learning RE/arts week.

Many schools have a 'Spirited Arts' unit of work or a special learning RE/arts week.
Use our classroom-ready PowerPoints to inspire your pupils
Don't forget to check out our supporting resources & ideas section below - including a FREE webinar for both Primary and Secondary teachers.
Ready to enter your pupils' work? Complete the online submission form here.
Themes - Now with 6 themes to choose from!

We have some exciting new themes for you and your pupils for the 2023 competition! We are delighted to continue our partnership with the Jo Cox Foundation for our "We have far more in common with each other than that which divides us." theme.

1. "We have far more in common with each other than that which divides us."

The quote from Jo Cox MP introduces this theme. Are we all one human race, despite our differences and divisions? We are all different, and all religions are different - but are we all the same too? Can we all be united? What holds humanity together? Is it faith? Hope? Love? Music? Sport? What threatens to tear us apart - racism, sexism, hatred, bigotry? How can we conquer the forces of division? You should use specific religious ideas and quotes. Make a work of art that shows what unites us, brings us together, joins humans as one people and expresses our harmony. Use the disciplines of theology, but also of psychology and sociology to question + create your responses.

2. Green faith, green future? ('God's good earth')

Many religions thank God for nature, from Aardvarks to Zebras, via cats, elephants and rabbits. But the climate crisis deepens. Are we spoiling God's good earth? Can we save it - and ourselves - in time from the threats of climate change? In this theme, learners are invited to explore ideas and beliefs about the natural world, animals and the environment, human responsibility for the earth and ways of praying about climate justice. Great work will show some originality: the globe in God's hands won't win! Challenge pupils to use scripture quotations thoughtfully, but also the methods of scientific enquiry and moral study to develop deep answers and good writing to go with stunning images.

3. Where is God today?

Pupils who are atheists, agnostics and believers in God can all respond to this theme. Express your ideas about the search for God. Where's God? In your heart? In prayer? In the temple or the universe? Or is she hiding? Is he not there at all? Unreal? Imaginary? A cruel joke? Looking for God, searching for him or her, matters to many, but how are we doing in finding God? Would you search with google or a 'god-detector'? Is God on Instagram, TikTok or whatsapp? Can God be found by prayer or by looking among the world's suffering people? This popular 'Art in Heaven' theme produces great work where pupils use ideas from religions clearly: The Jewish Psalms 42 and 43 are where it starts - there are parallels in many scriptures. Use theological reflection as well as philosophical argument to make great work.

4. Faith in action, Values in action

Faith without work is dead, it is said. Hypocrites say one thing and do the opposite. If you really believe what you claim, you might be willing to die for it - or live for it. Pupils can consider religious exemplars of faith from Guru Nanak, the Muslim prophets, Jewish patriarchs and Biblical 'action figures'. They can also think about their own values and dearest beliefs: how do these values and beliefs make a difference? Start with this sentence: 'My beliefs and values make a difference because...' Use quotes from wisdom sources in your work! This is a great theme for examination students, who are always asked: 'what is the impact of this belief?' How would they like to answer?

5. Sacred Space and Holy Buildings

Mosque and Mandir, Church and Chapel, Gurdwara and Synagogue: spaces for wonder and awe, for ritual and symbol, for believers and visitors. This theme could be a space for photography, collage, group work or reflections on class trips to places of worship. But then some people's sacred space is on the beach, in the mountains, by the riverside. And for others, it is in the city, among the people who carry heavy loads, even in war-torn space - can God be experienced there? This theme will be popular with primary class groups who have been on a trip, but 14-19s with a sacred space of their own can win too. Can your work on key texts from religious studies in your explanations? So much the better.

6. NEW! "All God's Creatures?"
This additional theme has been kindly sponsored by Animal Interfaith Alliance and Veganism in Education (VinE)
Do animals belong to God? Are they part of a divine plan? Do animals have souls? The beauty and sheer awesomeness of non-human animals with whom we share planet Earth is celebrated in many of the world's religions. Some worldviews see all living beings as interconnected, yet others emphasise the separateness and superiority of humans over other animals. Animals play a huge part in all our lives, whether we realise or not. How humans interact with other animals and the natural world impacts on all living beings and the planet. This theme invites exploration of ideas and beliefs about non-human animals. Great work will show originality and flare coming from deep consideration of the issues. Challenge learners to engage thoughtfully with scripture, philosophy, and scientific enquiry to write an inspiring passage to accompany stunning images. We are delighted to partner with the Animals Interfaith Alliance (AIA) and Veganism in Education (VinE) to bring you this theme.
All themes are suited to both primary and secondary pupils: teachers are advised to share them with RE classes in age appropriate ways, and make sure that pupils can respond at their own level, whether they are 4 or 14, 8 or 18. Click here to download the list of themes and full competition details.
Who can enter?

We welcome entries from pupils of all abilities and any school type, from age 3 right up to age 19. We can only accept 10 entries per school - so be sure to whittle them down to your 10 best.

Pupils can create entries individually, in pairs or groups, or as whole class, year or school entries. We have also been pleased to receive entries from whole community groups on previous years.

Prizes & judging

Judging by RE Today Advisers and students, takes place in August and winners are announced in the new academic year.

We aim to award 5 prizes for each theme (25 in total) but may award more if we have very strong entries for some themes. Entries are split into Key Stages for judging, and we hope to have at least one winner per key stage where possible.

£25 prizes will be awarded to a selection of winners. Exceptional work from 14-19 students may win a prize of up to £100. Sometimes we are able to make a slightly larger award for a class or group entry.

Prizes are typically:

Individual pupil winners - £20 Amazon voucher

Paired winners - £10 Amazon voucher each

Group/Class/Year/School winners - Prizes decided on a case by case basis, but are often a £50-£100 voucher or cheque for the school to choose appropriate prizes.

All schools whose pupil(s) produce winning work will also receive a prize (usually a voucher to spend with RE Today, NATRE, or a copy of a best-selling publication from RE Today).

How to enter

There are lots of ways to run the competition in your school (see the supporting resources and ideas section for inspiration!). You need to select your 10 best entries to send in. You can choose a single theme for pupils to work on, or allow them to respond to any of the 5 themes. Your 10 entries do not all need to be from the same theme.

Entries should consist of a piece of art, be it physical, literal or using technology (almost all mediums are welcome) and a corresponding write up of no more than 400 words. The write up should support the main piece in responding to the theme and showcase the brilliant RE your pupils are doing. The commentary is a large element of judging, and authentic commentaries demonstrating pupil knowledge and interpretation always rank highly. All entries being sent to us need to be registered through our online submission form. This builds a list of all the school and pupil information we need to run the competition smoothly and send out prizes and certificates.

If your pupils have produced a piece or work larger than A3 (including sculptures) please send us some high-quality photographs of the work, as we are unable to accommodate large entries at our office.

Musical, dance and drama entries can be sent via email, or sent on a USB or CD.
You can send your entries by:
Post

When you complete the online submission form, an address label including your unique reference will be available to print.
Please send your entries to:
Spirited Arts

NATRE

5-6 Imperial Court

12 Sovereign Road

Birmingham

B30 3FH
Please make sure your reference number is on the envelope and all pieces of artwork and the supporting commentaries.
Write ups should be attached to the corresponding artwork (ideally stapled or glued to the reverse) as it is very difficult for us to match them up ourselves.

Each piece of work MUST be labelled with the pupil name, age, theme and school details.

Email

Entries can be sent digitally to competition@natre.org.uk - this is particularly useful for digital work such as videos or pieces of music.

Please ensure all file names have the pupil name, age and theme they are entering. For example:

John Smith - age 7 - Where is God

As we receive 1000's of entries it is very difficult to work with files that are not named with these details.

Click here to download full competition details, including an entry checklist.

Supporting resources & ideas

Ideas for running the competition in your school:

· Many schools build the competition into a scheme/unit of work, allowing time to develop knowledge and ideas around a theme before completing the unit by creating their entries

· Other schools have run a RE week or day in their school that concludes with creating work for the competition

· The competition can be used as a fun end of term activity, or homework project

· Use the competition as a great way to raise the profile of RE in your school! Make displays of your pupil's work, and consider asking other members of teaching staff, SLT or your head teacher to help do the preliminary judging when choosing your best 10 entries to send in

· Some schools run exhibitions of all their pupils work and open them to parents and the wider community. Some even have attendees select the best 10 entries

FREE webinar & classroom ready PPTs:

Now in its 18th year, Spirited Arts has attracted over 450,000 participants (averaging 25,000 per year!) since 2004, with 3,000 entries being sent in to NATRE each year for judging. Hundreds of UK schools get involved, and we get entries coming from as far a-field as Hong Kong, Australia, Thailand and Bahrain.

We hope you're excited to be involved this year! We are looking forward to another year of wonderful, inspirational and unique work from your pupils.

Please get in contact if you have further questions by emailing competition@natre.org.uk.

Have you entered before? We'd love to hear from you.
As we approach the 20th year of the competition in 2023, we want to evaluate and assess the impact the competition has had and continues to have in classroom in the UK and around the world. This survey will take approx. 5 minutes to complete, and your input will be invaluable to us as we look to the future.
Complete the short evaluation here.

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Enter Spirited Arts 2023 | NATRE competition

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Join hundreds of schools from around the world taking part in this year's Spirited Arts competition! We welcome entries in (almost!) any art form your pupils can think of, including: Winning entries will provide a good response to one of the 5 themes, and judges will be asking 'Is it original?'

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Y7-13
Deadline: Friday 25th November 2022

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Get creative and submit an entry for our BioArtAttack competition!

Your entry can be anything from drawings and sculptures to models and collages of any scale. The piece of art created can be entered by an individual or as a group, including classes, lab groups or any group of biology enthusiasts.

Anything and everything creative is eligible for submission, just send us photos of your masterpieces.
The 2022 competition is now open for entries.

Please read the competition's terms and conditions before submitting your artwork.

The deadline for entries is 23.59 GMT on Friday 25th November 2022.

Submissions can be entered in two categories:

Only photos of creations or scanned images of paintings and illustrations can be submitted, and up to ten images or photos of the piece can be included in your submission. We will not be accepting video entries.

You also need to tell us in writing a bit about your piece, including:

The title of your piece

Equipment and material used

What your piece depicts

The science behind your piece

For single submissions, you will be prompted to include this information in the submission form.

For multiple submissions, each submission should include annotations within the piece detailing the title, what exactly the BioArtAttack depicts, what materials were used and the science behind the piece.

It is suggested this text is printed out and scanned alongside photos of the final piece if 3D, or written on the back of a piece and also scanned in if 2D.

The file name for each entry should include the name of the individual who curated the piece and how many files are related to that piece (e.g. Laura_Dern_1.JPEG, Laura_Dern_2.PNG).

Entries will be judged on:

the variety of materials used

the variety of creative skills used

the aesthetic quality of the piece

the originality of the piece

how well the piece captures the biological basis of the subject matter

A poster is available to download to promote the competition.

From the very big to the very small: Your BioArtAttack could take inspiration from the smallest parts of the natural world that only a microscope can see: think cell structures, bacterial colonies and microscopic organisms.

If you prefer to think big, you could use vast environments or ecosystems as the theme of your entry.

Your piece of art could be based around great savannahs, wide-open plains or immense rainforests and the huge range of diversity contained within them.

Hands-on science: Lab or field equipment could be the focus of your artwork, with fascinating tools and apparatus being used by scientists to provide ways to make wonderful discoveries.

Take a look around your school lab or science classroom to get started with ideas for your entry.

Scientific concepts: Why not use your BioArtAttack to help explain a biological concept, theory or area of biology that particularly interests you?

Art can be a great way to visualise something that may seem complex or difficult to understand.

A judging panel of RSB staff will decide on a winner and runner up for both the individual category and group entry category.

The BioArtAttack winners in each category will receive a prize for their creation.

Please email Raghav Selvam if you have any queries about the competition.
Individual category winner: Mastery of All Things Marine
Sanya, N. aged 16

Materials used: acrylic paints, air-dry clay, a plastic jar and papier-mâché
Group category winner: Crocheted Corals
Year 8 students from St Mary's School, Colchester

Materials used: wool

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Get creative and submit an entry for our BioArtAttack competition! Your entry can be anything from drawings and sculptures to models and collages of any scale. The piece of art created can be entered by an individual or as a group, including classes, lab groups or any group of biology enthusiasts.

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Norfolk Art/Photography/Textiles Network Meetings - Led by Ro Mason (City Academy) and Sally Utting (City of Norwich School)

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Norfolk Art/Photography/Textiles Network Meetings - Led by Ro Mason (City Academy) and Sally Utting (City of Norwich School)

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16:30-17:30 , Termly
Online
Contact: 14-19subjects@norfolk.gov.uk to join meetings and be added to the mailing list

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Schoolsweek: Art and design subjects GCSE Results 2022 

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Schoolsweek: Art and design subjects GCSE Results 2022 

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Here are the trends in Art and design subjects GCSE results for 2022

Here are the trends in Art and design subjects GCSE results for 2022

Here are the trends in Art and design subjects GCSE results for 2022.

As Schools Week has reported today, some popular subjects have seen larger falls in top grades than others, but none have returned to pre-pandemic grades.

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GCSE results 2022: Art and design subjects

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Here are the trends in Art and design subjects GCSE results for 2022 Here are the trends in Art and design subjects GCSE results for 2022 Here are the trends in Art and design subjects GCSE results for 2022.

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Deadline: 14th October 2022

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Saturday 24 September – Sunday 9 October 2022.

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The dates for Norfolk Open Studios 2022 are Saturday 24 September - Sunday 9 October 2022.

It will be the second time the event is held in the autumn, and once again we look forward to inviting visitors to discover all the talented artists in the county during this special time of year.
About Norfolk Open Studios
Norfolk Open Studios is a well-loved annual event which celebrates the creativity and talent of Norfolk makers and creators. Artists at all stages of their careers take part, from school and college students through to emerging artists and established and professional artists.

Each year artists welcome visitors into their working space - this might be in their own home, studio, garage/shed or garden - to share their work and skills and sell their art. Studios are free to visit and visitors don't need to book in advance, unless they are a large group.

All Norfolk based visual artists are invited to take part - painters, sculptors, weavers, furniture and jewellery makers will be involved each year, to name but a few! Many will also offer events, demonstrations and workshops alongside their open studio, to share skills and offer people the chance to have a go themselves. For visitors, it's a wonderful opportunity to get hands-on, as well as purchase original artwork direct from it's creator.

