Cynhadledd Genedlaethol ar Gymwysterau National Conference on Qualifications

1. Cynhadledd Genedlaethol ar Gymwysterau National Conference on Qualifications

2. To what extent are Professor Wolf’s conclusions applicable to Wales, and which aspects of the recommendations do you think would be beneficial or harmful in Wales? What are the best and worst things about our qualifications for 14-19 year olds in Wales (in relation to both general and vocational qualifications)? Cwestiynau Morning workshops: gweithdai'r borequestions • I ba raddau y mae casgliadau’r Athro Wolf yn berthnasol i Gymru, a pha agweddau ar yr argymhellion a fyddai’n fuddiol neu’n niweidiol yng Nghymru yn eich barn chi? • Beth yw’r pethau gorau a’r pethau gwaethaf am ein cymwysterau ar gyfer pobl ifanc 14-19 oed yng Nghymru (o ran cymwysterau cyffredinol a galwedigaethol)?

3. What are the opportunities and risks for Wales associated with divergence of qualifications in Wales and England? Simplification – should there be fewer qualifications? If so, which should go? Cwestiynau Morning workshops: gweithdai'r borequestions • Beth yw’r cyfleoedd a’r risgiau i Gymru yn sgîl gwahaniaethau o ran cymwysterau yng Nghymru a Lloegr? • Symleiddio – a ddylai fod llai o gymwysterau? Os felly, pa rai y dylid cael gwared arnynt?

4. Quality and rigour – do some qualifications lack credibility and if so how can this be tackled without risking loss of engagement of young people? Does the marketplace of qualifications, with many awarding organisations, drive standards up or down? Cwestiynau Morning workshops: gweithdai'r borequestions • Ansawdd a thrylwyredd – a oes diffyg hygrededd i rai cymwysterau ac os felly sut y gellid mynd i’r afael â hyn gan osgoi’r risg o ddieithrio pobl ifanc? • A yw’r farchnad gymwysterau, gyda llawer o sefydliadau yn dyfarnu, yn arwain at safonau gwell neu rai gwaeth?

5. Prif bwyntiau: Key points: Cymwysterau Qualifications • Starting point should be coherence and quality of curriculum - not the quals (back to front) • Need fewer qualifications but not necessarily fewer subjects. Reduce duplications to reduce confusion in areas. • Ensure qualifications are relevant and fit for purpose: determined largely by relevance to employers who should be closely involved in setting criteria for what is chosen. • Build additionality into mainstream quals. • Keep brands/quals. Don't introduce new ones. • Fewer higher quality quals that have progression, which connect, and which are flexible and coherent. • Need clarification for unis, employers, everyone. • Angen llai o gymwysterau ond mwy o lwybrau / opsiynau o fewn y cymhwyster.

6. Prif bwyntiau: Key points: Dewis 14+ Choice 14+ • Strong support for a broad curriculum to 16. It may be that a hard rule (Wolf’s 80/20) would work against interests of some learners. • Agree with Wolf that competence quals should be 16+ not 14-16 • Don't push voc route at 14 • Competence based voc quals should NOT be for 14-16 • Must distinguish what voc quals are for 14 cf 16 year olds • Want to keep 14-16 voc options in Wales (where and how they're delivered is another matter - must have independent advice and guidance). Stop churn of students keeping at same level because they weren't advised or taught appropriately in 1st place. • Dylid cael egwyddorion cwicwlaidd clir ar gyfer CA4 a chanolbwyntio ar raglenni astudio • Ni ddylid arbenigo mewn meysydd penodol yn CA4 ond dylid rhoi blas mewn sawl maes galwedigaethol

7. Prif bwyntiau: Key points: Dewis 16+ Choice 16+ • Careers advice essential: independent, accurate, and appropriate for progression.  • Students must have a genuine choice at 16 - advice and guidance must impartial • Students ‘pressured’ on HE progression. • However - AS levels/A levels: still most recognised exams for HE progression. • A levels not appropriate for all students. Not ‘in depth’ 2 year courses.

8. Prif bwyntiau: Key points: Cymwysterau GalwedigaetholVocational Qualifications • Lots of successful young people accessing HE & employment internationally. Need to raise awareness. • Redesign voc quals + embed key skills into curriculum design. • Concern if move too far towards general education. Need to work harder to make voc quals valuable. Still too much voc v academic. • Voc quals should be delivered by those best equipped to do so - but skills can be developed effectively in a vocational context - in whatever setting. • WBL not designed for classroom based teaching. Higher levels require work based element.

