The apprenticeship ‘National achievement rate tables’ are published in the Apprenticeships statistics publications.

The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) is an executive agency of the Department. STA is responsible for the development and delivery of National Curriculum tests and assessments.

STA works independently on the test materials, which remain confidential until all pupils have taken the test. This may be up to five school days after the scheduled date of the test, as schools are permitted to vary the timetable in some circumstances.

Ministers do not have any influence on test content or challenge. In constructing the tests, STA follows the criteria set out in the National Curriculum test frameworks, which are available at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum-assessments-test-frameworks.

There has been no change to the specification for the content, structure, format, or difficulty of the National Curriculum tests for 2023.

The department does not, as a matter of course, publish partial results for T Level students who have a further year of study.

It is accepted practice that results are published on completion of a qualification or programme of study. This ensures a full and accurate representation of students’ attainment, rather than a partial and interim result which is subject to change through marking review, appeals, and in-programme retake opportunities.

Core results for the T Levels in Health, Healthcare Science, and Science have been reissued, given the issues with the examination papers identified by Ofqual. The results were reissued based on the employer set project grade (or initial grade if higher), rather than a regrading of examination papers. The students due to complete in summer 2023 have two additional retake opportunities on the remainder of their programme.

The department was notified on 18 August 2022 that some students had not received their level 3 BTEC results as they had expected to on A level results day, due to issues with finalising grades. Ministers were informed of this on the same day.

The department immediately contacted Ofqual. As the regulator, Ofqual are responsible for ensuring that awarding organisations deliver qualifications in line with their regulations. Ofqual is currently undertaking a review of the process with awarding organisations and centres to ensure that lessons are learnt from this year’s results. Recommendations will be published later in the autumn.

The awarding organisations held data on the number of students affected, and published updates on their own websites regularly.

Ofqual conducted a thorough review of the full range of questions in the Core examination papers for Health, Healthcare Science and Science T Levels and concluded that the assessments did not secure a sufficiently valid or reliable measure of student performance.

The department wrote to providers who started teaching T Levels in Health, Healthcare Science and Science in September 2021. The letter confirmed that in light of Ofqual’s findings, students’ grades for the core could be revised to be based entirely on their employer set project grade. To ensure that students were not unfairly penalised by this decision, any students who secured a higher grade in their overall core component than their employer set project were able to carry forward the higher mark.

Ofqual has initiated an investigation into the Northern Council for Further Education’s (NCFE) production of assessment materials for the Health and Science T Level Technical Qualifications to identify how the issues with the Summer 2022 exams occurred.

Ofqual accepted an undertaking from NCFE, published on October 12 2022, as an interim measure, to minimise the risk of any issues in the upcoming core exam papers and to secure assurance that these issues will not be repeated in future assessment series for any of NCFE’s Technical Qualifications. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ncfe-undertaking-october-2022.

NCFE will review its Technical Qualification core exam papers and mark schemes before the autumn 2022 series to provide assurance to Ofqual that these assessments will be valid and of good quality.

The department has published official data on 16 to 18-year-olds’ participation, which includes A level, Applied General and T Level student numbers. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/participation-in-education-training-and-employment-2021.

Information on learner completions is provided to the department from schools and colleges through the Individualised Learner Record or School Census returns, by the January following each academic year. Therefore, the department is currently unable to provide the information on student completions at present.

In reference to T Level students, 1,241 students enrolled on the first wave of T Levels in September 2020. 1,029 students achieved a T Level result this summer and received their overall grade on 18 August.

The overall pass rate for these learners was 92.2%. This figure is subject to change, as a small number of students will complete their remaining industry placement hours and will receive their overall grade this autumn.

If students or training providers consider that a T Level result is erroneous, or they consider the assessment criteria was not fairly, reliably, and consistently applied, they can submit an appeal to the relevant awarding organisations. T Level awarding organisations, such as NCFE, offer a comprehensive post-results service, that allows students and training providers to challenge any results which are outside of their reasonable expectation.