Since 2021 the scheme has been held in the autumn in September/October, allowing people to explore the county to discover and meet artists during this often magical time of year. The Norfolk Open Studios website and brochure publishes details of all artists and schools taking part. The free brochure is made available in many venues across Norfolk and beyond in advance of the scheme, or you can view an online version via this website. Each artist and school is listed within a geographical district of the county.

An integral part of Norfolk Open Studios, organised by the artists themselves, Art Trails allow visitors to make a memorable day out of their open studios visits.

Events & Demonstrations
Many artists run special events and activities during the scheme, offering visitors the chance to get creative and have a go themselves!

Preview Exhibitions
Regional preview exhibitions are held throughout the county, to give people a chance to plan their studio visits. The central Preview Exhibition is held at the Forum in Norwich, which includes work by artists from all of Norfolk's districts.

For more information and to keep up with the latest news about Norfolk Open Studios, visit our Instagram, Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Norfolk Open Studios is run by Norfolk & Norwich Festival as one of its initiatives. The Festival manages Norfolk Open Studios in partnership with Norfolk artists and makers. It is distinct from the annual Norfolk & Norwich Festival which takes place in May each year.

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The dates for Norfolk Open Studios 2022 are Saturday 24 September - Sunday 9 October 2022. It will be the second time the event is held in the autumn, and once again we look forward to inviting visitors to discover all the talented artists in the county during this special time of year.

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The Singh Twins: Slaves of Fashion - Teachers' Private Viewing 

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The Singh Twins: Slaves of Fashion - Teachers' Private Viewing 

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Join us for a tour and talk of the exhibition with curator Rosy Gray and with members of the Learning Team about the exhibition’s Schools’ Programme. Also visit East Gallery NUA which is sharing the exhibition with Norwich Castle.

16:30-18:00
5th October 2022
Norwich Castle and NUA East Gallery
To book contact norwichcastle.bookings@norfolk.gov.uk or 01603 493636.
Free, refreshments included

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Pearson: NEW BTEC Tech Awards Support Pages 

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Pearson: NEW BTEC Tech Awards Support Pages 

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Published: 3rd October 2022

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Copyright © 1996 - 2022 Pearson All rights reserved.

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AQA: Virtual Communities: Returning to the full Specification – Autumn 2022

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AQA: Virtual Communities: Returning to the full Specification – Autumn 2022

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Online
30 November 2022
16:00-17:15

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GCSE Art and Design: Virtual Communities: Returning to the full Specification - Autumn 2022 - East (East Midlands, East of England)

Course summary

We are continuing the 'local' virtual twilight sessions for the AQA Art and Design community, facilitated by an AQA Art and Design specialist.

This is an opportunity to share creative learning ideas with other teachers in an interactive format, as we return to delivery of the full specification. These sessions are designed so participants can use text chat facilities in an online environment to discuss relevant topics.

We will share any relevant updates and resource developments from AQA.

Please note: we won't be covering moderation or Teacher Standardisation during this event.

Course reference

ARTGVW13 - use this in communications with us.

Course description

*We will unpick the requirements of the specification relating to components 1 and 2.

*Using examples and sharing ideas, we will explore the language of the specification and how it might be interpreted in order to meet requirements.

*We will focus on what might constitute a 'sustained project' and what might evidence 'further work'.

*We will address frequently asked questions to consider alternative approaches to structuring a GCSE Art and Design course which includes component 2.

*As we return to delivering a specification that includes both components, we will consider how component 1 can inspire, influence and support student approaches to component 2.

Suitable for

All teachers of GCSE Art and Design, including Heads of Department.

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We are continuing the 'local' virtual twilight sessions for the AQA Art and Design community, facilitated by an AQA Art and Design specialist. This is an opportunity to share creative learning ideas with other teachers in an interactive format, as we return to delivery of the full specification.

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What does high-quality classroom talk look like in Art?

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What does high-quality classroom talk look like in Art?

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15:45 -16:30
6th October 2022
Online

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Louise Richardson - Programme Lead, Voice 21

Barbara Bleiman - Co-Director, English and Media Centre

Stephanie Quick - English Teacher and Oracy Lead, Brooklands Middle School

Vicky Thorpe - Key Stage 2 Teacher, South Lake Primary School

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Louise Richardson - Programme Lead, Voice 21 Barbara Bleiman - Co-Director, English and Media Centre Stephanie Quick - English Teacher and Oracy Lead, Brooklands Middle School Vicky Thorpe - Key Stage 2 Teacher, South Lake Primary School

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Norwich Castle,: KS4 and KS5 Textiles/Embroidery Masterclass – linked to The Singh Twins: Slaves of Fashion exhibition 

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Norwich Castle,: KS4 and KS5 Textiles/Embroidery Masterclass – linked to The Singh Twins: Slaves of Fashion exhibition 

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09:30 - 14:30
Thursday 20 October
£5 per student (to cover cost of materials)
Maximum 12 students
KS4 & 5

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View our current schools programme on the main page.

As an alternative to a museum visit, we're offering paid-for virtual programmes based on some of our most popular events.

For more information, enquiries and bookings email our Norwich Bookings Coordinator at norwichcastle.bookings@norfolk.gov.uk, or call 01603 493636.

Events

Bring your subject to life with immersive events and develop your artistic skills with practising artists. Meet experts, extend your subject knowledge and develop study skills.

10am - 2pm and £5 per pupil (unless otherwise stated). Minimum fees apply. Due to the Castle Keep redevelopment project, we currently have a maximum of 60 students per day.

Please see the current schools programme for up-to-date information on individual events.

Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest

KS5 A-Level - suitable for all exam boards. 2 hours, £3.50 per student, max 40 students

Use our world-class collections to explore Anglo-Saxon England's economy, royal mints, urbanisation and the growth of trading centres such as Norwich. Find out the motives, techniques and effectiveness of Norman castle-building and their impact on Norman control and royal power.

Please note: this event is currently paused due to the Castle Keep redevelopment project.

A-level Environment Conference

Norwich Castle, Friday 21 October, 10am to 3pm, £8 per student, max 60 students

Discover how action for the environment is taking place in museum collections, the lab and out in the field. Meet leading scientists and curators and explore our collections. With speakers from the Tyndall Centre, John Innes Centre, Norfolk County Council Environmental Services and Norfolk Museums Service. This event will support A-level students studying Biology, Geology and Environmental Science.

View the conference programme.

A-level Art Masterclasses

Check back for details of upcoming masterclasses.

KS4 and KS5 Textiles/Embroidery Masterclass - linked to The Singh Twins: Slaves of Fashion exhibition

Norwich Castle, Thursday 20 October, 9.30am - 2.30pm, maximum 12 students, £5 per student (to cover cost of materials)

Special masterclass linked to The Singh Twins: Slaves of Fashion exhibition. Included will be a tour of the exhibition with Ruth Battersby Tooke, the Curator of Costume and Textiles. More information about this event will be advertised via our e-Newsletters.

If you wish to receive e-Newsletters, you can sign up for our mailing lists.

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View our current schools programme on the main page. As an alternative to a museum visit, we're offering paid-for virtual programmes based on some of our most popular events. For more information, enquiries and bookings email our Norwich Bookings Coordinator at norwichcastle.bookings@norfolk.gov.uk, or call 01603 493636.

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AQA: Updates on arrangements for Component 2 for 2023

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AQA: Updates on arrangements for Component 2 for 2023

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Published: 9th September 2022

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GCSE and A-level Art and Design: arrangements for summer 2023

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Ofqual: Arrangements for 2023 NEAs and Exams

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Ofqual: Arrangements for 2023 NEAs and Exams

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- Ofqual confirms the usual arrangements for NEA, fieldwork and practical science are in place for 2023.
- Ofqual will ask exam boards to look carefully at the design of the exam timetable for next year, to see if the increased spacing between subjects in the exam timetable should be retained.

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Applies to England

In 2021 and 2022, Ofqual made a range of adjustments to the arrangements for NEA and fieldwork and practical science requirements in some GCSE, AS and A level subjects to respond to public health measures. Given that they are no longer in force, for the 2023 cohort Ofqual confirms that, as planned, the usual arrangements for NEA, fieldwork and practical science are now in place.

For the 2022 cohort, the Department for Education determined that there should be a choice of topics in GCSE English literature, history and ancient history and a choice of content in GCSE geography as part of a range of adaptations to GCSE, AS and A levels for this year. For 2023, the Department for Education confirms the return to full subject content coverage for those GCSE subjects.

For other qualifications, including vocational and technical qualifications taught alongside or instead of GCSEs, AS and A levels, a range of adaptations were permitted in academic year 2021 to 2022. Awarding organisations decided which adaptations were appropriate for their qualifications in accordance with Ofqual's Vocational and Technical Qualifications Contingency Regulatory Framework (VCRF). Some adaptations were in response to public health restrictions. Given that public health restrictions are no longer in place, these adaptations are no longer necessary for the academic year 2022 to 2023 onwards.

This means that schools and colleges have the information they need to plan their teaching of the required content and to provide non-exam assessments. The Department for Education and Ofqual will continue to monitor the path and impact of the pandemic and evaluate the delivery of arrangements this year, including the provision of exam aids, such as formulae sheets, and advance information to support students' revision, before finalising 2023 arrangements. Our intention is to return to the carefully designed and well-established pre-pandemic assessment arrangements as quickly as possible, given they are the best and fairest way of assessing what students know and can do.

For GCSEs, AS and A levels, Ofqual will, as planned, consider the approach to grading for 2023 in light of outcomes in 2022. Ofqual will also ask exam boards to look carefully at the design of the exam timetable for next year in the light of experience this year, to see if the increased spacing between subjects in the exam timetable should be retained.

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Subject content and assessment arrangements in the academic year 2022 to 2023

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NUA: Summer School - Teachers and Technicians

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NUA: Summer School - Teachers and Technicians

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Norwich
27th July - 31st August 2022

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Wednesday 27 July - Wednesday 31 August 2022

Our 2022 Summer School online workshop series is open for booking!

Certificate of Attendance

Attending the Summer School series is the perfect experience to discuss on personal statements and a great way to demonstrate your new skills in a creative portfolio.

As part of the series, we will be providing an official digital certificate of attendance that you can add to your portfolio.

To receive your official NUA Summer School 2022 certificate, you will need to;

Attend a minimum of 3 workshops from the series

Submit outcomes from 3 workshops (for students in the UK only)

Upcoming Workshops

Available online workshops to book.

Character Design
Wednesday 27 July | 10.00 - 11.30am (BST)
Led by Freelance Character Designer Dan Kelby, (Netflix, Disney TV Animation, Cartoon Network Studios), you will explore a process for generating a variety of character designs using everyday objects, which will enhance your understanding of the application of shape design and proportion when exploring a brief visually.

As well as informing character design for animation, the processes covered will also benefit other disciplines such as illustration and games design.

Digital drawing or traditional 2D processes can be followed for this workshop.
What do I need?
Digital drawing

Digital art program such as Adobe Photoshop, Procreate, Clip Studio Paint or similar

Traditional drawing

Paper

Pencil

Eraser

Pen (a permanent marker such as a Sharpie)

Workshop skills.
The skills in this workshop cross over with subjects including Animation, Games Art and Design and Illustration.

Creating an Ethnographic Doodle
Wednesday 3 August | 3.00 - 4.30pm (BST)
Ethnographic doodle is a type of illustration practice, combining ethnography (the study of people and culture mainly through observation) and doodling (informal image making) to visually document human culture.

During this session participants will create their own ethnographic doodle, a powerful visual research method that can be super fun and useful in many career contexts.
What do I need? Workshop skills.
The skills in this workshop cross over with subjects including Illustration, Graphic Design and Fine Art.

Fashion Photography
Wednesday 10 August | 10.00 - 11.30am (BST)
The world of fashion photography is a great way to pursue creative projects and explore different ideas.

Join Cat Gundry-Beck, BA (Hons) Photography graduate who now works as a photographer based in Iceland, for a workshop where students will participate in different tasks photographing themselves, someone else or a piece of clothing hanging while learning about the fashion photography industry.
What do I need?

Something to cover the face e.g. costume mask (animal, masquerade). If you don't have this, you could photograph the individual from behind or crop out their face.

Some different clothing options

A source of light e.g. window, lamp or a flashlight

Furniture or props e.g. a chair to sit on, jewellery, a watch, a plant etc.

Workshop skills.
The skills in this workshop cross over with subjects including Photography, Fashion, and Fashion Communication and Promotion.

3D Visual Creations
Wednesday 17 August | 3.00 - 4.30pm (BST)
Taster session exploring the creative power of node based coding.

We will be using Blender 3 to create morphing and animated 3D sculptures and models.
What do I need?

Blender 3

Windows 8.1, 10 and 11 or,

macOS 10.13 Intel, 11.0 Apple Silicon

Linux Minimum

64-bit quad core CPU with SSE2 support

8GB RAM

Full HD display

Mouse, trackpad or pen + tablet

Graphics card with 2GB RAM, OpenGL 4.3 that is less than 10 years old

Workshop skills.
The skills in this workshop cross over with subjects including Animation and Visual Effects, Games Art and Design, Games Development and Creative Computing.

Pitch Perfect
Wednesday 24 August | 10.00 - 11.30am (BST)
Working in branded video content is always a challenge but one aspect that is often overlooked is the pitching process. This is way before the cameras start rolling.

The pitching process is your opportunity to communicate and sell your ideas and concepts through the use of visuals, text and speech and really show your understanding of a client, a company or a brand.

Through this workshop we run through how we develop pitches and proposals that have won us libraries of work.
What do I need? Workshop skills.
The skills in this workshop cross over with subjects including Film and Moving Image Production, Acting, Fashion Communication and Promotion and Animation.

Accessing Architecture
Wednesday 31 August | 3.00 - 4.30pm (BST)
Join NUA BA (Hons) Architecture graduate and Junior Architect, Nick Cassidy, for a workshop exploring new architectural designs based on household objects and natural forms.

Learn how to take 2D concepts into 3D visualisations with a digital design tutorial alongside an insight into the creative process within industry.
What do I need?

A range of household objects you find interesting

Pen or pencil

Paper to sketch out ideas

Ruler or a similar object with a straight edge

Access to the free software SketchUp - www.sketchup.com

A right-angle triangle (optional)

A protractor (optional)

Workshop skills.
The skills in this workshop cross over with subjects including Architecture and Interior Design.

FAQs

How do I join the workshop?

Once you have booked your place on the workshop(s) you wish to join, a confirmation email will be sent out with links and information on how to join the event.

Will I receive a recording of the workshop if I am unable to attend?

