Sep. 19 2024
Source Page: Independent review of qualifications and assessment - SG response: island communities impact assessmentFound: local 10 school closures from Covid -19 outbreaks) but also that d igital exclusion exacerbates students
Sep. 19 2024
Source Page: Equality Impact Assessment for the Scottish Government response to the recommendations in the Independent Review of Qualifications and AssessmentFound: This includes the judgements that teachers make when they assess students… there is more opportunity
Sep. 19 2024
Source Page: Scottish Government Response To The Final Report Of The Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment – 'It's Our Future'Found: Believers in partnership with Education Scotland, which provides up -to-date information to educators and students
Sep. 19 2024
Source Page: Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment – Fairer Scotland Duty AssessmentFound: during local school closures from Covid -19 outbreaks) but also that d igital exclusion exacerbates students
Sep. 19 2024
Source Page: Scottish Child Payment and the labour market report: FOI releaseFound: a small proportion possibly explained by people who are not eligible for UC – e.g. some parent students
Mentions:
1: McArthur, Liam (LD - Orkney Islands) update on its work to explore the feasibility of an islands scholarship to support higher education students - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: MacGregor, Fulton (SNP - Coatbridge and Chryston) recent times, and in particular since the pandemic, when I have visited schools in my constituency, students—including - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: None but we were also able to see the positive impact that it was having not just on the behaviour of the students - Speech Link
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will pause the defunding of applied general qualifications scheduled for 2025 and 2026.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In July 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced a short pause to the defunding of qualifications to enable a review of 16-19 qualification reforms at Level 3 and below. This ensured that 95 qualifications set to lose funding this summer continue to be available to students, in accordance with the decisions of awarding organisations. This was followed by a Written Ministerial Statement by Baroness Smith, on 25 July, which is available here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-07-25/hlws20.
The department is now working to review defunding decisions and qualifications available at level three and it will set out the position before Christmas.
The department has not announced any defunding for 2026.
Asked by: Lord Stevens of Birmingham (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government which scientific criteria they apply in deciding whether an educational institution can describe itself as a Health Sciences University; whether these criteria could apply to an institution teaching homeopathy and other alternative therapies; and which peer-reviewed research or externally-assessed teaching the Office for Students relied upon in deciding to allow the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic and University College of Osteopathy to rebrand themselves as the Health Sciences University.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
When a provider requests to change its name, a strict criteria and assessment process is followed. The provider will already have undergone considerable scrutiny when being awarded Degree Awarding Powers (DAPs), including input from quality experts, drawn from the sector, to test the provider against multiple criteria. Indefinite DAP’s status is the main eligibility test for providers to be able to go through the title process.
In this instance, the provider gained degree awarding powers in 2016 and so was able to apply for university title as per the rules set out in the Office for Students’ (OfS) ‘Regulatory advice 13: how to apply for university college and university title’, which is attached and also available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/regulatory-advice-13-how-to-apply-for-university-college-and-university-title/#:~:text=and%20university%20title-,Regulatory%20advice%2013%3A%20How%20to%20apply%20for%20university%20college%20and,as%20part%20of%20their%20name.
The department and the OfS were notified in September 2023 regarding the provider changing its name. When considering the proposed new name for a provider, the OfS must have due regard to the need to avoid names that are, or may be, confusing. In addition, in the instance of the newly named Health Sciences University, the OfS operated an open consultation on the proposed name. This ran from 22 February 2024 to 21 March 2024, and determined the regulator's final decision. The OfS approach is set out in their case report ‘Approval of proposed new name for AECC University College - Office for Students’, which is attached and can also be found at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/approval-of-proposed-new-name-for-aecc-university-college/.
In addition to the OfS process, regulations brought into force under the Companies Act 2006 means that the department has responsibility for confirming that it has no objection to the use of the sensitive word ‘university’ in a business name. The OfS published approval of the proposed new name from ‘AECC University College' to 'Health Sciences University’ in July 2024. The department then considered the request from the provider to change its name to ‘Health Sciences University’ and was satisfied that the use of the word ‘university’ was appropriate in this context. The department had no objection to the use of the term ‘university’ in the proposed business name ‘Health Sciences University’ and issued the provider with a non-objection letter on 18 July 2024.
During this consultation the OfS did not receive any responses questioning the merit of the subject area(s) of the provider.