9. Prif bwyntiau: Key points: Math/Saesneg Maths/English • Eng/Maths must remain heart of learning + development for 14-19 including for those at risk of disengaging. • All learners must have good level of English (Welsh) Maths + poss IT • Alternative rather than equivalence for GCSEs in Maths/Eng for those with low grades • Put resources in primary ed to address literacy/maths. Solve before secondary. • Embed maths/Eng in vocational lessons and pre-16. • Must do more to increase achievement in Maths/Eng. C or above mandatory. Must look at value of key/essential skills. • Maths/Eng quals should be basic entitlement. Must be well taught. • Spelling, grammar, punctuation must be delivered by all teachers. Wrong message: can get GCSE without arithmetic & spelling. Need arithmetic/specialist maths papers. Staff development issue.

10. Prif bwyntiau: Key points: Safonau Standards • Regulation of AOs important. Standards. • Credibility depends on knowledge within sector it's designed for. • Competition can drive standards down by ‘dumbing down’ as awarding bodies try to market ‘easy choices’ to institutions. BUT the market cannot drive standards down or up if there is only one provider. Limited choice therefore better than either too much choice or no choice at all.  • Too many AOs drives standards down • Inconsistency in rigour of qualifications • If standards rise, results will go down. Refreshing political stance but would need media on board. • Assessment needs further attention – we need better differentiation in grading many voc quals (and other quals). • Angen buddsoddi mewn proffesinyoldeb athrawon - codi statws. Ansawdd dysgu yn holl bwysig.

11. Prif bwyntiau: Key points: Cyllido a Pholisi Funding & Policy • Funding + league tables drive behaviour. Should fund only quals that allow progression within chosen sector/into employment. • Funding has driven quals as much as accountability. • Don't make incompatible demands: need to depoliticise quals/education. • Some of the short courses are valued by employers but are not funded or counted in performance points ie. food hygiene • Strongly support move to LAPs. Need to build on this successful model. • Too much emphasis on reliability and risk avoidance. • Product assessment is more valued than process assessment. • Design programme for learners but market must understand the product. • Learning should be based on programmes not on quals • Funding should follow the learner on a programme and not just the qualification • Remove perverse incentives – they lead to a dishonest curriculum, misleading advice/guidance (=NEETs).

12. Prif bwyntiau: Key points: Cyflogwyr/yr economi Employers/economy • Employer engagement vital but difficult! Employers need to recognise various qualifications. Leitch report  • Education for education sake vs education to gain employment. Need to look at 5 years/10 year economy – which sectors are going to be in demand rather than what is going on now • Employers understand GCSE brand. Need to identify quals employers respect.

13. Prif bwyntiau: Key points: Gwahanau oddi wrth LloegrDiverging from England • Mixed response re divergence • Welcome Quals review will be ‘mindful’ of activity across the border. We are disadvantaging Welsh learners if we don’t give them qualifications that are understood across the UK and internationally. Can’t be insular in the way we are preparing people through qualifications. However good they are, without international / national recognition, they won’t serve young people well. Real issue for the Welsh Bac.  • Divergence inevitable. Raises complex questions. Review panel needs to consider them carefully. • Divergence: huge risk. Must have read-across for employer understanding, portability of learners UCAS etc • Diverge within limits. Maintain common set of UK quals. • Risk to diverging at GCSE level  • Risk of diverging from England too much • Portability: ESW not transferable to England (young offenders, MoD)

14. Perthnasedd MesurPerfformiad SgiliauHanfodol CymhwysterBagloriaeth Cymru Asesiad Relevance Measuring Performance Essential Skills Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification Assessment Gweithdai'r Afternoon prynhawn workshops

15. PerthnaseddRelevance • All qualifications need to be clearly purposeful . This should be done by recognising knowledge and skills acquired for the purpose of: • Certifying that the learner can appropriately progress to ‘higher’ level of education • Competence at specific tasks or employment roles • Professional recognition (nursing, teaching, social work) • The existing system of tracking qualifications uses up a lot of effort which could be devoted to the learner in better ways. We should mainstream core or common skills into the main quals - as it was in the BTEC National days. Skills such as ‘working with others’ and 'comms skills’ should be an integral element of those main quals. • Need a curriculum review alongside the qualifications review? • Concept of relevance and value different 14-16 and then 16+. • Performance measures can stand in the way of implementing the vision. Don’t let Wales be trapped as England is. There is currently divergence. Standards must be at least as high in Wales as in England. If we stick to modular delivery this must be rigorous. This should be joined by a proper professional debate about standards. We could establish a sounder educational basis in Wales.