We will be recording all workshops and making them available to those who book to attend. We would therefore suggest you book your place on the events you are interested in attending even if you can no longer join closer to the day.
What do I need to do to get my certificate?
You will need to attend a minimum of 3 of the 6 workshops to be able to receive the official certificate of attendance. We are also asking for you to submit outcomes from 3 workshops that you have attended (for students in the UK only).

How will I receive my certificate?

We will be providing a digital certificate to you after the final event has finished.

Is there a risk assessment and safeguarding in place for this series?

We are happy to share our risk assessment and safeguarding information with you should you require this. Please email us at studentrecruitment@nua.ac.uk for more information.

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Wednesday 27 July - Wednesday 31 August 2022 Our 2022 Summer School online workshop series is open for booking! Attending the Summer School series is the perfect experience to discuss on personal statements and a great way to demonstrate your new skills in a creative portfolio.

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Time to get visiting! Norfolk Open Studios 2021 - 25 September to 10 October

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Julian Teaching School Hub: NPQLT 2022/23

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Julian Teaching School Hub: NPQLT 2022/23

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Ofqual: Post 16 qualifications that sit alongside A and T levels - Second Consultation launched

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Ofqual: Post 16 qualifications that sit alongside A and T levels - Second Consultation launched

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Published: 30th June 2022
Consultation Deadline: 10th August 2022

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Ofqual seeks views on its detailed proposals for regulating a range of academic and technical level 3 qualifications.

Ofqual has today confirmed how it will make sure there is quality and fairness for students who take level 3 qualifications that sit alongside A levels and T Levels. These decisions are informed by the views of students, employers, awarding organisations, and others who recognise the importance of these qualifications which enable progression into higher education and employment.

Alongside these decisions, in a second consultation Ofqual is seeking views on:

titles of qualifications

grading of alternative academic qualifications

details of the proposed draft regulations

Ofqual's proposals focus on providing students with good quality, fair assessments, supported by meaningful grading scales and titles which make it clear, to all, what these level 3 qualifications represent.

For alternative academic qualifications, Ofqual is requiring that awarding organisations should set and mark at least 40% of the assessment to be undertaken by all students, at the same time. For these alternative academic qualifications, Ofqual is also proposing putting in place guidance regarding grading scales and is considering a move to a smaller number of common grading scales in the future.

Dr Jo Saxton, Ofqual Chief Regulator, said:

It is important that students have access to high-quality qualifications that will help them to build a meaningful career. Qualifications lead to better opportunities in life.

It is also important that students and employers can easily identify which qualifications are relevant to them and understand what the grades awarded represent.

Ofqual has drawn up its proposals for regulating alternative level 3 qualifications to make sure students best interests are met.

These proposals all contribute to making sure that qualifications approved for use alongside A levels and T Levels are of high quality and relevant, an ambition the Department for Education (DfE) confirmed in July 2021 in i ts plans to reform post-16 qualifications.

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) is currently consulting on proposals for its approval of level 3 alternative technical qualifications.

Ofqual, IfATE and DfE are working together to provide awarding organisations with a streamlined approval process for all level 3 qualifications, with no duplication of, or tension between, requirements. Awarding bodies will only be required to submit one set of documents for approval.

The aim is to have one single source of information once Ofqual's and IfATE's consultations are complete.

Ofqual's consultation opens today Thursday, 30 June 2022 and runs for six weeks, closing on Wednesday 10 August 2022.

Thank you for your feedback

Report a problem with this page

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Post 16 qualifications that sit alongside A and T levels

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Ofqual: Podcast on Marking and grading in summer 2022

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Ofqual: Podcast on Marking and grading in summer 2022

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Published: 13th May 2022

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Ofqual Podcast: Marking and grading in summer 2022

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Ofqual: Proposed changes to the assessment of GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2022 Consultation

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Ofqual: Proposed changes to the assessment of GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2022 Consultation

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Response due in October 2021

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NUA: Teacher, Technician and Adviser Workshop Series 2022

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NUA: Teacher, Technician and Adviser Workshop Series 2022

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21st June - 8th July 2022
Online

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Tuesday 21 June - Friday 8 July

Creative teachers, technicians, heads of departments and career advisers, you are welcome to our 2022 Teacher, Technician and Adviser Workshop Series.

Across three weeks, we will be hosting a range of creative and inspiring workshops that you can get involved with from the comfort of your own home.

Plus, join us on campus for our Teacher, Technician and Adviser Day for the chance to get stuck-in with practical workshops on campus with our amazing course academics.

Upcoming Online Workshops

Available online workshops to book.

Being a Multi-Specialist in the Creative Industries
Tuesday 21 June | 4.30 - 5.30pm
Join Akin Akinsiku, BAFTA award-winning Creative Director, for this inspirational talk on why we should encourage our students to be ambitious multi-specialists, who can harness their creativity to create change in the world around us.

Akin will offer tips on how you can best prepare your students to widen their horizons beyond the course specific subject they study. Akin will look at how being a multi-specialist enabled his own success, as an NUA BA Graphic Design graduate with over twenty years of experience in television and advertising, working for organisations such as Nickelodeon and Sky.

Making Comics
Thursday 23 June | 4.30 - 5.30pm
In this workshop, we will explore what goes into making a comic book. You will try your hand at a bit of creative writing, create a dummy book, and adapt your writing into a visual narrative. If there is time you will have a chance to produce an idea for a cover design.

Led by BA Illustration Lecturer Christian Peterson.

Do / Make / Think
Saturday 25 June | 10.00 - 11.00am
Participants will undertake a number of quickfire activities to stimulate lateral or unorthodox creative thinking. Fundamentally you will be challenged to make art from low-tech materials and whatever is around you.

Led by BA Fine Art Senior Lecturer Desmond Brett.

Designing User Experiences
Monday 27 June | 4.30 - 5.30pm
Join Graphics courses Lecturer David Watson for an introduction to User Experience Design through an exploration of collaborative design and prototyping tools.

Visual Merchandising for Fashion
Wednesday 29 June | 4.30 - 5.30pm
Join Alexandra Hill, Course Leader for Fashion Communication and Promotion and Fashion Marketing and Business, as well as Lecturer Holly Farrar for an introduction to the fundamentals of visual merchandising and current industry trends.

You will have the opportunity to create a visual merchandising concept and receive tips on how you and your students can make a great digital mood board.

A Tool-kit for Creating a Stand-Out Graphics Portfolio
Saturday 2 July | 10.00 - 11.00am
Join Lecturers Jamie Johnstone and Chelsea Carter to hear all about the four different Graphics courses at Norwich University of the Arts, as well as receiving a toolkit of information on workshops and practical tasks to take back to the classroom.

This tool-kit will enable your students to create the work we're looking for in a stand-out Graphics portfolio and give you the context of why this type of work is important to us and the learning of our applicants.

Mindful slow-stitch Textile Practice
Tuesday 5 July | 4.30 - 5.30pm
This session is relevant for all of us in education where increasingly we are coping with students suffering from stress and anxiety, which can have a negative impact on academic practice. Slow Stitch is about adopting a less-is-more approach, valuing quality over quantity, and bringing a meaningful and thoughtful approach to making.

This workshop looks at a way of using simple techniques and reused and re-invented materials to help students slow down and spend time in conversation and reflection, enabling them to build a stronger sense of resilience.

On Campus Event
Friday 8 July | 10.00am - 4.15pm
Join us on campus for our 2022 Teacher, Technician and Adviser Day for an intro to our creative campus and the chance to get stuck-in with practical workshops.

*You will have the chance to select your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice for workshop attendance for the TT&A Day below. We will then allocate 2 workshops for your timetable based upon your preferences.

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Teacher, Technician and Adviser Workshop Series 2022

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Tuesday 21 June - Friday 8 July Creative teachers, technicians, heads of departments and career advisers, you are welcome to our 2022 Teacher, Technician and Adviser Workshop Series. Across three weeks, we will be hosting a range of creative and inspiring workshops that you can get involved with from the comfort of your own home.

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JCQ: An introduction to becoming an examiner or marker

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JCQ: An introduction to becoming an examiner or marker

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Exam boards are offering an opportunity to join examiner teams in several subjects for this summer’s exam season. Examining gives you a chance to network with other subject experts, gain insight into the latest approaches to how your subject is assessed and earn extra income for approximately three weeks of work.

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Join all the other teachers who help students receive recognition for their learning, and also enable them to progress to the next stage of their development, by becoming an examiner. You'll gain a better understanding of the subject specification and how the examination system works.

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JCQ: Guidance for centres managing exams - June 2022 Series

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JCQ: Guidance for centres managing exams - June 2022 Series

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Published: 29th April 2022

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High quality learning experience for children young people aged 7 to 16, delivered by Norfolk practising artists and art educators in small groups of students

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Supplementary education in the Arts for children and young people 7-16 years old

Art 4 Youth Norwich art school is a high quality learning experience for children young people aged 7 to 16, delivered by Norfolk practising artists and art educators in small groups of 10 students and divided into age groups of 7 to 11 and 12 to 16 years old.

The programme combines use of professional materials and techniques, cultivating artistic vision and confidence whilst referencing art history, from old masters to contemporary artists.

All professional materials and equipment are provided.
Booking via this page is required due to a limited number of places.

​ ​

Contact us

07938 955385

Alternatively the form on the right can be filled in

New location to be advised

Review us

Please read what parents say about our classes and share your opinion about how and what your children learned with us on our Face Book page.

Thank you!

Subscribe to receive news about all of our Art Courses

© Art 4 Youth CIC 2020, company number 10836303

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Supplementary education in the Arts for children and young people 7-16 years old Art 4 Youth Norwich art school is a high quality learning experience for children young people aged 7 to 16, delivered by Norfolk practising artists and art educators in small groups of 10 students and divided into age groups of 7 to 11 and 12 to 16 years old.

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Paintings, original prints and artists books exploring the environment. The textures, colours and structures of each environment dictate the development of my artwork, reflecting fleeting images, imagination and experiences. Annette Kreiser (ID number 171 in the brochure) will also be showing her work in my adjoining gallery space ~ one upper goat.

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Ofqual: Updated with additional information for teachers on collecting evidence for use in contingency arrangements

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Ofqual: Updated with additional information for teachers on collecting evidence for use in contingency arrangements

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Updated: 25th March 2022

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Recent updates regarding regulated qualifications.

Delivery of vocational and technical qualification results for 2024 and beyond

Ofqual has announced arrangements to ensure the timely delivery of results for students taking vocational and technical qualifications in 2024 and beyond.

Dr Jo Saxton, Chief Regulator, has also written to all schools and colleges in England to explain the arrangements in more detail, and how they differ from those implemented in 2023.

GCSE, Level 1, Level 1/2 and Level 2 vocational and technical qualifications results, summer 2023

Ofqual has published 2 guides to today's (24 August 2023) exam results:

These guides summarise the headline figures across England and reflect Ofqual's decision to return to pre-pandemic grading this summer.

You can explore the results in more depth - including breakdowns by centre type, subject and region - using Ofqual's interactive visualisations.

Ofqual has also summarised the key data in infographics for GCSE and Level 1, Level 1/2 and Level 2 VTQ.

AS, A level and Level 3 vocational and technical qualifications results, summer 2023

Ofqual has published 2 guides to today's (17 August 2023) exam results:

These guides summarise the headline figures across England and reflect Ofqual's decision to return to pre-pandemic grading this summer.

You can explore the results in more depth - including breakdowns by centre type, subject and region - using Ofqual's interactive visualisations.

Ofqual has also summarised the key data in infographics for AS and A level and Level 3 VTQ.

Industrial action

The Department for Education has issued guidance that recommends that schools should prioritise the running of examinations and assessments on any strike days, and should review their contingency plans to enable this to happen.

Schools, colleges and other exam centres should speak to the relevant awarding organisations if they are expecting any disruption that might affect the sitting of exams and assessments.

Replacement certificates

Ofqual does not hold copies of your certificates - we can't tell you your grade or provide replacements. Certificates are held by the exam board you sat your qualification with. If you don't know which exam board you took your qualification with, ask your school. If your school don't know you will need to ask each exam board to do a search for you - they will charge you for this.

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Updated: February 2022

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16 to 18 accountability headline measures

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Guide for schools, colleges and local authorities on how the 16 to 18 performance measures are calculated.

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Secondary accountability measures Guidance 2022

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Secondary accountability measures Guidance 2022

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Updated: February 2022

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Information for schools about secondary school accountability measures, including Progress 8 and Attainment 8.

Applies to England

Documents

Details

This document explains how secondary accountability measures are calculated. It also gives more information about announced policies that apply to accountability measures for the 2022 to 2023 academic year.

This information is for:

senior leaders working in secondary schools and trusts, including maintained schools, academies, alternative provision, free schools and special schools

independent schools or colleges with 14 to 16 provision seeking information on secondary accountability measures

governors and trustees

local authorities

It applies to:

local-authority-maintained schools

academies

free schools

further education colleges with 14 to 16 provision

Find school and college performance data.

KS4 qualifications, discount codes and point scores for the school performance measures.

A short video explaining Progress 8 is also available:
Progress 8 video

Thank you for your feedback

Report a problem with this page

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Secondary accountability measures (including Progress 8 and Attainment 8)

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Information for schools about secondary school accountability measures, including Progress 8 and Attainment 8.

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Ofqual: Subject-by-subject support for GCSE, AS and A level students in 2022

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Ofqual: Subject-by-subject support for GCSE, AS and A level students in 2022

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Published: 7th February 2022

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Overview of the support being provided for each qualification for students taking GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2022.

Applies to England

Additional support this year

A package of support has been put in place for students taking GCSE, AS and A level qualifications in summer 2022. It is intended to make sure that we are being as fair as possible to students given the disruption they have experienced, and many continue to face, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Part of the changes includes more generous grading this year to provide a safety net for students who may have been impacted by the pandemic.

Advance information might look different for different subjects because of how they are structured and assessed, but as far as possible the exam boards have made sure the approaches within a subject are the same.

These changes apply in England and to Ofqual regulated qualifications taken elsewhere.

Exam boards have published specific information about the changes for each qualification they offer, you should check their websites for more information:

GCSEs

Where we list changes for subjects in 2022, we only list what has changed, not what is remaining the same.

