Update from DfE on Diplomas, and other qualifications relevant to 14 – 19 year olds
This Update pulls together announcements made since the change of Government about areas formerly covered in the 14-19 newsletter. We will not be producing regular updates but want to ensure that local areas have all the available information in one place in order to continue to plan effectively for September 2010 and beyond.
Recent announcements:
Diploma Entitlement
On 24 June 2010, Nick Gibb (Minister of State for Schools) said:
“We want schools and colleges to have greater choice over the qualifications they offer – they know what’s best for their students.
We want students to be able to sit the qualification that is right for them, whether Diplomas, the International Baccalaureate, A levels and GCSEs, or iGCSEs - not to be told by Government what they can and cannot take.
That is why we are removing the unnecessary bureaucracy and cost associated with the requirement that every school offers access to every Diploma line, and why we are stopping development of the extended Diploma.
That does not mean young people presently studying for a Diploma, or who plan to start one in the future, should think again, and I want to reassure them. We want to see how Diplomas work, and learn from them to improve the quality of vocational education in this country.”
Diploma Gateway
Ministers have decided not to hold any more Gateway exercises. There is considerable expertise now after four Gateways in local authorities, schools and colleges. So, for starts from 2012 onwards, there will be no requirement to obtain approval from the Department for Education before delivering new Diploma subjects. In addition, we are relaxing the requirement to offer the Diploma collaboratively through consortia. See below for more information.
Nick Gibb sets out his vision for schools
Schools Minister Nick Gibb gave a speech on 2 July to the Reform think tank in which he set out his vision for schools and education in the future.
The Minister said the Government’s education policies are guided by the three principles: freedom, responsibility and fairness. He said to give every child the best education, regardless of their background or their parents income, we need to refocus the curriculum on core knowledge and content, reduce bureaucracy in schools so teachers can get on with teaching, and continue to offer parents more choice with the expansion of academies and the free school programme. The Minister of State’s speech can be found here.
More information
1 Government announcements 2
1.1 Diploma Entitlement not to be implemented 2
1.2 Diploma Gateway 2
1.3 Reducing the central support package 3
1.4 Phase 4 Diplomas and the Extended Diploma to be withdrawn 3
1.5 Simplification of 16 - 19 funding structures 4
2 Operational support and important information about funding, awarding and delivering Diplomas 4
2.1 2010-11 Local Delivery Support Grant payments to LAs 4
2.2 2010-11 Diploma Formula Grant payments to LAs 4
2.3 Certification of spend of the 2009-10 Diploma Grant 4
2.4 Diploma Gateway Summer Reviews 4
2.5 Diploma awarding 2010 5
2.6 Curriculum planners to use Diploma Aggregation Service 5
2.7 Actions for providers offering Functional Skills Qualifications from Sept 2010 6
2.8 Foundation Learning 6
1 Government announcements
1.1 Diploma Entitlement not to be implemented
On 24 June, the Minister announced that schools and colleges would be allowed to choose how many, and which, Diploma lines of learning they offered. The Diploma Entitlement would therefore not be implemented. Ending the entitlement means that provision of the Diploma will be left to schools and colleges to decide, through balancing capacity and demand. The press release can be found here.
1.2 Diploma Gateway
Ministers have decided not to hold any more Gateway rounds in the future. After four Gateways there is a considerable amount of expertise in local authorities, schools and colleges: in Gateway 4, almost 75% of applications were approved for a 2011 start. So, for starts from 2012 onwards, there will be no requirement to obtain approval from the Department for Education before delivering new Diploma subjects. The remaining stages of Gateways 3 and 4 will run through to completion, and so those consortia which still wish to offer Diplomas from 2011 and have not yet met their conditions will need to go ahead with their autumn review.
In addition, the Government are relaxing the requirement to offer the Diploma collaboratively through consortia. Schools and colleges already work in partnership on many fronts because there are advantages in doing so, and they may decide to continue to collaborate on delivering Diplomas. But we want to open up the possibility of individual schools and colleges offering Diploma courses at a level which suits their learners without stipulating that it has to be as part of a consortium. This will allow schools and colleges to widen their offer to students, providing students with an increased range of qualifications to better suit their needs.
In removing these barriers, we hope that schools and colleges will find it easier to make decisions about which Diplomas to offer and when, to the greater benefit of their students.
