Blog posts for tag:V Certs

For the past few months we’ve continued to keep you posted on our V Cert qualification developments. Throughout January to April participating schools have continued to work with us to review the content of our new V Cert qualifications and, where possible, deliver a selection of sample units to their pupils. Once again, we really wanted to give schools the opportunity to explore what we’d developed to help ensure that the qualifications continue to engage pupils.  The V Cert subjects covered in this year’s pilot were Computing, Business & Enterprise and Creative Craft and as with last year, the pilot project has been an invaluable source of information for NCFE and the schools that have taken part. Some of the schools completed their pilot as a single unit, some trialled the whole qualification and some used it as an opportunity to teach the Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications together to see how they aligned in mixed ability classes.

The wait is over, the discount (classification) codes for qualifications that will count in the 2014 Key Stage 4 Performance tables have now been published. We know from speaking with many of you that the publication of discount code information is really important to you so for ease, we’ve listed the V Cert discount codes for the next 3 years on our website. You can also find the full list of all codes for the 2014, 2015 and 2016 tables together with guidance by visiting the RAISEonline website.

It’s been reported that A-levels and GCSEs in arts subjects in England, including music, drama, art and dance, are set to be made more "rigorous and demanding". The tougher exams will come into play from September 2016 as part of the Government's programme of exam reform. GCSEs in history, geography, sciences and modern languages are also being revised to bring them into line with English literature, English language and maths.

The Department for Education (DfE) has recently made some significant changes to the way that secondary school performance is measured, having an impact on schools up and down the country. The aim is to reform the way that schools and colleges are assessed so that all pupils, regardless of background, can make progress and find success across a broad choice of subjects and study programmes. The government’s vision was to reward schools that set high expectations for the attainment and progress of all their pupils, provide high value qualifications, and teach a wide variety of subjects across a balanced curriculum. The focus was to ensure that accountability became “the servant, not the master, of excellent teaching”. In other words, the accountability system should work with and not against teachers’ main objective – to help their pupils gain the skills and qualifications they need to succeed in their future.

As we’re all aware, GCSE equivalency plays an important role in many learners’ lives by giving them access to vocational subjects which they can excel in by demonstrating the skills they perform best at. Following on from the government’s changes to these courses and key recommendations by Professor Wolf on 14-19 studies, NCFE decided to create our own new suite of qualifications: V Certs. From September 2013 most vocational qualifications have ceased to hold GCSE equivalency so will no longer count towards your school’s performance tables.

There’s no denying the importance of basic English and maths skills, as they are a mandatory requirement of most employers. The state of literacy and numeracy skills in England however, looks bleak following the Organisation for the Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) October report showing England’s 16-24 year olds ranked 22nd (literacy) and 21st (numeracy) out of 24 countries surveyed. NCFE is offering solutions to this skills crisis and has developed a suite of 130 fundable English and maths qualifications ranging from bitesize, single unit qualifications to certificates. NCFE is focused on tailoring to each learner’s individual needs, and these qualifications can be mixed and matched but also used as pre-GCSE training.

It should be part of a school’s remit to develop pupils’ self-belief, perseverance and resilience, according to advice from a cross-parliamentary group, supported by the CBI. The group suggested that a school needs to be more than just an ‘exam factory’, and that students should leave their education as well rounded individuals, equipped and ready to face the challenges that lie ahead of them.

With the education watchdog Ofsted recently stating that schools’ career services are not up to standard, I thought I’d start this issue by focusing on their recent comments. According to Sir Michael Wilshaw, three quarters of schools visited by Ofsted were reportedly not delivering effective careers advice. He commented last month that, "It’s worrying that the new arrangements are failing to provide good guidance." Of course while this situation may be true, it’s also true that these comments come at a time when money and resource to support careers guidance have come under increasing pressure.

Welcome back everyone! Here we are once again at the start of the new academic year. I’ve no doubt that you’ll have hit the ground running and are already juggling multiple responsibilities as you welcome in your new school year groups and prepare them for the year ahead. Being this hectic does of course present many challenges not least the pressures on time. I firmly believe that NCFE as your Awarding Organisation is in a unique position to help you and your school get the most out of your precious time by providing you with the best possible support and service.

Looking back it seems that not a single month has gone by without education being in the national news headlines in some shape or form. Rightly so, given the importance of education in our society, but sadly the stories haven’t always been upbeat. And while the team here at NCFE has been busy working on new qualifications to meet the latest DfE changes, we’ve been acutely aware of the wider challenges and changes facing all of you in your schools. For those of you already working with us, I hope that our continued commitment to customer service goes someway to helping alleviate the challenges you’re facing. Against this background of change and challenge, all our focus remains on the pupils. So with this in mind, perhaps one of the most thought provoking discussions that’s received recent media coverage is the report from the Children’s Commissioner for England. The report paints a very bleak picture of the impact that budget cuts are having on children from poorer families.