Regulating post-16 VTQs at L2 and L3

Assessment structure and availability

The Secretary of State expects V Levels to have a modular assessment structure, so assessment can take place at appropriate points during the course of study. The approach to assessment availability needs therefore to allow for this.

Modular approaches can range from on-demand, where assessments can be taken at any time, to approaches with a more limited number of assessment opportunities. Centres can often choose when to enter students for modular assessments – they may choose to make use of all assessment opportunities, taking some assessments in one year and some in another, or may decide to enter students for all assessments at the end of the course.

The flexibility provided by modular assessment approaches needs however to be considered alongside the impact on the teaching and learning, manageability for schools and colleges and the impact on maintenance of standards. Having frequent assessment opportunities may disrupt teaching and learning, lead to students being entered for assessments before they are ready and be administratively burdensome for centres. A more limited number of assessment opportunities could free up time for teaching and learning, helping students develop a more secure understanding of the material they are studying. It would also mean that awarding organisations have a larger volume of student work during each assessment series, which supports setting and maintaining standards.

Proposal

We propose to require awarding organisations to design their qualifications to have a modular assessment structure, where Components can be assessed at different points during the qualification, with results combined to give an overall result, and to make V Level assessments available as follows:

• one assessment series each academic year for timetabled assessments (For V Levels in tranche 1, this will be in the final year of their course because of the terminal assessment requirement discussed later in this consultation document)
• one submission window each academic year for centres to submit marks for any centre-marked assessment to awarding organisations for Moderation.

We propose to require that the timetabled assessment takes place during May or June, and welcome views on this. This approach will support the setting and maintenance of standards, as it means that in each series there will be a larger volume of student evidence available for use when setting standards.

The proposed approach seeks to strike a balance between allowing for modular approaches, providing consistency for centres in terms of the number of assessment opportunities available regardless of the awarding organisation, and allowing some flexibility over when students take assessments across the 2-year course.  

Our proposed Condition VL6 and associated requirements are set out in Annex A.