Providers can request a review of marking or moderation, as well as a copy of the marked student paper. Administrative guidance on NCFE’s post-result service and appeals process can be found at: https://www.ncfe.org.uk/approach-to-awarding/results/.

Students who are partway through their course also have two opportunities to retake their core assessments, should they wish to improve their grade.

Additionally, should a student wish to dispute their industry placement completion status, they should appeal directly to their training provider. As with other 16-19 education and training programmes, providers must have an existing internal student appeals process to deal with student appeals about the industry placement completion decision. Providers have a responsibility to treat all student appeals seriously, and they must be followed-up promptly.

In relation to this summer’s Health, Science, and Healthcare Science T Level results, Ofqual have now concluded through an independent expert review that the examination papers set by NCFE were flawed. New grades will be issued on the basis of other evidence, with an assurance that students’ grades will not be any lower than those originally issued.

The department was notified on 18 August that some students had not received their level 3 BTEC results as they had expected on A level results day due to issues with finalising grades.

Officials from the department immediately contacted Ofqual as the regulator, who assured the department that they were meeting with the awarding organisation to resolve the issues. Daily updates were provided by Ofqual and relevant awarding organisations, and the department joined daily situation report calls with Ofqual and UCAS to ensure that we were aware of progress.

The former Secretary of State for Education, alongside some of the relevant awarding organisations and Ofqual also met to discuss progress addressing the issues on 24 August. The department was made aware that some level 2 results were not ready for issue and the actions already being taken to address this.

Problems with results and the actions awarding organisations take, including communications with students and colleges, are matters for Ofqual and I have asked its Chief Regulator, Jo Saxton, to write directly to the hon. Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The department was notified on 18 August that some students had not received their level 3 BTEC results as they had expected on A level results day due to issues with finalising grades.

Officials from the department immediately contacted Ofqual as the regulator, who assured the department that they were meeting with the awarding organisation to resolve the issues. Daily updates were provided by Ofqual and relevant awarding organisations, and the department joined daily situation report calls with Ofqual and UCAS to ensure that we were aware of progress.

The former Secretary of State for Education, alongside some of the relevant awarding organisations and Ofqual also met to discuss progress addressing the issues on 24 August. The department was made aware that some level 2 results were not ready for issue and the actions already being taken to address this.

Problems with results and the actions awarding organisations take, including communications with students and colleges, are matters for Ofqual and I have asked its Chief Regulator, Jo Saxton, to write directly to the hon. Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The department was notified on 18 August that some students had not received their level 3 BTEC results as they had expected on A level results day due to issues with finalising grades.

Officials from the department immediately contacted Ofqual as the regulator, who assured the department that they were meeting with the awarding organisation to resolve the issues. Daily updates were provided by Ofqual and relevant awarding organisations, and the department joined daily situation report calls with Ofqual and UCAS to ensure that we were aware of progress.

The former Secretary of State for Education, alongside some of the relevant awarding organisations and Ofqual also met to discuss progress addressing the issues on 24 August. The department was made aware that some level 2 results were not ready for issue and the actions already being taken to address this.

Problems with results and the actions awarding organisations take, including communications with students and colleges, are matters for Ofqual and I have asked its Chief Regulator, Jo Saxton, to write directly to the hon. Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The department was notified on 18 August that some students had not received their level 3 BTEC results as they had expected on A level results day due to issues with finalising grades.

Officials from the department immediately contacted Ofqual as the regulator, who assured the department that they were meeting with the awarding organisation to resolve the issues. Daily updates were provided by Ofqual and relevant awarding organisations, and the department joined daily situation report calls with Ofqual and UCAS to ensure that we were aware of progress.

The former Secretary of State for Education, alongside some of the relevant awarding organisations and Ofqual also met to discuss progress addressing the issues on 24 August. The department was made aware that some level 2 results were not ready for issue and the actions already being taken to address this.