Ancient history, GCSE

Art and design, GCSE

Changes for 2022

More information is available from the exam boards:

Astronomy, GCSE

Biblical Hebrew, GCSE

Biology, GCSE

Business, GCSE

Chemistry, GCSE

Citizenship studies, GCSE

Classical civilisation, GCSE

Classical Greek, GCSE

Combined science, GCSE

Changes for 2022

1. Information on some of the exam content has been provided to help students focus their revision.

2. A revised equation sheet has been provided for teaching and learning.

3. A clean copy of the equation sheet will be provided for students in the exams.

4. Teachers can deliver practical work by demonstration.

5. Examiners will build in generosity for students when setting grade boundaries.

More information is available from the exam boards:

Computer science, GCSE

Dance, GCSE

Design and technology, GCSE

Drama, GCSE

Economics, GCSE

Electronics, GCSE

Engineering, GCSE

English language, GCSE

English literature, GCSE

Film studies, GCSE

Food preparation and nutrition, GCSE

Geography, GCSE

Changes for 2022

1. Exams will cover less content than usual.

2. In the exams there will be a choice of content on which students must answer questions.

3. There will be no questions on the student's fieldwork experience.

4. Fieldwork requirements have been relaxed.

5. Examiners will build in generosity for students when setting grade boundaries.

More information is available from the exam boards:

Geology, GCSE

Changes for 2022

More information is available from the exam boards:

History, GCSE

Latin, GCSE

Maths, GCSE

Modern foreign languages, GCSE

Changes for 2022

More information is available from the exam boards:

Music, GCSE

Physical education, GCSE

Physical education (short course), GCSE

Physics, GCSE

Changes for 2022

1. Information on some of the exam content has been provided to help students focus their revision.

2. A revised equation sheet has been provided for teaching and learning.

3. A clean copy of the equation sheet will be provided for students in the exams.

4. Teachers can deliver practical work by demonstration.

5. Examiners will build in generosity for students when setting grade boundaries.

More information is available from the exam boards:

Psychology, GCSE

Religious studies, GCSE

Religious studies (short course), GCSE

Sociology, GCSE

Statistics, GCSE

AS and A levels

Accounting, AS and A level

Ancient history, AS and A level

Art and design, AS and A level

Biblical Hebrew, A level

Biology, AS

Biology, A level

Business, AS and A level

Chemistry, AS

Chemistry, A level

Classical civilisation, AS and A level

Classical Greek, AS and A level

Computer science, AS and A level

Dance, A level

Design and technology, AS and A level

Drama and theatre, AS and A level

Economics, AS and A level

Electronics, AS and A level

English language, AS and A level

English language and literature, AS and A level

English literature, AS and A level

Environmental science, A level

Changes for 2022

More information is available from the exam boards:

Film studies, AS and A level

Changes for 2022

More information is available from the exam boards:

Further maths, AS and A level

Geography, AS

Geography, A level

Geology, AS

Changes for 2022

More information is available from the exam boards:

Geology, A level

Changes for 2022

More information is available from the exam boards:

History, AS and A level

History of art, AS and A level

Latin, AS and A level

Law, AS and A level

Maths, AS and A level

Modern foreign languages, AS and A level

Changes for 2022

1. Information on some of the exam content has been provided to help students focus their revision.

2. Examiners will build in generosity for students when setting grade boundaries.

More information is available from the exam boards:

AQA - Bengali (Listening, Reading, Writing), A level

AQA - French, A level

AQA - French, AS

AQA - German, A level

AQA - German, AS

AQA - Modern Hebrew (Listening, Reading, Writing), A level

AQA - Panjabi (Listening, Reading, Writing), A level

AQA - Polish (Listening, Reading, Writing), A level

AQA - Spanish, A level

AQA - Spanish, AS

Pearson Edexcel - Arabic (2018), A level

Pearson Edexcel - Chinese (2017), A level

Pearson Edexcel - French (2016), A level

Pearson Edexcel - German (2016), A level

Pearson Edexcel - Greek (2018), A level

Pearson Edexcel - Gujarati (2018), A level

Pearson Edexcel - Italian (2017), A level

Pearson Edexcel - Japanese (2018), A level

Pearson Edexcel - Persian (2018), A level

Pearson Edexcel - Portuguese (2018), A level

Pearson Edexcel - Russian (2017), A level

Pearson Edexcel - Spanish (2016), A level

Pearson Edexcel - Turkish (2018), A level

Pearson Edexcel - Urdu (2018), A level

WJEC Eduqas - French, AS and A level

WJEC Eduqas - German, AS and A level

WJEC Eduqas - Spanish, AS and A level

Music, AS and A level

Music technology, AS and A level

Philosophy, AS and A level

Physical education, AS and A level

Physics, AS

Physics, A level

Politics, AS and A level

Psychology, AS and A level

Religious studies, AS and A level

Sociology, AS and A level

Statistics, AS and A level

Background to these changes

Full details of the changes we have made to our rules can be found in the decisions for the consultations ' Proposed changes to the assessment of GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2022' and ' Arrangements for non-exam assessment for qualifications in 2022 '.

Vocational and technical qualifications

Where needed, [awarding organisations are allowed to make adaptations to assessments and qualifications due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Schools and colleges have already been told what these changes will be, and you should speak to your school or college for further details about your specific qualification.

Accessible version of diagram

Generous grading

Exams will be graded more generously this year providing a safety net for students.

Changes to coursework

Non-exam assessment and fieldwork requirements adjusted, with flexibility in some subjects.

Optional content

There will be less content or fewer topics for students to learn in some GCSEs.

Support materials

Students will get formulae and equation sheets in some exams and won't have to memorise as much.

Advance information

Exam boards will give information on the focus of exams for most subjects to help students revise.

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Subject-by-subject support for GCSE, AS and A level students in 2022

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Overview of the support being provided for each qualification for students taking GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2022.

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JCQ:  Summer 2022 Exams and Advance Information 

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JCQ:  Summer 2022 Exams and Advance Information 

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Updated: 7th February 2022

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Ofqual Dr Jo Saxton: Speech at Sixth Form Colleges Association Conference

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Ofqual Dr Jo Saxton: Speech at Sixth Form Colleges Association Conference

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19th January 2022
Sets out the support for students taking exams and assessments this year, including advance information and a fair approach to grading

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Good morning, everyone. Bill: thank you so much for inviting me. I'm thrilled to be with you, in spirit if not in person.

I first met Bill in something like 2008. I went to see him in his office somewhere high up in Millbank tower. It had the most stunning view across south Westminster. Bill deployed me as a literacy consultant, and not long after, I found myself in a particularly tough new academy in the East Midlands. At that time, challenging educational circumstances on the ground did not include providing and complying with public health measures, and it did not include devising and determining high stakes assessments on top of everything else. Your response to the scale and pace of the change required by the pandemic in the last 2 years is simply breath-taking-more so than any view.

Let me give a sense of scale. Thanks to your commitment and efforts, and those of many thousands of other sector colleagues, despite exams being cancelled, last year 1.2 million students received grades for GCSE, AS and A levels. You, and staff at schools and exam centres, submitted 5.7 million Teacher Assessed Grades for students in England last summer. That includes over 750,000 A level TAGs.

And, in the spring and summer of 2021 alone, thanks again to your efforts, awarding organisations were able to issue over 1 million qualification results to students taking Functional Skills qualifications, Core Maths, International Baccalaureate diplomas, Cambridge Pre-Us, Applied Generals, Tech Levels and others.

2022 is still very young, yet as at today, over 500 regulated assessments and exams have taken place, that's 480,000 entries, or 89% of the January series will have been undertaken, which is extraordinary, given the pressures of the Omicron variant. Once again, in very large part because you have adapted staffing, prioritisation and invigilation, and many of you will have even reorganised your facilities to enable COVID-safe exam sittings to go ahead.

None of us would have chosen this turn of events, and whilst media commentators are right that it has shown the extraordinary purpose, commitment, drive and dedication of those who work in colleges, sixth forms and schools - for which I, and Ofqual of course applaud you - I think there is a bigger point here, and it is about adaptation.

As Darwin and Wallace posited in the 1890s, it is the ability of a species to adapt to its environment that determines its success. The versatility you have all shown over the past 2 years - and the scale of change to qualification and assessment policy and practice that you have realised - must surely exceed that of any generation of educators, certainly in recent history.

And as you know, there are more novel and important adaptations to come, in the form of advance information next month, together with a measured approach to ensure fair grading in the summer. I want to talk to you now about both of these; how they were conceived; why I believe they will help your students, and why they will mark an important staging post in our move back towards normality.

Advance Information

The first point I want to make about advance information is that it's not something we would have contemplated in 'normal times'. In fact, we have gone to great lengths - the whole qualification system has gone to great lengths traditionally - through Ofqual's regulations to reduce the risk of any student or teacher knowing in advance the focus of any exam paper. But we wanted a way to make the exam experience less daunting for students, while also preserving the integrity of the content coverage, as well as preserving the integrity of the assessments themselves.

The whole point is to provide as universal as possible a revision aid for students. And this, combined with the anticipation of a difficult winter, is how policymakers arrived at the 7 February publication date. Any earlier, and content coverage would have been affected; any later and it comes too late in the day for revision to be effective, too late to allow you to recap and review where necessary.

Obviously this is the first time this innovative approach has been taken, and 2022 exam papers were not designed with the publication of advance information in mind. I've no doubt that some people will feel we haven't gone far enough, and others will feel we have gone too far. But the people who matter to me the most are the students - and my sincere hope is that - with guidance from you - they will be able to benefit from the information being shared.

Advance Information is novel for everyone in the exam system. Exam boards have developed it for almost every subject. They've worked at pace to do so in the interests of students. They have done their absolute level best to deliver focused aids, without revealing the questions, and you can imagine that's definitely an art rather than a science. If they'd gone too close to revealing the questions it would have undermined exams and turned them into short-term memory tests rather than true measures of what students have learned, know, understand and can do.

There has been some commentary already about whether advance information will mainly benefit more able students because it might support them to revise for the higher tariff questions.

Of course, much of the advance information gives a steer on how to revise for higher tariff questions, although not all of it.

Bluntly, to focus advance information on low tariff questions would be nonsensical. It would be silly to publish a document that says something like; you will be asked to identify the year in which the Versailles Treaty was signed, or the year in which Magna Carta was signed. Clearly, at that point, the exam would stop being an exam.

But supporting students to revise for higher tariff questions does not mean that advance information will only support the most able students. Higher tariff doesn't necessarily mean harder content. We know that candidates from across all abilities and demographics gain marks across an exam paper and not only in the low tariff questions. And we hope that the benefit of advance information will mean that students who suffered the most disruption, or those who are less able, may gain confidence to tackle elements of a paper that they might previously not have felt confident to try.

And just as much as advance information is a new phenomenon for the boards and for colleges and schools, so is it new for us at Ofqual. It presents us, as the regulator, with a novel and interesting challenge. We have created a regulatory framework for exceptional measures that would, quite simply, have been unthinkable in a normal exam context. The pandemic has required a range of regulatory reprioritisation and adaptation in the same way that you have had to reprioritise and adapt your normal practice. I am clear that our regulations must align to the interests of students - given the impact on their education experience these past 2 years. So, what does this novel situation look like from the regulator's point of view?

First, the tenet must hold true that Ofqual does not see exams before they are sat. That doesn't change this year. Each year the number of people that know the content of live papers before they are sat is very tightly controlled by exam boards, and that's right. That's key to fairness for students, and important to minimise the risk of any leaks. The exam boards are accountable to Ofqual for the quality and security of their papers. And this year they are also accountable to us for the accurate and careful introduction of advance information.

So, our approach has been about putting in place principles to ensure that advance information secures the interests of students and we've set the right regulations to enable that.

In practical terms, that means that we have worked with subject specialists and our assessment design team, and the boards to agree over 300 specifications how the advance information will work. You get a sense of what a dramatic innovation that is for us to have adapted our rules to allow this is, if you recall the outrage some years ago when a broadsheet newspaper sent a journalist to attend an exam board event, at which hints about the focus of certain questions were allegedly provided in this meeting. The scale of that shock really puts this year's innovation into perspective.

I see it as a really exciting adaptation. We will, of course, be monitoring its effect closely. Shortly after publication, we will be reaching out to hear your - and your students' - views on how it delivers the intentions. We will do so again once exams have been sat. There is much to learn from what will happen in the coming months and so we will expand a wide-ranging research programme to evaluate the impact of advance information to inform thinking for future years. But I ask that when you receive the advance information, please do remember the positive intentions behind it - it represents a unique coming together of everybody across the qualification system to act in the interests of students, to provide them with support whilst also enabling the re-instatement of the tried, tested - and trusted - approaches to the awarding of qualifications.

Grading

Our approach to advance information was informed and driven by the views of you and of your students - we heard from teachers who were anxious about their students' ability to cover the full range of subject content. We heard from students about their varied experiences of the pandemic.

This same listening approach was applied to how we've tackled grading too.

It was clear talking to students and their parents, that they wanted to get back to normal, but not to do so in one single leap.

At the end of September, we announced our resulting approach to grading next summer, one intended to be as fair as possible to 2022 students. Fair, because it will provide a safety net to students who have been so affected by the pandemic. Fair, because it will iron out some of the anomalies that have come into play through the non-examined years. Fair because it will secure consistency between subjects and between exam boards. Let's remember too that this year marks the return to exams - the way the qualifications have been designed - with all students assessed in the same way, marked, and graded consistently and externally to the same standard. That, along with advance information which itself provides unprecedented support, represents an unprecedented package of aid.

So, 2022 is a transition year to reflect the realities of the pandemic and that students' education does continue to be disrupted. Remember the package as a whole - it works together as a complete aid and support. You need to not try to pick apart individual elements of it.

The results in 2020 and 2021, when exams were cancelled, were clearly out of line with the results of previous exam years. As we ourselves learn to adapt to living with COVID-19, it is right that we take steps to resume arrangements that are coherent with those from pre-pandemic years. We must do it gradually; and this underpins our so-called midpoint approach.

Let me be clear, there is no single statistical midpoint. There will be no standardisation model to determine students' grades. Grade boundaries for each specification will be set by senior examiners, critically, only after they have reviewed the work produced by students. As a check and balance, of course exam boards will use other evidence, including statistical evidence of how students were graded when exams were last taken, so that grade boundaries do, indeed, deliver this generous midpoint approach. That means you can assure your students and their families that, as regulator, we are doing everything we can to secure approaches to standards which are fair, whichever exam board a student is working with, whichever subject. As regulator, one of the key things that we do is review the results. I started to experience this process for the autumn series. Results across every subject in every board are reviewed in great detail and Ofqual checks the appropriate processes have been followed; considers anomalies with exam boards, before results are issued.

Because the process of determining grade boundaries must follow the act of script marking, which of course follows candidates sitting papers, what we can't tell you is precisely what these arrangements mean for results. But I can assure you that our grading requirements will provide a safety-net for this cohort and it is likely to mean that results overall are higher than in normal years.

