Apprentices: Assessments

(asked on 19th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect on apprentices who have been unable to sit their functional skills tests in Maths and English due to covid-19 restrictions since Ofqual ended teacher assessments on 31 July 2020.


Answered by
Gillian Keegan Portrait
Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
This question was answered on 1st March 2021

We are committed to supporting apprentices to safely continue with, and complete, their programmes during the COVID-19 outbreak.

We know that some providers and apprentices have not been able to make appropriate arrangements so that the apprentice can safely take their Functional Skills assessment. We have worked with providers and employers to understand the impact of delays to assessments, and why some apprentices may not be able to progress to their end-point assessment because of this.

Provisional figures show that in the first quarter of the 2020/21 academic year, 30,100 apprentices achieved their apprenticeships (frameworks and standards). Latest data shows that 15,900 apprentices who are yet to achieve their Functional Skills Qualification (FSQ) are past the planned end date of their apprenticeship. A delay in achieving their FSQ is one reason why an apprentice may be past their planned end date, but there are many other potential reasons, including apprentices being put on furlough or taking a break in their learning due to disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. For those apprentices who were expected to have completed their apprenticeship but have not done so yet, we do not have data on the reason for the delay.

Together with Ofqual, we have consulted on alternative assessment arrangements for all vocational and technical qualifications, including FSQs for apprentices. Active apprentices that are deemed ready to take their FSQ test should continue to be supported to access a regular FSQ assessment. This may be at their place of work, where it is safe and appropriate to do so, or through flexibilities offered by the awarding organisation, such as remote assessment and invigilation. Where this is not possible, we have confirmed that apprentices may be able to access a teacher assessed grade or take their end-point assessment before achieving their functional skills later, or both.

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