Problems with results and the actions awarding organisations take, including communications with students and colleges, are matters for Ofqual and I have asked its Chief Regulator, Jo Saxton, to write directly to the hon. Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. I have asked its Chief Executive, Jennifer Coupland, to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. I have asked its Chief Executive, Jennifer Coupland, to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. I have asked its Chief Executive, Jennifer Coupland, to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. I have asked its Chief Executive, Jennifer Coupland, to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. I have asked its Chief Executive, Jennifer Coupland, to write to you and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The department is reviewing post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below to ensure that every qualification approved for public funding has a distinct purpose, is high quality, and supports progression to positive outcomes.

Our second stage consultation on level 3 advanced technical qualifications (https://consult.education.gov.uk/post-16-qualifications-review-team/review-of-post-16-qualifications-at-level-3/) closed on 31 January 2021, and our call for evidence (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/post-16-study-at-level-2-and-below-call-for-evidence) on level 2 and below qualifications closed on 14 February 2021.

In the level 3 consultation, we proposed that assessing a student’s competence at the end of a course (summative assessment) becomes a key feature of technical education.

Summative assessment allows modular delivery of content but gives greater assurance that competence is achieved by assessing knowledge, skills, and behaviours once all learning has been completed. We are considering the circumstances under which it would appropriate for qualifications to diverge from this model.

We are carefully reviewing the responses to the level 3 consultation and plan to publish the government response later in the spring. We are developing proposals for consultation on level 2 and below and are considering which design principles might best meet students’ needs.

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

Following the announcement of a new national lockdown on 4 January 2021, training and assessment for apprentices at all levels should now take place remotely wherever possible.

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has introduced alternative arrangements for end-point assessments, including remote assessment where practical, 12-week extensions to the time limit for completion, and relaxation of the order in which elements can be taken. All assessment flexibilities and discretions put in place due to COVID-19 will be extended until at least 31 August 2021.

To enable apprentices nearing completion to prepare for and undertake their end-point assessments, which were due in January 2021 or are planned for February or March 2021, face-to-face and practical-based training can continue where remote training is not possible.

End-point assessment and Functional Skills assessments can continue in colleges, training providers’ premises, assessment venues and workplaces where it cannot be conducted remotely and where providers and end-point assessment organisations judge it right to do so. End-point assessment is a key element of our reforms to enhance the quality of apprenticeships, ensuring apprentices are occupationally competent.

Where it is not possible for the apprentice to undertake their assessment, a break in learning can be agreed. Further guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/957704/Providing_apprenticeships_during_the_coronavirus__COVID-19__outbreak.pdf.

We are committed to supporting apprentices at all levels, to safely continue with, and complete, their programmes during the COVID-19 outbreak while maintaining quality.

Provisional figures show that in the first quarter of 2020/21 academic year, 30,100 apprentices achieved their apprenticeships (frameworks and standards) including 11,270 apprentices at level 2. Latest figures show that 39% (13,789) of active level 2 apprentices are currently past their planned apprenticeship end date, compared to 21% (15,833) at the same time last year. There are a number of reasons why an apprentice may still be on their apprenticeship past their planned end date, beyond any disruption caused by COVID-19. 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.

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has introduced flexibilities for end point assessment (EPA), including remote assessment where practical, 12 week extensions to the time limit for completion, and relaxation of the order in which elements of the EPA can be taken, in order to mitigate the effects of disruption caused by COVID-19. All assessment flexibilities and discretions put in place due to COVID-19 will be extended until at least 31 August 2021.

We have introduced flexibilities to allow furloughed apprentices to continue their training and undertake end point assessments. We do not collect data on the number of apprentices who have been furloughed as a result of COVID-19.

Apprenticeship standards are designed to ensure the apprentice is occupationally competent at the end of the apprenticeship. While it was previously possible to undertake an apprenticeship framework for the same job at different levels, with standards there is just one level per occupation. This means that upon completion, apprentices are fully equipped with the skills to successfully undertake their job. Apprentices and their employer can choose to progress to an apprenticeship, or further training, at a higher level at a time that is right for them.