Vocational Qualifications in Northern Ireland 2020-21
This summer has been extraordinary for everyone involved in awarding vocational and technical qualifications. It has been an anxious time for learners and has involved a huge amount of hard work for centres and awarding organisations (AOs). Everyone in the sector has worked collaboratively to issue valid and reliable VQ results to learners in order for them to progress onto the next stage of their education or into work. It is a significant achievement that many certificates were issued for many different qualifications.
It is important to learn from the summer, in particular how the sector can work together even more effectively to improve communications and the exchange of information between centres and AOs so that things run more smoothly in 2020/21. On the 17th September, the Minister for the Economy announced her policy decision for the adaptation of assessment for vocational and technical qualifications.
CCEA Regulation will work with NI stakeholders groups and other UK qualifications regulators, to agree how centre-facing communications can be streamlined over the current academic year. As a first step, it has been agreed that, by 23 October, awarding organisations will have started to communicate to centres regarding their planned approach to any adaptations to their qualifications for 2020/21, This will assist in mitigating disruption to teaching, learning and assessments so that, as far as possible, learners have the opportunity to receive fair results in 2020 to 2021 and are not disadvantaged by the longer-term impacts of the pandemic. We will be working with awarding organisations to keep their centres fully informed as plans develop and to address issues arising through the year.
Regular updates will be provided through the Regulation section.
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