16. Mesur Measuring perfformiad performance • Need for consistency for performance systems within FE and across sectors • Gap: measures don’t report the literacy/numeracy concerns. Big message to young people that they don’t need literacy/numeracy to pass GCSEs. Need these skills measured at key points. Fundamental. • L3 threshold – need common performance indicators across schools and colleges. Consistency key to learners being able to make informed choices. • Progression – need to measure volume of learners moving to next step. • Need to measure what we value. • 14-19 team should not be forced to chase wider points score. (no end point) • Not getting full picture of voc quals at present. Need value added measure – distance travelled – across quals. • Continuity should be part of mapping. • Focus on L2 inclusive. • England’s mapping of voc quals = 1GCSE: over-prescriptive. Some voq quals developed for adults but offered to younger people. Wales should not follow.

17. Sgiliau Essential Hanfodol skills • Lack of trust. Better understanding of concept needed. • Filling a gap not covered by GCSEs. Need to be embedded earlier in the curriculum. Shouldn’t be bolt-on. Shouldn’t have to be assessed separately. If GCSEs were doing their job further assessment wouldn’t be needed. Literacy/numeracy should be added into mainstream quals. • Welsh medium ESW almost non-existent. • Unclear roles as to developing essential skills and assisting students • If marking essential skills is worthwhile then should be externally assessed. • Skills are important but ESW lack credibility with employers. • Funding issues. Outside framework. • Not enough underpinning maths. • Diluted rigour when basic skills went into essential skills. • Anomaly with bringing together levels. • AOs differ with assessment. • Expect basis skills tutors to be qualified at L3 but nothing for ESW – just ‘recommended’. Staff development issue. • Content difficult to contextualise. Not specific enough.

18. Bagloriaeth CymruWBQ • Agree with concept of WBQ but need to look at content. • Core needs updating. Doesn’t meet Deloitte requirements on employability. Support for extending language component (but staff development issue – use Confucius?). Need to revisit ESW and literacy/numeracy interface. Schools don’t have staff resource to deliver application of number to all. • Variability of delivery across providers. Blend WBQ into learners’ studies. • Support for the Bac as the overarching qualification for all 14-19 learners. This would require freeing up of the National Curriculum. WBQ can be expensive to deliver. • Grading - Different views on whether e.g. community participation can be graded.  Concerns that need to grade whole core or be very clear that elements not graded are compulsory. Challenging. Must grade from threshold of competence upwards. Must grade L3. • Need to address progression WBQ L2 to L3. • Good: WBQ support for parity of esteem across qualifications. UCAS & uni recognition key.

19. AsesuAssessment • Teaching to the test destroys learning experience. • Modular: recently introduced - is more inclusive. Still moderated. Gives early warning indications. Only one resit allowed. Early taking can be a problem. Don’t rush to follow England’s move to modular. But concern re perception of Wales GCSE easier than England. • Incorporate skills in GCSE Eng/Maths or have smaller GCSEs in numeracy/literacy (SPAG, arithmetic) • Range of assessment methods: practical, online etc, independent of delivery. • Assessment grades of schools don’t match those at colleges. Problems in applying skills. • External assessment helps credibility. Should be higher than 20%. • Voc quals: need more external visits, tighter oversight – improves performance and helps share good practice. Cost implications. • Need common language of levels: L1, L2, L£. • Educationalists may prefer new language but GCSEs known brand. Can be off-putting to adults, though. Unintended consequences to adults of 14-19 focus.

20. Camau nesafNext steps • End of workshop summaries.  • Notes from conference workshops to be written up and published on the ColegauCymru website www.collegeswales.ac.uk  • The online discussion forum will be revised to include the questions you've been discussing today. It will remain open for another 3 weeks. http://qualificationsconference.pbworks.com  • Then ColegauCymru will collate everything into a report to the Review team. • Further information: hello@collegeswales.ac.uk