Talking to UCAS, and to employers, they wanted to see grades that were closer to the currency they were used to. They also recognised it was not right to implement this in one go. We've heard concerns that repeating 2021 outcomes would likely lead to universities devising alternative entry arrangements and raising the grades on which offers are based. Contributing to a system where that might happen would not actually increase opportunity for students in practice.

Vocational and Technical Qualifications grading

Coherence, parity if you will, between vocational and technical qualifications and general qualifications is really important - and something that the regulatory framework devised during the pandemic better supports than pre-pandemic arrangements.

Ofqual's specific regulatory framework for awarding vocational qualifications in the pandemic requires awarding organisations to secure, as far as possible, that VTQ students are neither disadvantaged nor advantaged compared with their GCSE and A level peers. That principle has not existed in legal regulatory terms before.

Boards will take account, therefore, of the approach for GCSEs and A levels when setting standards in their own vocational and technical qualifications. We, as regulator, will closely monitor the arrangements and look at what awarding organisations are putting in place for their qualifications to ensure they are delivered fairly and are appropriately adapted in the interests of students.

Contingencies

I am really aware that some of you, and your students, would dearly like us to switch off contingencies given the government's confidence and commitment to exams going ahead. But I'm afraid that the need to collect evidence of student performance in case exams don't take place is important. It won't surprise you that I can't agree to turn off those arrangements. Not, of course, that it's entirely in my gift.

As well as showing us your incredible resilience and ability to adapt, the pandemic has also been unpredictable. That's the one predictable thing about the pandemic; it's continually surprised us and caught us off guard. It wouldn't be doing justice to you and your students to stand down contingencies at this time.

I am, nonetheless, hugely sympathetic to how challenging operationally and emotionally for you and your students it is to ride both these horses, but there are no plans to turn off Plan B.

Ofqual: expert and human, regulating in the interests of students

I promised Bill to leave time to take your questions, but before doing that, please allow me to share a little bit about myself, given this is my first chance to speak to you.

I am here today as Chief Regulator, but I am above everything else, like you, an educator.

I thrive in challenging environments - and actually anyone who knows me will tell you that I actively seek them out. Whether that is leading schools in disadvantaged communities, working in central government in the eye of a pandemic, or coming to Ofqual as we move further through the demands and opportunities the pandemic has forced.

For me, there is nothing more important in education than young people getting the qualifications they need to unlock their future. This is something I live and breathe.

I live and breathe it because that was precisely my own experience.

My qualifications opened all sorts of doors for me - including studying and working in six different countries around the world, and I want everyone to have those same opportunities - but especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

That's why I am here. Every day I think about those students - those with caring responsibilities at home; those who have a fractured or chaotic home life; those whose families are working second, or even third jobs, to keep their homes warm and food on the table - I want qualifications to work for them in the best way possible, to open doors for them.

These are the students who I've started to talk about as being my compass. Their interests are my true north. And this true north breathes life into Ofqual's statutory objectives.

What flows from that, is an Ofqual which is expert, absolutely, but an Ofqual that must also be human. That means listening - to students of all ages, but also to you, those who teach and lead them. You who make the longlist of qualification choices for them, you who support them as they work towards securing qualifications that have the potential to change their lives.

Over the coming weeks and months, I will be spending time with colleges, sixth forms, schools, different education and training providers in every region of England, so that I can listen to you, to students, to governors and to parents. I want to hear directly about the challenges faced in the qualification system. It's only by hearing and responding to these challenges that I and we at Ofqual can improve how assessment and qualifications work. Some of these things that we'll hear about, Ofqual can do something about. There are others that won't be in our gift, but we can do our best to play our active part in the system which we regulate on behalf of students.

I've so far been lucky enough to visit some colleges in the West Midlands and some schools in the south west. Some of this listening work will happen virtually so that the pandemic doesn't slow us down, nor interrupt your day too much.

What's important is that the insights we gain from you, your students and their families, inform our decisions. To those who think accessible qualifications are dumbing down, I say there is no better illustration of the importance of the power of the functional skills curriculum and those qualifications that enable entry into employment, than what I saw at Hereward College. There I met Sophie and Akram who were developing and practising functional skills in the college's hospitality training centre. Graduates of the college dramatically exceed national averages of employability for those with SEND, and those 2 were well on their way to being able to be employed by a national hotel chain. I am proud that one of the first decisions taken during my tenure as Chief Regulator was to publish a consultation on improving the accessibility of assessments, and another decision on the regulation of reformed digital functional skills. These are live examples of acting in the interest of students.

From visiting Walsall College, I gained real insight into how working with a range of awarding organisations can really meet a college's needs. The Walsall team shared how, while the larger AOs (awarding organisations) have the breadth and can deliver at scale, it is often the smaller ones - many of whom offer the end-point assessments for apprentices - who offer a personal and flexible approach to assessment bookings, which is really useful to help provide confidence and support, and take an element of stress out of the system as apprentices get closer to being ready to take their end point assessment. Accordingly, we will continue to be nuanced in our consideration of applications by organisations seeking entry to this sector and to our recognition. Assessment and organisational capacity must be balanced with a student-centric culture.

Conclusion

Listening to and acting in the interests of students is the true north for everything I will do as Chief Regulator. The context we must navigate together is one of adaptation and innovation, crystalised by the pandemic. But it also a time of reform, already in train pre-pandemic - T Levels, apprenticeship expansion, among others.

I have not even touched on the possibilities afforded by technology and other innovations. I am convinced of the opportunities they present to improve assessments for students and apprentices - to make them more accessible, more valid, more reliable. We will work together on these in the coming years. We need to ensure that both what we assess and how we assess it stays relevant to needs of employers and society at large.

We share, I have no doubt, a commitment to ensuring that qualification evolution is squarely in the interests of students and apprentices. I am hugely grateful to teachers in colleges, schools and training providers across the country, for the vital part they will play as we navigate the way forward together.

Thank you.

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Dr Jo Saxton at Sixth Form Colleges Association conference

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The Chief Regulator sets out the support for students taking exams and assessments this year, including advance information and a fair approach to grading.

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Deep Dives subjects in Ofsted Inspections of Norfolk School

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Deep Dives subjects in Ofsted Inspections of Norfolk School

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This was requested by a teacher, so may also be useful to other colleagues

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This was requested by a teacher, so may be useful to more colleagues

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Norwich Castle: Updates (Jenni Williams)

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Norwich Castle: Updates (Jenni Williams)

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Secondary Art Teachers Mailing List - Sign up here https://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/join-and-support/enewsletter

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Ofqual: Letter to schools - Advance information

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Ofqual: Letter to schools - Advance information

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Published: 9th December 2021

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I write to update you about the nature of the advance information, on the content of some GCSE, AS and A level exams, which the exam boards will be publishing by 7 February 2022.

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Getting Started: Ways to Teach and Assess BTEC Tech Award in Art and Design Practice 2022

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Getting Started: Ways to Teach and Assess BTEC Tech Award in Art and Design Practice 2022

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16:00-18:00
18 January 2022

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Getting Started: Ways to Teach and Assess BTEC Tech Award in Art and Design Practice 2022

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Norwich Castle: Updates (Jenni Williams) 

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Norwich Castle: Updates (Jenni Williams) 

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Workshop for A-Level and GCSE Textiles students
Tuesday 1st February 2022

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Norwich Castle: Updates (Jenni Williams) 

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Norwich Castle: Updates (Jenni Williams) 

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Workshop for A-Level and GCSE Textiles students
Tuesday 8th February 2022

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Guidance for schools/college: Awarding VTQs in 2021 and 2022

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Guidance for schools/college: Awarding VTQs in 2021 and 2022

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Published: 2nd December 2021

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About this document

This document is for those working in colleges, schools, training providers and other settings (or 'centres') where assessments for vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) and general qualifications other than GCSEs, AS and A levels, AEAs and project qualifications (or 'other general qualifications') are scheduled to take place in the academic year 2021 to 2022.

In this guidance we, as regulator, explain how VTQs and other general qualifications will be awarded this academic year. We outline what we expect from awarding organisations and what you and your students should expect to happen over the coming year.

Arrangements for awarding VTQs in the academic year 2021 to 2022

The government's intention is that exams and other formal assessments, including for VTQs and other general qualifications, will go ahead in the academic year 2021 to 2022. We have looked at how our regulations can help make this happen.

We know students taking exams and assessments this year may have already experienced significant disruption to their learning or work over the last year as a result of the pandemic. Your students may also need further support from you this year should the public health situation worsen and cause further disruption. Our regulations can help awarding organisations support you so your students can demonstrate their knowledge, skills and understanding in assessments, and in this way achieve their outcomes and progress to the next stage of their lives.

Qualifications can be adapted

To help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on students and their learning, we are continuing to allow awarding organisations to adapt their exams and other formal assessments for VTQs.

We require awarding organisations to continue to carefully balance mitigating the effects of the pandemic on teaching and learning with the need to ensure that results are fair, consistent and allow students to progress. For example, assessments may need to be adapted to free up time to focus on catch-up and teaching the remaining qualification content.

Ofqual has put in place a number of requirements that awarding organisations must follow when determining if their adaptations remain appropriate in the context of the 2021 to 2022 academic year. For example, we still expect that all content should be taught, as far as is feasible, so that students are as well-prepared as possible for progression to the next stage of their education, training, or employment.

To align with government policy, this year, we are no longer allowing awarding organisations to award results using alternative evidence such as teacher-assessed grades (TAGs). These were a necessary mitigation when exams and formal assessments could not take place.

We also expect awarding organisations to consider how making some adaptations now could make their VTQs more resilient if there is further disruption so that exams and other formal assessments could continue, as far as possible. We require awarding organisations to ensure, as far as possible, that the adaptations applied do not disadvantage, or advantage, students against their peers taking similar VTQs or, where relevant, GCSEs, AS and A levels.

Ofqual continues to work closely with awarding organisations, as we have done throughout the pandemic, so that awarding organisations provide colleges, training providers and schools with clear information in a timely manner to enable them to implement the adaptations fairly and consistently. In turn, we expect awarding organisations to continue to work collaboratively together and with centres, professional organisations and sector bodies in ensuring their approaches to awarding make sure that students completing these qualifications this year have the knowledge and skills employers expect.

There is a range of different qualification structures and assessment methods used in VTQs. As last year, we expect awarding organisations offering similar qualifications to continue to work with each other to ensure consistency is maintained where possible and appropriate. Awarding organisations will have different approaches, because of the variety of assessment methods, structures, and purposes of VTQs. Awarding organisations are best placed to understand the kinds of adaptation that work best for their qualifications and meet the needs of the students that take them so where there are differences, this is for a good reason.

The Conditions, requirements and guidance setting out our regulatory requirements for awarding organisations offering VTQs and other general qualifications affected by the coronavirus pandemic this year are set out in the Vocational and Technical Qualifications Contingency Regulatory Framework (the VCRF).

As in any other year it is important to us that:

results secure public confidence so teachers and employers can be confident this year's results will reflect what students know, understand, and can do, and students can progress to the next stage of their lives

students receiving VTQ and other general qualification results this year are neither advantaged nor disadvantaged compared to students studying for GCSEs, AS and A levels

What this means for you

1. Your awarding organisation should have provided you with the information you need to support you in implementing their adaptations. They should also provide you with details of the arrangements that will need to be made for any students who need reasonable adjustments.

2. This year, awarding organisations are likely to ask you for more information about which learners are planning to take assessments, when they plan to take them and when they are likely to award certificates. You might find it helpful to start capturing this information as early as possible.

3. If you ordinarily choose to deliver modular qualifications with assessments at the end of the course, you should consider whether that is appropriate this year. You might decide to run assessments throughout the year instead.

4. If you want to change the timing or delivery of assessments, then contact your awarding organisation to make sure this is done in the right way.

Arrangements for continuing students

Students who completed some of their exams or formal assessments in either the 2019 to 2020 or the 2020 to 2021 academic years, and who will complete the remainder of their qualification this academic year or in the future, are able to carry forward any results they have achieved so far. This applies whether the result was awarded using an adapted assessment or through use of alternative sources of evidence, such as TAGs.

In the same way, students starting new programmes of study this year will be able to carry the results of their adapted assessments forward. Arrangements for 2022 to 2023 have not been confirmed yet.

What this means for you

To make sure these arrangements are as manageable as possible for centres, many awarding organisations may use their normal quality assurance policies and procedures, however arrangements may be adapted to reflect current public health advice. On-site visits, for example, may be adapted to remote or virtual visits. Your awarding organisation will tell you what to expect.

Performance table qualifications

Awarding organisations must take account of the Department for Education's technical guidance when developing their approach to adaptation for VTQs approved for inclusion in performance tables. Where it is possible to do so, we expect awarding organisations to use similar approaches to adaptation for other qualifications at the same level leading to similar progression opportunities.

Assessments can be reduced, as is possible for VTQs that are not included in performance tables, but we expect that all of the qualification content should be taught where this is possible and the number of guided learning hours for each qualification should remain the same.

What this means for you

1. If you ordinarily choose to deliver performance table qualifications with assessments at the end of the course, you should consider whether that is appropriate this year. You might decide to run assessments throughout the year instead.

2. You should consider the Department for Education's decision not to limit the number of resits that are permitted for qualifications listed in performance tables. This means you can choose to assess earlier, without putting your students at a disadvantage.

3. If you want to change the timing or delivery of assessments, then contact your awarding organisation to make sure this is done in the right way.

T Levels

The arrangements for the Technical Qualifications of T Levels are in line with other VTQs. This means that the core and occupational specialism components exams and assessments should go ahead in 2021 to 2022. In the case of further significant disruption, the Department for Education may permit adaptations to content and or delivery of assessments where appropriate.

Functional Skills qualifications

As with other VTQs, we expect all Functional Skills qualifications (FSQs) assessments to go ahead in 2021 to 2022 and the full subject content to be taught across all levels.

Our expectation is that awarding organisations will continue to put in place adaptations relating to the delivery of FSQ assessments where necessary. Awarding organisations have put in place a range of approaches to give students as much opportunity as possible to take assessments. Some examples include:

changes to invigilation arrangements, including remote invigilation and remote assessment of the speaking, listening and communicating component

additional flexibility for exam dates and windows for assessments

additional guidance about the distribution and collection of papers, for example collation of scripts after students have left exam rooms, quarantining papers before and after use, and extended timescales to return scripts after exams

adaptations to guidance for individuals involved in examination delivery, for example invigilators, readers and or scribes

What this means for you

You should contact your awarding organisation to find out more about the arrangements they have put in place. The table below shows the range of assessment options for FSQs offered by each awarding organisation.