If you have any questions about the information above, please email: ask.gateway@education.gsi.gov.uk
1.3 Reducing the central support package
Ministers have decided to reduce centrally funded 14-19 workforce development activity. This includes:
• stopping support provided through Consortium Advisers from the end of July 2010;
• scaling back the offer of bespoke training to focus on areas where Ministers consider the learner experience may otherwise be at risk, eg Diploma administration; and
• stopping central support on the assessment of Diplomas.
This means that the centrally funded 14-19 workforce support programme is coming to an end in its current form from the end of August 2010. Remaining provision is now limited and bookings for some elements of face-to-face support are now closed. The closure of the programme also means that the services that have been provided by the regional field forces, such as the Consortium Advisers and Regional Advisers, will also finish by the end of August.
Centre support will however continue to be available from QCDA for Diploma awarding this summer, to ensure all students who achieve a Diploma receive it on time.
We will let schools and colleges know what other central support, if any, may be available from September onwards as soon as we can. We would encourage schools and colleges, where possible, to take advantage of training and development opportunities that are available from other sources.
1.4 Phase 4 Diplomas and the Extended Diploma to be withdrawn
On 7 June the new Government announced that the final three Diplomas in Humanities, Science and Languages, originally scheduled for first teaching in September 2011, would be stopped. The new Government believes that it is not the role of the state to decide whether there is a need for new qualifications, and that attention should be focused instead on improving existing qualifications in these subject areas to ensure they are rigorous, challenging and properly prepare young people for life, work and further study.
The work of the Phase 4 Diploma Development Partnerships (DDPs) therefore finished at the end of June. Funding for the Phase 1-3 DDPs will finish at the end of September, and their activity will stop at this time. These announcements do not affect Phase 1-3 Diplomas and young people currently studying for a Diploma or thinking about starting a Diploma this year should be reassured that their Diploma will continue.
On 24 June Ministers announced that development of the Extended Diploma would be stopped, to avoid adding another level of complexity to the Diploma qualification. Learners who wish to take larger programmes of learning already have the flexibility to take additional learning alongside their Diploma.
Ministers will, of course, keep the Diploma under review as part of their work to improve the quality of vocational education, as set out in the Coalition Agreement.
1.5 Simplification of 16 - 19 funding structures
DfE have announced a number of decisions to simplify and streamline the structures and processes relating to 16-19 funding. Firstly, there will no longer be a requirement for local authorities to form Sub-Regional Groups and Regional Planning Groups. Partnership working at local and regional level between local authorities and providers continues to be important, but Government will not prescribe how that should be done.
In addition, with effect from the new academic year the YPLA will be responsible for making financial payments to General FE Colleges, Sixth Form Colleges and other training providers, removing the need for local authorities to manage contract and grant arrangements with these providers as well as reducing burdens on them in terms of financial audit and assurance functions. School Sixth Forms will continue to be funded by local authorities.
More information on the announcement about this on 20 July can be found at: www.education.gov.uk/news/press-notices-new/simplify-college-funding
2 Operational support and important information about funding, awarding and delivering Diplomas
2.1 2010-11 Local Delivery Support Grant payments to LAs
Following a reduction in the Local Delivery Support Grant, local authorities (LAs) were notified of their adjusted allocation, according to a new formula, on 24 June. Payments are being made in two equal instalments - in July 2010 and January 2011. The first instalment was paid to LAs during week commencing 12 July with the identifier "Dip Grant (LDSG)" appearing on the remittance advice. We hope 14-19 colleagues will liaise with their finance colleagues within the LA to help them identify the payment.
2.2 2010-11 Diploma Formula Grant payments to LAs
The first instalment of the 2010-11 Diploma Formula Grant funding for pre-16 Diploma learners will be paid on 10 Sept 2010 (which will be 60% of the grant). The remaining 40%, adjusted to reflect the actual take-up of Diplomas, will be paid in March 2011.
2.3 Certification of spend of the 2009-10 Diploma Grant
Chief Finance Officers are reminded that they need to complete the certificate of spend of the Diploma Grant for 2009-10 by 30 September 2010, using the pro forma that is available on the website: www.dcsf.gov.uk/14-19/documents/CFO.pdf. This is required for audit purposes, to ensure that the various parts of the Diploma Grant are being used in accordance with the terms and conditions of spend.
2.4 Diploma Gateway Summer Reviews
The Diploma Gateway summer reviews have now taken place. In these reviews 14-19 leads met with Cambridge Education Regional Coordinators to re-evaluate Gateway 4 category 2 and category 3s, and Gateway 3 category 3s. A total of 486 Diploma lines were reviewed of which 75% met their conditions and have approval to start delivering from September 2011. Consortia and LA 14-19 leads have been notified of their results.
