Responding to Ofqual's announcement that they
intend to fine NCFE for failure to develop valid question papers
for its T-levels in healthcare, healthcare science, and science
in summer 2022, Kevin Gilmartin, Post 16 Specialist at the
Association of Schools and College Leaders, said:
“The decision by Ofqual to fine NCFE seems to be an appropriate
response to what was a very distressing situation for students
and their teachers. Hundreds of students had studied for these
new qualifications, full of optimism for a successful result and
positive progression to the second year of their T-level. Through
no fault of their own they ended up failing the exam and it was
up to the schools and colleges to pick up the pieces.
Fortunately, many students were able to transfer on to a suitable
qualification such as the BTEC in Health & Social Care and
were then able to progress to further education or employment.
“This sad situation offers a timely reminder of the absolute
folly of defunding applied general qualifications, such as BTECs,
before replacement qualifications have been tried and tested. The
new government needs to take notice of this debacle and follow
through on its promise to ‘pause and review' the defunding
process.”