Awarding organisation

Remote invigilation

On-screen or computer based

Paper based

Awarding organisation provided test centre

Apprenticeship end-point assessments

The flexibilities for the assessment of apprenticeships are being overseen by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and are not covered by the VCRF.

Monitoring the public health situation and contingency planning

It is possible that further disruption may occur over the course of 2021 to 2022. Even if some public health restrictions were to be needed over the next academic year, it should still be possible for students to take exams and formal assessments safely. If there is further disruption, we would ask awarding organisations to consider whether further adaptations to their qualifications are necessary and possible.

We need to have contingency plans in place for the event that students cannot sit exams and formal assessments.

If the government decides that exams and formal assessments cannot take place in the summer then as in 2021, it is possible that VTQs and other general qualifications may be awarded through TAGs. GCSEs and A levels may also be awarded through TAGs. The evidence for TAGs is likely to come from the assessments your students have already taken during the year or other work. Many VTQs are modular and designed so that assessments can take place throughout the year. This means it is unlikely that there will be any additional assessments to inform the TAG.

You can find more information about contingency arrangements in the Department for Education's contingency guidance for vocational and technical qualifications.

What this means for you

1. If you ordinarily choose to deliver modular qualifications with assessment at the end of a course, you may wish to consider whether that is appropriate this year. You might decide to run assessments throughout the year instead.

2. If you want to change the timing or delivery of assessments, then contact your awarding organisation to make sure this is done in the right way.

Results

Approaches to awarding may differ between awarding organisations. This will depend on how the qualification is assessed and was assessed in summer 2021 and or summer 2020. Some qualification will have standards aligned to those of similar subjects in GCSEs and A Levels. Some VTQs saw an increase in outcomes and higher grades during the pandemic, but that was not the case for others. Awarding organisations will take all these factors into account, to ensure learners get fair results.

Most results will continue to be issued to normal timescales. Roll-on roll-off qualifications, and those not tied to an academic year, will continue to be awarded throughout the year.

Where VTQ results are used to support progression to further or higher education, results should be awarded on or before the following dates:

18 August 2022 for level 3 qualifications

25 August 2022 for level 2 qualifications

This is in line with A level and GCSE results days and ensures that students wishing to progress onto further or higher education are not disadvantaged compared to students taking A levels or GCSEs.

What this means for you

1. Your awarding organisations will confirm their results days.

2. The results of roll-on roll-off qualifications will continue be awarded in line with current timescales.

3. You should receive results data in good time to allow you to prepare for the distribution of results on the correct days.

4. Please ensure that you have the right people and resources available at your centre who can respond to queries from students, queries from the awarding organisation, and help prepare for the distribution of results.

Appeals

Awarding organisation appeals processes will be the same as any other year. Awarding organisations are still required to consider appeals for students whose results were based on alternative evidence such as TAGs. For more information, please contact your awarding organisation.

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Guidance for centres: awarding VTQs in 2021 and 2022

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This document is for those working in colleges, schools, training providers and other settings (or 'centres') where assessments for vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) and general qualifications other than GCSEs, AS and A levels, AEAs and project qualifications (or 'other general qualifications') are scheduled to take place in the academic year 2021 to 2022.

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- GCSE Art and Design: Teacher standardisation 2021/2022 Session, January dates fully booked, NEW March dates available
- A-level Art and Design: Teacher standardisation 2021/2022 Session, January dates fully booked, NEW March dates available

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Eduqas:  GCSE Art & Design - Exam walk through

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Eduqas:  GCSE Art & Design - Exam walk through

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Y10/11
E-learning

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Published: 15 October 2021
Authors:

Aimed at learners, these materials offer practical hints and tips on how to effectively approach questions in examination papers and preparing for NEA. The PPTs with audio help and audio script in the notes will walk you through a mock examination paper, helping you revise and practise useful exam techniques and provide a step-by-step guide to preparing and presenting your NEA work. You can walk-through each PPT in a single sitting, tackle one or two sections at a time or revisit some parts of the presentation to reinforce your learning.

Make sure you download the PPT to ensure the audio function works effectively, make sure your speakers / headphones are on and don't forget to ask your teacher if there is anything you are unsure of.

Feedback

Not seeing what you want? Is there a problem with the files? Do you have a suggestion? Please give us feedback, we welcome all correspondence from our users.

name: email: how would you rate this resource? (optional)

feedback:

Send Feedback

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Published: 15 October 2021 Authors: Aimed at learners, these materials offer practical hints and tips on how to effectively approach questions in examination papers and preparing for NEA. The PPTs with audio help and audio script in the notes will walk you through a mock examination paper, helping you revise and practise useful exam techniques and provide a step-by-step guide to preparing and presenting your NEA work.

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Online
4.30-5.30pm
10th May 2022

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Ticketsolve is ticketing in your hands, with complete control over your ticketing operations, both online and at your box office.

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AQA: A-level Art and Design: Teacher standardisation 2021/2022

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AQA: A-level Art and Design: Teacher standardisation 2021/2022

# data[].attributes.body
London
09:30-12:30 or 13:30-16:30 or 17:30-20:30
7th/8th/9th March 2022

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The purpose of these free events is to standardise marking using exhibitions of work for A-level Art and Design covering all titles and the full ability range.

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Susan Coles, NEAAT & NEATEN: Teaching in the Now

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Susan Coles, NEAAT & NEATEN: Teaching in the Now

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10:15-12:15
5th December 2021

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Sunday 5 December 2021 | 10.15am - 12.15pm

Join us for the fourth and final Teaching in the Now CPD session of 2021 - led by Arts, Creativity, Cultural and Educational Consultant Susan Coles alongside members of the art education network communities NEAAT (Norfolk and East Anglia Art Teachers) and NEATEN (North East Art Teacher Educator Network).

This session will look back at the first term of 2021 and revisit successful practice and ideas that we have explored. Plus we'll be looking at new ideas for the future and an inspiring, fun and creative 2022.
Feedback from 'Teaching in the Now #3' on 4 July
"...Getting advice on how to tackle some unenthusiastic learners, and realising that are lots of us in the same boat..."

Who are we?

North East Art Teacher/Educator Network (NEATEN) - established in 2007 as a network for art educators, and now in our 14th year here in the north east of England. We have expanded outside of our region this year in response to the global pandemic, and we believe firmly in the wisdom of crowds.

We advocate for our subject and its rightful place in the curriculum, we showcase and share good practice in all phases of education and we connect, collaborate and create together. Follow us on Twitter/Insta @NEATENart

Facebook group - NEATEN

Network of East Anglian Art Teachers (NEAAT) - We believe the Arts are special in our region: NEAAT was created in 2019 to meet the need for Art teachers in East Anglia to be part of an empowering and enriching network of fellow educators that can support each other and help develop an exciting provision for our students.

Supported by the Norwich University of Art we work together to connect, inspire and empower Art teachers from all aspects of the profession, creating a network with other providers to ensure the longevity of the subject beyond school and qualifications; enabling the practitioners of the future. Art is fun and everyone should be doing it!

We are quite new but have a fantastic range of members and are growing every year. Over the past year we have expanded into provided online workshops that have expanded into the UK and abroad. Follow us on twitter @NEAAT3

Facebook group - NEAAT
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Network of East Anglian Art Teachers
C&P NEAAT is a new network for Art teachers within Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Facebook group - C&P NEAAT

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Sunday 5 December 2021 | 10.15am - 12.15pm Join us for the fourth and final Teaching in the Now CPD session of 2021 - led by Arts, Creativity, Cultural and Educational Consultant Susan Coles alongside members of the art education network communities NEAAT (Norfolk and East Anglia Art Teachers) and NEATEN (North East Art Teacher Educator Network).

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Y12/13
E-learning

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Resources for young people in Years 12 and 13

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This is a directory of free, online, subject-specific learning resources for young people in Years 12 and 13, from a wide variety of academic departments at UCL.

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Ofsted: Jennifer Gibbs, HMI, Subject Lead for Art and Design

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Ofsted: Jennifer Gibbs, HMI, Subject Lead for Art and Design

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26th October 2021

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Art and design curriculum | Webinar from the East Midlands region

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AQA: GCSE Art and Design: Teacher standardisation 2021/2022

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AQA: GCSE Art and Design: Teacher standardisation 2021/2022

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London
09:30-12:30 or 13:30-16:30 or 17:30-20:30
7th/8th/9th/10th March 2022

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GCSE Art and Design: Teacher standardisation 2021/2022

Course summary

The purpose of these free events is to standardise marking for the specification (8201-8206) using exhibitions of work for GCSE Art and Design covering all titles and the full ability range.
A maximum of two delegates per school/college per series.
Course reference

ARTGSF7 - use this in communications with us.

Course description

Registration will start 15 minutes before the session and will begin with a short briefing. You will then be given the opportunity to view GCSE practical work from each title and carry out a marking exercise using the marking criteria found within the specification. Feedback on GCSE marks will be given before the end of the session.

Please bring your specification with you.

Suitable for

Schools/colleges whose marks were significantly adjusted by AQA the previous year. Schools/colleges offering a specification for the first time. Any teachers wishing to attend to familiarise with the standards for the coming year. Teachers responsible for marking work in schools/colleges.

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The purpose of these free events is to standardise marking for the specification (8201-8206) using exhibitions of work for GCSE Art and Design covering all titles and the full ability range. A maximum of two delegates per school/college per series. ARTGSF7 - use this in communications with us.

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AQA: A-level Art and Design  - changes for 2022

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AQA: A-level Art and Design  - changes for 2022

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Because of the ongoing impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there are some changes to how A-level Art and Design will be assessed in 2022.

These changes are for 2022 only.

What you need to know

Students will only complete component 1

Moderation visits as normal

Face to face standardisation

Students will only complete Component 1

For A-level Art and Design: Art, Craft and Design, Fine Art, Graphic Communication, Textile Design, 3D Design and Photography, students will complete Component 1 (Personal investigation) only.

This means that students won't need to start or complete Component 2

Moderation visits as normal

We'll be returning to moderator visits in June 2022.

However, this may need to change based on whatever Coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions are in place at the time.

Face to face teacher standardisation

Teacher standardisation will return to face to face from January.

However, this may need to change based on whatever Coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions are in place at the time.

No other changes

Students will need to complete Component 1 in the normal way.

Component 1 will be marked out of 96 as usual.

The assessment criteria in the specification remains the same.

Help and support

For further help and support, please contact us.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Because of the ongoing impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there are some changes to how A-level Art and Design will be assessed in 2022. These changes are for 2022 only.

# data[].attributes.headline
AQA: GCSE Art and Design - changes for 2022

# data[].attributes.subject
AQA: GCSE Art and Design - changes for 2022

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Because of the ongoing impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there are some changes to how GCSE Art and Design will be assessed in 2022.

These changes are for 2022 only.

What you need to know

Students will only complete component 1

Moderation visits as normal

Face to face standardisation

Students will only complete Component 1

For GCSE Art and Design: Art, Craft and Design, Fine Art, Graphic Communication, Textile Design, 3D Design and Photography, students will complete Component 1 (Portfolio) only.

This means that students won't need to start or complete Component 2.

Moderation visits as normal

We'll be returning to moderator visits in June 2022.

However, this may need to change based on whatever Coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions are in place at the time.

Face to face teacher standardisation

Teacher standardisation will return to face to face from January.

However, this may need to change based on whatever Coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions are in place at the time.

No other changes

Students will need to complete Component 1 in the normal way.

Component 1 will be marked out of 96 as usual.

The assessment criteria in the specification remains the same.

Help and support

For further help and support, please contact us.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Because of the ongoing impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there are some changes to how GCSE Art and Design will be assessed in 2022. These changes are for 2022 only.

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The artworks in our collection and exhibitions come to life when you join us to look, think, discuss, question, create, play and tell stories around them. Find out how you can get involved and become a part of our learning community.

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Sainsbury Centre | Learn | Get Involved | Create Bespoke Sessions

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The artworks in our collection and exhibitions come to life when you join us to look, think, discuss, question, create, play and tell stories around them. Find out how you can get involved and become a part of our learning community.

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Y7-13
E-learning

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Activities for older children to inspire creativity and encourage independent thinking.

Discover architecture through shapes and subversive art techniques from Dada to punk.

Designed by artists Genevieve Rudd, Iain Brownlie, Anna Brass and Paul Patrick Fenner.

Share your creations with us on social media using #SCOnline

Supported by Art Fund and the Norwich Freemen's Charity.

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Online Studio | Free Creative Activities For Age 12-18 | Sainsbury Centre

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Activities for older children to inspire creativity and encourage independent thinking. Discover architecture through shapes and subversive art techniques from Dada to punk. Designed by artists Genevieve Rudd, Iain Brownlie, Anna Brass and Paul Patrick Fenner. Share your creations with us on social media using #SCOnline Supported by Art Fund and the Norwich Freemen's Charity.

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Y9-11
Norwich
Throughout the year

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The Norwich University of the Arts Saturday Club offers young people the opportunity to create, express, design and explore, through a series of online art and design workshops.

Drawing on a range of influences, including local artists, practitioners and university students, Club members are offered the chance to immerse themselves in a wide range of creative disciplines.

Weekly classes will allow members to encounter specialist areas of study and will introduce a range of new processes and techniques. They will provide a fun and relaxed platform for investigating Higher Education and careers in the creative industries.

Club members also take part in national events including Masterclasses with leading industry professionals and the Summer Show, where Saturday Clubs nationwide exhibit their work in a public exhibition - all for free!

Francis House
3-7 Redwell St
Norwich NR2 4SN

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Norwich University of the Arts - National Saturday Club

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Norwich University of the Arts Saturday Club offers young people the opportunity to create, express, design and explore, through a series of online art and design workshops. Drawing on a range of influences, including local artists, practitioners and university students, Club members are offered the chance to immerse themselves in a wide range of creative disciplines.

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Y10-13
Norwich
27th July - 31st August 2022

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Wednesday 27 July - Wednesday 31 August 2022

Our 2022 Summer School online workshop series is open for booking!

Certificate of Attendance

Attending the Summer School series is the perfect experience to discuss on personal statements and a great way to demonstrate your new skills in a creative portfolio.

As part of the series, we will be providing an official digital certificate of attendance that you can add to your portfolio.

To receive your official NUA Summer School 2022 certificate, you will need to;

Attend a minimum of 3 workshops from the series

Submit outcomes from 3 workshops (for students in the UK only)

Upcoming Workshops

Available online workshops to book.

Character Design
Wednesday 27 July | 10.00 - 11.30am (BST)
Led by Freelance Character Designer Dan Kelby, (Netflix, Disney TV Animation, Cartoon Network Studios), you will explore a process for generating a variety of character designs using everyday objects, which will enhance your understanding of the application of shape design and proportion when exploring a brief visually.

