Guidance and support hub
Adapting delivery
Teaching and assessment is likely to be disrupted over the coming year. Where possible, plan to cover mandatory content first and encourage learners to take assessments as soon as they are ready.
Check out the 'How to adapt' section for guidance on things you can consider to support continued teaching and assessment during disruption.
Our principles to adaptation include identifying:
- where assessment can already take place remotely or be adapted by individual centres to meet their needs
- opportunities to streamline assessment to reduce burden
- where assessment evidence can be reviewed remotely through live video stream or recorded evidence.
Check out the 'Qualification specific guidance' section for more information.
Qualification specific guidance
Delaying assessment
Some practical assessments cannot be adapted. This is because we have been unable to find a way to allow learners to demonstrate the same knowledge and skills.
Check out the 'When to delay' section for more information and a list of qualifications that contain assessments that cannot be adapted.
Special Consideration and Appeals
Learners who have been significantly disrupted by illness or centre closure may be eligible for special consideration.
We are broadening our position on special consideration, in the current circumstances, to enable you to make requests relating to all aspects of delivery and assessment. This means that, where possible, we will consider applications for special consideration that relate to interruption in learning which has had a negative impact on learners’ performance in centre assessed tasks and externally set tests.
Please contact us as soon as you are aware of any learner(s) potentially eligible for special consideration, and we will discuss the options with you. For qualifications linked to licence to practice or professional standards there is likely to be limits on the extent that special consideration can be applied; we will explain this to you where this applies. Wherever possible learners should be offered opportunities to take adapted assessments rather than seek exemption.
Our Centre Appeals Policy enables a centre – on behalf of a learner – to appeal a decision made by us regarding requests for special consideration. This policy and the Learner Appeals Policy also enables centres, learners and their representatives to appeal assessment and external quality assurance decisions made by us. This includes situations where the appeal relates to a decision or procedural step which may appear not to have fully taken account of the impacts of Covid-19 and resulting disruption to learners and centres.