Detailed Guidance on the determination of grades for vocational and other general qualifications for Summer 2021: Information for centres in England and Northern Ireland, can be found on our secure website.
We are currently preparing additional materials to support teachers to determine centre grades for our Entry Level Certificates, Level 1/2 Vocational Awards and Level 3 Applied Certificates and Diplomas. This includes training on assessing internal and external units, exemplar materials and a range of past papers and mark schemes.
These materials will be made available in the dedicated Vocational Qualifications Summer 2021 area of our secure website beginning week commencing 19 April 2021.
We’ve worked with other JCQ awarding organisations to make sure that requirements for internal quality assurance and arrangements for external quality assurance are consistent where possible. This includes aligning some of our processes to those being put in place for AS/A Levels and GCSEs.
Schools' or colleges' internal quality assurance arrangements will need to include consideration of their profile of results in previous years as a guide to help check that judgements aren’t unduly harsh or lenient.
It’s really important that schools and colleges document the process they follow to ensure the judgements being made are fair, consistent, evidence-based, and free from bias and discrimination. As well as good practice, this documentation will also be required as part of the external quality assurance we will need to undertake this year.
Results for our vocational and other general qualifications will align with the earlier dates for the publication of GCE AS, A-level and GCSE results.
Applied Certificate and Applied Diploma, GCE AS and A-level qualifications
- Results will be released to centres on Monday 9 August 2021.
- Students will receive their results on Tuesday 10 August 2021.
Entry Level Certificates, Vocational Awards, Latin, Certificates, Additional Mathematics and GCSE qualifications
- Results will be released to centres on Wednesday 11 August 2021.
- Students will receive their results on Thursday 12 August 2021.
Students will be able to appeal their grade via the following process:
- A student who considers that an error has been made with their grade will first ask their school/college to check whether an administrative or procedural error has been made.
- Where a school/college does identify an error in the grade submitted to us, they can submit a revised grade and a rationale for us to consider. If we are satisfied with the rationale, we will issue a revised grade.
- Where a school/college does not believe an error has been made, a student can ask their school/college to appeal to us on their behalf. The school/college will submit the student’s appeal to us and provide the evidence on which the judgement has been made; we will consider whether the grade reflected an appropriate exercise of academic judgement. If we judge that it did not, we will determine the grade that the evidence would support. We will also review if the school/college has followed its own process.
Further information on the appeals process will be made available early in the Summer term.