As well as informing character design for animation, the processes covered will also benefit other disciplines such as illustration and games design.

Digital drawing or traditional 2D processes can be followed for this workshop.
What do I need?
Digital drawing

Digital art program such as Adobe Photoshop, Procreate, Clip Studio Paint or similar

Traditional drawing

Paper

Pencil

Eraser

Pen (a permanent marker such as a Sharpie)

Workshop skills.
The skills in this workshop cross over with subjects including Animation, Games Art and Design and Illustration.

Creating an Ethnographic Doodle
Wednesday 3 August | 3.00 - 4.30pm (BST)
Ethnographic doodle is a type of illustration practice, combining ethnography (the study of people and culture mainly through observation) and doodling (informal image making) to visually document human culture.

During this session participants will create their own ethnographic doodle, a powerful visual research method that can be super fun and useful in many career contexts.
What do I need? Workshop skills.
The skills in this workshop cross over with subjects including Illustration, Graphic Design and Fine Art.

Fashion Photography
Wednesday 10 August | 10.00 - 11.30am (BST)
The world of fashion photography is a great way to pursue creative projects and explore different ideas.

Join Cat Gundry-Beck, BA (Hons) Photography graduate who now works as a photographer based in Iceland, for a workshop where students will participate in different tasks photographing themselves, someone else or a piece of clothing hanging while learning about the fashion photography industry.
What do I need?

Something to cover the face e.g. costume mask (animal, masquerade). If you don't have this, you could photograph the individual from behind or crop out their face.

Some different clothing options

A source of light e.g. window, lamp or a flashlight

Furniture or props e.g. a chair to sit on, jewellery, a watch, a plant etc.

Workshop skills.
The skills in this workshop cross over with subjects including Photography, Fashion, and Fashion Communication and Promotion.

3D Visual Creations
Wednesday 17 August | 3.00 - 4.30pm (BST)
Taster session exploring the creative power of node based coding.

We will be using Blender 3 to create morphing and animated 3D sculptures and models.
What do I need?

Blender 3

Windows 8.1, 10 and 11 or,

macOS 10.13 Intel, 11.0 Apple Silicon

Linux Minimum

64-bit quad core CPU with SSE2 support

8GB RAM

Full HD display

Mouse, trackpad or pen + tablet

Graphics card with 2GB RAM, OpenGL 4.3 that is less than 10 years old

Workshop skills.
The skills in this workshop cross over with subjects including Animation and Visual Effects, Games Art and Design, Games Development and Creative Computing.

Pitch Perfect
Wednesday 24 August | 10.00 - 11.30am (BST)
Working in branded video content is always a challenge but one aspect that is often overlooked is the pitching process. This is way before the cameras start rolling.

The pitching process is your opportunity to communicate and sell your ideas and concepts through the use of visuals, text and speech and really show your understanding of a client, a company or a brand.

Through this workshop we run through how we develop pitches and proposals that have won us libraries of work.
What do I need? Workshop skills.
The skills in this workshop cross over with subjects including Film and Moving Image Production, Acting, Fashion Communication and Promotion and Animation.

Accessing Architecture
Wednesday 31 August | 3.00 - 4.30pm (BST)
Join NUA BA (Hons) Architecture graduate and Junior Architect, Nick Cassidy, for a workshop exploring new architectural designs based on household objects and natural forms.

Learn how to take 2D concepts into 3D visualisations with a digital design tutorial alongside an insight into the creative process within industry.
What do I need?

A range of household objects you find interesting

Pen or pencil

Paper to sketch out ideas

Ruler or a similar object with a straight edge

Access to the free software SketchUp - www.sketchup.com

A right-angle triangle (optional)

A protractor (optional)

Workshop skills.
The skills in this workshop cross over with subjects including Architecture and Interior Design.

FAQs

How do I join the workshop?

Once you have booked your place on the workshop(s) you wish to join, a confirmation email will be sent out with links and information on how to join the event.

Will I receive a recording of the workshop if I am unable to attend?

We will be recording all workshops and making them available to those who book to attend. We would therefore suggest you book your place on the events you are interested in attending even if you can no longer join closer to the day.
What do I need to do to get my certificate?
You will need to attend a minimum of 3 of the 6 workshops to be able to receive the official certificate of attendance. We are also asking for you to submit outcomes from 3 workshops that you have attended (for students in the UK only).

How will I receive my certificate?

We will be providing a digital certificate to you after the final event has finished.

Is there a risk assessment and safeguarding in place for this series?

We are happy to share our risk assessment and safeguarding information with you should you require this. Please email us at studentrecruitment@nua.ac.uk for more information.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Wednesday 27 July - Wednesday 31 August 2022 Our 2022 Summer School online workshop series is open for booking! Attending the Summer School series is the perfect experience to discuss on personal statements and a great way to demonstrate your new skills in a creative portfolio.

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Y12/13
Norwich
Tuesdays in February & March 2022

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Tuesdays, 4.30pm - 6.30pm
Work with other people aged 16-25 to develop your own art projects in response to the Sainsbury Centre. Try out new ideas, learn new skills, share your work, meet artists, and join a network of new collaborators. Free to attend.

Sessions are free and are based both online and in-person at the Sainsbury Centre.

Session dates:

12, 19, 26 October
2, 9, 16, 23, 30 November

If you have any questions, email Nell: n.croose-myhill@uea.ac.uk

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Tuesdays, 4.30pm - 6.30pm Work with other people aged 16-25 to develop your own art projects in response to the Sainsbury Centre. Try out new ideas, learn new skills, share your work, meet artists, and join a network of new collaborators. Free to attend.

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Y13
Norwich
Throughout the year

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Undergraduate & postgraduate Open Day information. Experience about our campus, visit our world-class facilities, meet our students & staff.

# data[].attributes.headline
Reepham College: Creative Arts Master Class

# data[].attributes.subject
Reepham College: Creative Arts Master Class

# data[].attributes.body
Y11
13th Nov 2021

# data[].attributes.body
Deadline: December 2021

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
With just under a year to go until the new Marina Centre is unveiled, Great Yarmouth Borough Council has launched a new art competition for children and young people of all ages and abilities.

Over the next three months, participants are invited to submit their very own version of the Olympic torch, either as an individual or group entry. A first name and age is all the information needed to be added to each entry.

The winning design would have their design sent to a fabricator, who will turn it into a torch. The torch will then travel around the borough in a relay race and attend activity days, sports day, fetes, and other exciting opportunities from mid-April 2022. The winner of the competition would be given the opportunity to be able to "pass the torch" over to our special guest who will be officially opening the new Marina Centre.

Cllr Carl Smith, leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council, said: "After the success of our #GYTogether campaign at the start of lockdown, and the steel signing competition we did earlier this year, we knew the children of the borough loved to submit their artwork in the competitions we run.

"This competition gives the younger generation a chance to gain a real sense of ownership of the exciting new Marina Centre, which will be a destination attraction benefiting the seafront and entire borough for up to 40 years."

The project is funded by Great Yarmouth Borough Council, plus £2.5m secured from the Government's Getting Building Fund, via New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, £1.6m from Sport England, and £500,000 from Pooled Business Rates.

Entries should be emailed to: marketing@great-yarmouth.gov.uk with the artist's first name and age.

To read more about what's in the new centre and take a virtual tour of the new Marina Centre, visit: https://www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/golden-mile.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Council announces scorching new art competition as grand opening of the new Marina Centre draws nearer

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With just under a year to go until the new Marina Centre is unveiled, Great Yarmouth Borough Council has launched a new art competition for children and young people of all ages and abilities. Over the next three months, participants are invited to submit their very own version of the Olympic torch, either as an individual or group entry.

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Eduqas: GCSE Art - Presentation on Guidance for 2022

# data[].attributes.subject
Eduqas: GCSE Art - Presentation on Guidance for 2022

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find out more about the Eduqas Art and Design GCSE. From resources and teaching to GCSE Art and Design past papers, you'll find it all here.

# data[].attributes.headline
Pearson: NEW webpage for Vocational Qualifications for Teaching, learning and assessment 2021/2022

# data[].attributes.subject
Pearson: NEW webpage for Vocational Qualifications for Teaching, learning and assessment 2021/2022

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
PLEASE NOTE: All BTEC external assessments for 2021/22 are expected to go ahead.

We released our draft exam timetables, and many centres fed-back their preference for the January series to commence one week later (from Wednesday 12 January).

In light of this, we are working quickly to review our January timetables to accommodate this later start. Please note this means results day will move to Wednesday 23 March.

We are also reviewing our February (Tech Award) timetables to also commence a week later (from Monday 7 February) with results day moving to Wednesday 6 April.

All January and February external assessment timetables will be finalised and published during the week commencing Monday 6 September.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching, learning and assessment 2021/2022

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
PLEASE NOTE: All BTEC external assessments for 2021/22 are expected to go ahead. We released our draft exam timetables, and many centres fed-back their preference for the January series to commence one week later (from Wednesday 12 January). In light of this, we are working quickly to review our January timetables to accommodate this later start.

# data[].attributes.headline
Edexcel: GCSE Art & Design -  NEW Summer 2022 exam series weightings

# data[].attributes.subject
Edexcel: GCSE Art & Design -  NEW Summer 2022 exam series weightings

# data[].attributes.body
Published: 6th October 2021

# data[].attributes.headline
Ofsted: New Inspection Handbook for Sep 21

# data[].attributes.subject
Ofsted: New Inspection Handbook for Sep 21

# data[].attributes.body
Updated 27th August 2021

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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Ofsted guidance on inspecting maintained schools and academies in England under the education inspection framework.

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ESFA: Information on the planning and delivery of 16-19 study programmes 2021-22

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ESFA: Information on the planning and delivery of 16-19 study programmes 2021-22

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Published: 20th July 2021

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Information for education and training providers on the planning and delivery of study programmes.

Details

This guide sets out the government's policy on 16 to 19 study programmes. It covers academic, technical and vocational study programmes, including traineeships and supported internships.

It applies to all providers of 16 to 19 education in England, including:

schools

further education (FE) colleges

sixth-form colleges

work-based learning providers

training providers

Previous versions of the guidance are available on the UK Government Web Archive.

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16 to 19 study programmes: guide for providers

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Information for education and training providers on the planning and delivery of study programmes.

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The latest edition of Futureminds is available from the tab above.

As usual it is full of interesting articles, including, a description of how to write assessment materials, the use of exercise books in D&T, the 555 timer at 50, Scalextric4Schools, the Design Ventura challenge, the success of Facebook support, and a guide to LEV testing.

There is also the smallprint and a novel way of finding out about history.

This milestone edition sits alongside the previous editions, where you will find hundreds of useful articles from a wide range of contributors

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The latest edition of Futureminds is available from the tab above. As usual it is full of interesting articles, including, a description of how to write assessment materials, the use of exercise books in D&T, the 555 timer at 50, Scalextric4Schools, the Design Ventura challenge, the success of Facebook support, and a guide to LEV testing.

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Pearson: Streamlined Internal Assessments for BTECs and Technicals in 2021/22

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Pearson: Streamlined Internal Assessments for BTECs and Technicals in 2021/22

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Published: 8th September 2021

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JCQ: Advance Information for Qualifications in 2022

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JCQ: Advance Information for Qualifications in 2022

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Edumentors: GCSE 2023 - Everything You Need to Know BLOG

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Edumentors: GCSE 2023 - Everything You Need to Know BLOG

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Published: 23rd March 2023

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Table of Contents:

Will There Be Changes to GCSE 2023?

Formal assessments, including GCSE 2023, will gradually return to normal as England moves on from the pandemic. It is now unlikely that schools will close or exams are cancelled, as the national return to exam-oriented learning has come. The government does not intend for exams to ever be cancelled but recognises that contingency plans are necessary in case of unexpected events.

Ofqual has confirmed that in 2023 a pre-pandemic grading scale will be reinstated for GCSE exams. However, the government has announced that it will offer support to students taking GCSEs in 2023, recognising the disruption caused by the pandemic.

Here's everything you need to know about GCSEs in 2023:

Will GCSE Students Get Advanced Information?

In 2022, the exam boards released topics for some papers in advance to help students who had been impacted by the pandemic. This practice will not feature again next year, Ofqual has confirmed that there will be no advanced information for GCSE students in 2023. The reasoning behind this conclusion is that students have experienced less disruption due to Covid-19 than in previous years.

While Ofqual has confirmed that there will be no advanced information for GCSE students in England in 2023, pupils in Northern Ireland taking GCSE, AS and A-level exams in 2023 have been given advance information for most subjects, as published by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA). However, it's important to note that this decision only applies to Northern Ireland and not to other parts of the UK, such as England, Wales, or Scotland.

Will GCSE Students Get Formulae Sheets in 2023?

Yes! Formulae and equation sheets will be provided for GCSE exams in 2023. In acknowledgement of the disturbance caused by exam season, this support will be offered to students taking GCSE exams in 2023.

The subjects that formulae sheets and equation sheets are provided for this year have remained the same as those from last year:

GCSE Physics

GCSE Combined Science

GCSE Mathematics

Will GCSE Grades Fall Back to Pre-Pandemic Grades?

The pandemic caused a learning loss that is expected to lower GCSE and A-level grade boundaries in 2023. A grade boundary is a minimum mark pupil needs to get a certain qualification level. For example, if the grade boundary for 7 is 150 marks, students must get at least 150 marks to achieve that grade. In order to avoid unfairness in grading, senior examiners use various data such as previous cohorts' exam results and prior attainment to set grade thresholds every year. Experts expect that grades will be lower than 2022 this year but similar to 2019's results.

"We expect that overall results in 2023 will be much closer to pre-pandemic years than results since 2020. This decision means that results in 2023 will be lower than in 2022." - according to Jo Saxton, the chief regulator of Ofqual.

The reason for this is that it took some pupils longer than others to get back on track. Natalie Perera, chief executive of the Education Policy Institute states that she has concerns about disadvantaged students who were affected by the learning loss during the pandemic.

"Although their course of study for their qualifications may not have been affected by national closures, the years leading up to them - and providing the foundations for their courses - were significantly disrupted" - states Natalie.

Plan B for GCSE 2023

The "Plan B" guidance has been implemented by the Department for Education and Ofqual as a precautionary measure in the event that the GCSE exams are disrupted or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other unforeseen circumstances. This guidance instructs schools and colleges to collect and retain evidence that can be used for potential teacher grades for GCSEs and A-levels. While the probability of the GCSE exams being cancelled is low, this guidance aims to ensure that students have the opportunity to obtain valid and reliable qualifications in the face of any disruptions.