2.5 Diploma awarding 2010
We are now approaching the exam results period and many Diploma students will receive their final Diploma result on either Thursday 19 or Tuesday 24 August.
At this stage, schools and colleges may wish to carry out final checks to satisfy themselves that all remaining administrative tasks relating to Diploma students have been completed, so that those expecting to claim an award this summer are not disappointed and their planned progression is not affected. Key things you may wish to check with examinations officer are:
• whether they have informed Awarding Bodies which students are working towards a Diploma;
• whether they have recorded completion of work experience and Personal Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS) on the Diploma Aggregation Service (DAS); and
• whether they have set an ‘Intention to Claim’ for students expecting an award this summer.
The support that QCDA and Awarding Bodies have offered to schools and colleges on the Diploma this year will continue through the summer, to help if any last-minute problems do arise. If schools and colleges have any problems on results day, the first point of contact is their Awarding Body, which will have measures in place to resolve problems quickly.
For those students who do not achieve a Diploma this summer, schools and colleges can create a ‘Diploma Progress Statement’ from DAS, setting out their achievements to date - including qualifications which stand in their own right - and enabling them to plan for the additional component elements to achieve their full Diploma in due course.
Further information and guidance is available via the following website links:
Exam officer guide: www.qcda.gov.uk/resources/publication.aspx
Diploma post results: www.qcda.gov.uk/resources/publication.aspx
2.6 Curriculum planners to use Diploma Aggregation Service
Release 4 of the Diploma Aggregation Service (DAS) has been introduced. It includes new features in response to feedback from users during the first year of Diploma awarding. The main change is the introduction of a new feature that will enable curriculum planners in Diploma centres and consortia to create, validate and assign planned programmes of study (PPoS) to students. Two new DAS user roles will be created: a planned programme of study maintainer and an approver.
Curriculum planners or staff with responsibility for students' study plans will probably be assigned these new roles. They will need to work closely with exams office staff to ensure that valid programmes of study are created and assigned to learners in DAS.
Centres will not need to start using the new features until September 2010. A range of guidance and support materials is available so that all users can review the changes in advance. For more information about Release 4, visit the QCDA website at: www.qcda.gov.uk/das.
2.7 Actions for providers offering Functional Skills Qualifications from Sept 2010
Functional Skills (FS) will be rolled out nationally from September 2010 and FS pilot qualifications will be withdrawn from 31st August. Accredited FS qualifications can be found on NDAQ (http://www.accreditedqualifications.org.uk ) and are distinguished from pilot qualifications by typing ‘FS NQF’ in the Type column.
Fully achieved pilot qualifications remain valid for learners. The following transitional arrangements have been put in place for partially achieved FS English qualifications only:
• Learners who have completed all three pilot FS English components have obtained a valid FS English qualification.
• Learners who haven’t completed any components during the pilot will need to take new accredited qualification components from September.
• Learners who have partially completed pilot FS English components will be able to combine these with new accredited components from September 2010 until August 2011. From September 2011 only newly accredited English components will be accepted.
Centres should:
• Check whether your intended awarding organisation has accredited FS qualifications available from September.
• Consider the range of alternative awarding organisations accredited to deliver FS qualifications.
• Reinforce to learners that they have 12 months to use their pilot FS English components to complete their qualification.
• If you have any queries please contact your awarding organisation.
2.8 Foundation Learning
We have had a significant number of enquiries related to Foundation Learning. Ministers have now agreed that the Standards Fund grants for Key Stage 4 provision in 2010/11 will go ahead, as set out in the letters sent to all LAs in February 2010. If you would like a copy of the letter for your area, please contact: Michael.singh@education.gsi.gov.uk
For post-16 Foundation Learning, the YPLA recently published some short guidance on funding, together with detailed ‘questions and answers’ and several ‘worked examples’ – see links below. These outline the overall funding model and some new developments to allow more flexibility in particular for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and for learners for whom elements of non-accredited provision may continue to be important.
• YPLA post-16 guidance on funding Foundation Learning – see paras 4.2-4.10 for an overview of new developments: www.ypla.gov.uk/aboutus/ourwork/funding/funding-foundation-learning/
• FAQs: www.ypla.gov.uk/publications/latest/
• Worked examples: www.ypla.gov.uk/publications/latest/
