Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, is facing growing pressure over the schools fiasco after being forced into a climbdown over this month’s vocational BTec exams while drawing up new plans to replace this summer’s cancelled GCSE and A-level exams.
After calls from college leaders, Labour and the mayors of Liverpool and Greater Manchester to halt the vocational exams, the Department for Education (DfE) issued a statement on Tuesday evening offering colleges flexibility to decide for themselves.
The DfE statement said: “In light of the evolving public health measures, schools and colleges can continue with the vocational and technical exams that are due to take place in January, where they judge it right to do so.
“We understand this is a difficult time but we want to support schools and colleges whose students have worked hard to prepare for assessments and exams where necessary.”
The reversal came just a day after the DfE insisted to school leaders that the exams should go ahead, despite the national lockdown ordered by Boris Johnson this week.
David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: “The risk is that this continues the confusion, leads to more uncertainty for every student and puts thousands of young people and their families at risk as well as the college staff managing the exams.”
He added: “A national decision would have allowed for more fairness for all students across vocational and general qualifications – this compromise does not achieve that and I suspect that will cause more problems over the coming months. We are likely to see many colleges cancelling and some going ahead.”
Williamson is to confirm to MPs on Wednesday that A-level and GCSE exams will be cancelled, but holds out the possibility that formal assessments will still be used in core subjects.
Williamson will say in a statement to the Commons that he has directed the English exams regulator, Ofqual, to come up with a new contingency plan to replace this year’s summer exam series.
One of the options under consideration is to hold assessments or class assignments set by examination boards in core subjects such as English and maths, to take place in March or April. The results will be used to moderate school assessments of pupils’ final grades.
Ofqual is to undertake a rapid consultation on the use of assessments, to tackle concerns about implicit bias in school-based assessments.
A spokesperson for the DfE said: “We will continue to work with Ofqual, awarding organisations and other stakeholders to discuss the next steps and provide more detail on the way forward, including ensuring other students have a way to progress with as little disruption as possible.”
Ofqual said it was considering a range of options: “We know how difficult this must be for students, teachers and lecturers. We wish at all costs to avoid arrangements for this summer’s GCSEs, A-levels and vocational and technical qualifications inflicting further disadvantage on students.”
Williamson’s climbdown on BTecs comes as he faces mounting criticism, with the Conservative chair of the Commons education committee, Robert Halfon, denouncing the government’s handling of schools as “a huge shambles”, and former Ofsted chief, Sir Michael Wilshaw, adding his voice to those criticising the minister, suggesting he should resign because of his failings.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s World at One, Wilshaw said the education secretary had got a lot of things wrong and should take responsibility for his actions: “He gets other people to resign – permanent secretaries and the head of Ofqual. He has got to take final accountability for what has gone on.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Labour had called for vocational exams to be cancelled. Toby Perkins, shadow minister for apprenticeships and lifelong learning, said: “Once again BTec students who have missed out on lots of core practical teaching this year are an afterthought for this government.”
A joint statement by the Liverpool region mayor, Steve Rotheram, and the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, said: “BTecs are more likely to be studied by those from working-class backgrounds and ethnic minority communities – groups which are already more vulnerable in terms of their life outcomes, including health inequalities. To not treat these students on a par with their peers studying an academic route would be a double injustice.”
There was confusion on the ground among students and teachers. Glyn Potts, the headteacher at Newman Roman Catholic college in Oldham, said about 80 of his year-11 pupils had been due to sit BTecs in iMedia and sports science. “Why are those considered essential but the exams in summer are not?” he said, adding that the issue was causing “great anxiety” to pupils and parents as well as teachers.
Ben Davis, the head of St Ambrose Barlow Roman Catholic high school in Salford, said: “We’ve got children supposed to be doing BTecs in music on Thursday and in PE on Monday – 75 pupils from years 10 and 11 on Monday.
“Reading through the government’s advice, which came through last night at 10.50pm, it’s very clear that only vulnerable children and key worker children should be on site. So there’s something to be reconciled there,” he said.