What is the Hardest Exam Board for GCSE 2023?

Firstly, What Exam Boards are There in the UK?

The exam boards currently in use are - AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR and WJEC. They develop secondary school level qualifications such as GCSEs, A-levels, AS levels and vocational qualifications. They are also responsible for marking and awarding points.

Schools have the freedom to choose their exam board, however, most schools use a mixture of some boards, because not all boards provide all subjects. The exam board the school or college chooses will affect how a student's course is taught and what kind of material they study.

If your child is being homeschooled, then you have to do some research into different exam boards and choose the one that seems most suitable for him or her.

To learn more about this topic, you can consult the exam boards' guides for private candidates. The guide can be available by calling the relevant board directly or downloading a pdf from their website.

How are Exam Boards Different?

All exam boards follow the guidelines of Ofqual to ensure parity and to regulate standards. However, the layout, and format vary. To check what differences are there in a specific subject, you can visit each exam board's website or contact them directly. However, at the end of the day, all exam boards mark students on the same skills and techniques. Even if they don't use the same books. If you don't plan to change your child's secondary school and are content with their current exam board's results, there is no need for concern. The awarding committee evaluates each exam board every year and sets grade boundaries so that no student will be treated unfairly in relation to another.

Which is the Hardest Exam Board?

Typically, the difficulty of an exam board's content depends on a student's learning style and the type of questions that they find easiest to answer. Each of the exams is designed for a different type of student. Hence, Edexcel may seem easier to one person than AQA does to another.

The grades students receive are a reflection of the grade boundaries that have been set by exam boards. These boundaries shift depending on how difficult an examination paper is. It's possible for someone to earn lower marks than your child but still be awarded a higher overall grade because they're on another board.

Students have their own favourite based on the subject. For instance, in Maths, Pearson Edexcel is the most popular. Generally, the easiest exam board for languages is considered AQA. Research each subject's requirements and overall grades throughout the years and choose based on your child's strengths and weaknesses.

GCSE 2023 exam timetables have been published:

AQA's GCSE exams start on the 15th of May and end on June 23. Contingency day is on Wednesday, 28th June.

Edexcel's GCSE exams start on the 15th of May and end on Wednesday, June 21st.

OCR's GCSE exams start on the 15th of May and end on the 20th of June.

GCSE Results Day 2023

GCSE results day is an exciting and nerve-wracking time for students across the UK. This year, GCSE results day is scheduled for Thursday, August 24th, 2023. Students can collect their results from their school or college in the morning from 8am. However, some schools may stagger this time or email out results instead.

On GCSE results day, students will find out how they performed in their exams and whether they have achieved the grades they need to progress to their next stage of education. If a student did not achieve the grades they needed, they may be able to request a review of their marking or resit their exams.

It's important for students to remember that results day is not the end of the road. If they did not achieve the grades they needed, there are still options available to them. They can speak to their school or college about alternative options, such as resitting exams or taking vocational qualifications. They can also seek advice from their teachers or careers advisors on the next steps to take.

When Should Students Start Revising for GCSE 2023?

There is no definitive answer to that question. The earlier GCSE students start their revision, the better. If you see your child struggling to start their revision, there are so many ways you can support your child during this stressful time. Here's how:

Study Plan

Help them make a study plan by writing down all the things they need to remember. Then break those things down into smaller chunks. This will help them see what they should be working on and when. This is important so they don't get overwhelmed and develop exam anxiety. Their revision schedule is going to look different depending on which subjects they're taking and when they are being taken. But, there are some general rules they can apply to all of them.

Revision Techniques

Help them find new revision techniques. Notetaking is a widely recommended way to learn. But some students don't take notes and prefer making flashcards instead. Encourage them to experiment with different ways of studying to find what works for them.

Good Physical and Mental Health

Motivate them to maintain a good sleeping routine and eat healthily. This is one of the most important things for being able to focus on their revision. Especially if they're feeling stressed out about something else going on in their lives. Read how can one maintain good mental health during the exam season. Try to help them incorporate some good habits into their lifestyle.

Revising for GCSEs can be a stressful time for both students and parents. As a parent, you can help your child by reminding them that grades are not everything. Sometimes your support is all they need. There are many alternatives to get the education they need, such as apprenticeships, university coursework, and internships. In addition, they can always retake GCSEs next year if they didn't get the desired grade.

The government provides access arrangements for students with disabilities, temporary illnesses or special needs. They may get extra time, modified papers or other aids. Check the government's website to learn more about how AA works. Knowing they'll get some extra help during exams may ease their anxiety.

GCSE Past Papers - Effective Revision for GCSE 2023
GCSE English language GCSE Chemistry GCSE Biology GCSE Physics GCSE English literature
To Sum Up

GCSE 2023 grades are predicted to be lower than pre-covid grades due to a huge learning loss, especially with disadvantaged students. In an effort to help students prepare for the new GCSE exams, the government will provide them with formulae and equation sheets in Physics, Maths and Combined Science. Unfortunately, no advanced information will be given. There will be support in modern foreign languages too. Students won't longer be tested on unfamiliar vocabulary.

It's worth mentioning that during the pandemic, GCSE exams were more spaced out during the summer. Ofqual states that it was well received by schools since it reduced the risk of students being unable to come to exams. The Council for Qualifications will consult on the topic this year too!

If you don't want to miss out on any news regarding GCSEs, there are numerous great communities you can join. You can follow GCSE 2023 on TikTok or join r/GCSE on Reddit. You can also fill out this form to receive important updates.

If you find the information in this article useful, feel free to share it with other parents. You never know how much you can help them!

If you're looking for an effective and supportive way to help your child excel at their GCSEs, check out this 1-day Crash-course! Top-talent tutors from top UK universities can provide your teen with the essential study skills they need to succeed in exams, all from memorisation tips to tricks on how to think like an examiner!

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GCSE 2023: Everything You Need to Know - Edumentors

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GCSEs are coming and parents want their children to be as ready as possible. Read this article to understand everything you need to about GCSE 2023.

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DfE: Contingency arrangement for awarding qualifications in summer 2022

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DfE: Contingency arrangement for awarding qualifications in summer 2022

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Updated: 11th November 2021

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Contingency arrangements: GCSE, AS, A level, Project and AEA

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Consultation proposals for contingency arrangements for the award of GCSE, AS, A level, Project and AEA qualifications in 2022.

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DfE: Guidance for schools/colleges on contingency arrangements for GCSEs, AS and A levels in summer 2022

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DfE: Guidance for schools/colleges on contingency arrangements for GCSEs, AS and A levels in summer 2022

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Published: 11th November 2021

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Arrangements for exams and non-exam assessments for students taking qualifications in summer 2022.

Details

The government is clear that students entering GCSEs, AS or A levels in 2022 should expect to take exams in the summer and complete any non-exam assessments in the usual way throughout the year.

In recognition of the fact that students' education has been disrupted by the pandemic, they will be given extra help to prepare for their exams, as detailed in this publication.

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Guidance on contingency arrangements for GCSEs, AS and A levels in summer 2022

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Arrangements for exams and non-exam assessments for students taking qualifications in summer 2022.

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One Page Summary of changes to the assessment of GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2022

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One Page Summary of changes to the assessment of GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2022

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Ofqual: Consultation Outcome for Changes to the assessment of GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2022

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Ofqual: Consultation Outcome for Changes to the assessment of GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2022

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This consultation has concluded

Download the full outcome

Detail of outcome

In summary, these decisions mean that for summer 2022:

1. There will be optional topics and content in GCSE English literature, history, ancient history and geography. Ofqual will require exam boards to change how they assess these subjects to reflect the expected changes to the way the subject content is assessed, as proposed in the consultation.

2. Centres will be allowed to deliver practical work in GCSE biology, chemistry, physics, combined science, geology and astronomy, AS level biology, chemistry, physics and geology, and AS and A level environmental science by demonstration. We would encourage centres to continue to make available hands-on practical activities for their students wherever possible. This does not require changes to the assessment arrangements that the exam boards have in place for each of these specifications.

3. Centres will be allowed to assess the Common Practical Assessment Criteria (CPAC) across the minimum number of practical activities required to enable students to demonstrate their competence in A level biology, chemistry, physics and geology.

4. Exam boards can carry out remote monitoring of centres' application of the CPAC.

5. Students taking GCSE, AS and A level art and design will be assessed on their portfolio only.

6. Exam boards will provide advance information about the focus of the content of the exams for all GCSE, AS and A level subjects (except GCSE English literature, history, ancient history and geography) for the summer 2022 exams. The advance information will meet the principles set out in the consultation document.

7. The policy intention of providing advance information is that it will support students' revision. Therefore, the DfE has confirmed that advance information will be provided by 7 February 2022 at the latest. This will enable teachers to plan to adapt their teaching in the second half of the spring term if necessary. DfE has also decided to retain the flexibility for advance information to be deployed at other points ahead of 7 February 2022 if circumstances require. At least a week's notice will be given if it is decided that advance information will be released earlier than 7 February 2022.

8. Students will be given a formulae sheet for GCSE mathematics in summer 2022. Exam boards will provide copies of the formulae sheet for use in teaching and to ensure that students are familiar with it prior to the exams. Clean copies of the formulae sheet will be provided in the exams.

9. Students will be given a revised equation sheet for GCSE physics and combined science in summer 2022, covering all the equations required in the subject content. Exam boards will provide copies of the equation sheet for use in teaching and to ensure that students are familiar with it prior to the exams. Clean copies of the equation sheet will be provided in the exams.

Feedback received

Detail of feedback received

The consultation was available online for 21 days and received 6,725 responses. It gathered views on the following proposals:

choice of topics in GCSE English literature, history, ancient history and choice of content in GCSE geography

changes to the requirements for the delivery of practical activities in science subjects, and assessment in art and design

the provision of advance information on the focus of the content of exams, in the majority of subjects at GCSE, AS and A level

the provision of support materials in GCSE mathematics, physics and combined science exams

Several themes were suggested by respondents across multiple questions. To avoid duplicating analysis, these themes are summarised below.

First, many respondents emphasised that proposed changes to summer 2022 exams and assessments needed to be announced as soon as possible to provide staff sufficient time to plan (adjusting curriculums and mock exam materials and so on). Reasons provided by respondents included the fact that last-minute announcements would increase workloads and place additional pressure on students and teachers. In addition, respondents mentioned that earlier announcements would allow students more time to familiarise themselves with additional materials (such as revised equation sheets).

Second, some respondents noted the variation in students' experiences regarding remote learning over the past two years, with some schools and colleges facing more frequent lockdowns and self-isolation events than others, and that this should be taken into account in any proposed change. Similarly, respondents brought up the concept of a "level playing field" for students and expressed concerns over proposals where, in their opinion, some students or schools and colleges may be disadvantaged relative to others.

Third, respondents suggested several modifications for exams, including lengthening the time students had to complete the exam, dividing exams into shorter papers, allowing students to choose topics to respond to on the day of the exam or reducing the number of exam papers students had to complete. In particular, some respondents stated they had faced difficulties in covering the specification during remote learning, and reducing the number of exam papers or allowing students to choose topics would reduce pressure on students caused by missed learning time. Respondents also mentioned that the subject content across many GCSE, AS and A level subjects should be reduced.

Fourth, some respondents expressed concern that the DfE and Ofqual's proposed changes were limited to a specific set of qualifications, in particular the absence of modifications to A Level subjects compared to equivalent GCSE subjects.

Fifth, many respondents generally agreed with proposals to carry over changes proposed in previous consultations in 2020 and 2021, as consistency would reduce the amount of time teachers and other staff would need to prepare for the upcoming year.

Sixth, a number of respondents who disagreed with proposals on choice of topic/content or advance information believed that these proposals would lead to grade inflation for certain students. Because these proposals would narrow the focus of exams (compared to the full specification), in their view the proposals would advantage students with resources for external tutors. As a result, proposals to provide choice of topic/content or advance information would make it difficult to differentiate between "good" and "excellent" students.

Finally, a small proportion of respondents across all respondent types called for exams to be cancelled and students to be assigned teacher assessed grades (as in summer 2021). Alternatively, respondents proposed that no modifications be made to exams and assessments in summer 2022 (compared to before the pandemic) and instead grade boundaries should be adjusted to account for varying difficulties of exams due to lost learning time.

Original consultation

Summary

A joint consultation published by Ofqual and the Department for Education on proposed changes to the assessment of GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2022.

This consultation ran from

Consultation description

This joint consultation by the Department for Education and Ofqual invites your views on proposed adaptations to the assessment of GCSEs and GCE AS and A levels for students in England taking exams in summer 2022. A separate but related consultation on proposed changes to assessments for vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) in the 2021 to 2022 academic year is taking place.

These proposals are made in the context of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has disrupted education during the current (2020 to 2021) and previous (2019 to 2020) academic years. This consultation covers the arrangements for exams and assessments to be taken in summer 2022 in light of this disruption and uncertainty about the continuing impact of the pandemic over the coming academic year.

The proposals take account of the responses Ofqual received to its consultations on qualifications in July and December 2020, as well as more recent discussions with stakeholders. The proposals are in addition to the changes to non-exam assessment (NEA) and fieldwork requirements for summer 2022 which were confirmed by Ofqual on 16 June following consultation.

This consultation proposes a package of measures to help mitigate the impact of disruption to students' education, and seeks views on proposals on the following areas:

choice of topics in GCSE English literature, history, ancient history and choice of content in GCSE geography

changes to the requirements for the delivery of practical activities in science subjects, and assessment in art and design

the provision of advance information on the focus of the content of exams, in the majority of subjects at GCSE, AS and A level

the provision of support materials in GCSE mathematics, physics and combined science exams

Documents

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Proposed changes to the assessment of GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2022

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A joint consultation published by Ofqual and the Department for Education on proposed changes to the assessment of GCSEs, AS and A levels in 2022.

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Led by Gallery Educators, our interactive 'Talking Painting' tours bring National Gallery paintings to life.

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The Sunday Times Best Places to Live, 2021

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Norwich University of the Arts | Arts, design, architecture & media courses

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Norwich University of the Arts (NUA) is a forward-thinking university with a rich history of providing outstanding creative education. At NUA we’re driven by our passion for the arts.

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GCSE and A level art exam help, careers advice and resources for art students

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Our school materials, which are suitable for children of all ages worldwide, are highly recommended by teachers. Learn more about our educational services and download free classroom resources to enhance your school trip to the Museum.

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Published: 6th August 2021

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UAL is a world Top 2 university for art and design according to the QS World University Rankings® and Europe's largest specialist university for art and design.