Further to the COVID-19 NOCN Quality Updates circulated on 11, 15 and 26 May 2020, please find a link below to the centre guidance for the download, population and submission of the results spreadsheet for the Summer Assessment Series 2020.
Centre Guidance: Submission of Centre Assessment Grades and Adaptations
I hope you find the guidance clear and helpful in submitting the results for your centre. NOCN are also in the process of producing a guidance video on the process which will be available on Quartweb soon. The guidance refers to the NOCN process throughout but for all queries please contact One Awards directly. Your External Quality Assurer will continue to be a key point of contact during this process and they will work closely with the One Awards Quality Team to support you in the implementation of the requirements. Please also contact us at Quality@oneawards.org.uk if you have questions.
We fully appreciate the difficulties and challenges faced by centres and learners at during this unprecedented period of disruption and will work closely and flexibility with you over the coming months to ensure your learners have a fair and equitable opportunity to achieve and progress.
NOCN is pleased to provide further important information and guidance to our centres regarding the calculation of results for learners studying a NOCN qualification who have had their learning disrupted due to the covid-19 pandemic.
New dates for issuing of calculated results
Following a discussion with Ofqual, we are amending the dates for when NOCN will be confirming results to centres following the completion of the calculated results process. This was originally communicated as taking place between 6th July and 14th August.
The period of results issue has now been amended to:
Level 3 and above qualifications – By 12th August
Entry Level to Level 2 qualifications – By 19th August
These have been amended to fall in line with national GCSE and A-Level result days. NOCN encourages centres to submit their Centre Assessment Grades as soon as they are able to, once the submission window opens on the 8th June. All Centre Assessment Grades must be submitted to NOCN by the 31st July to allow for the required quality assurance activities to take place.
Estimation Process Guidance
NOCN has developed guidance documents for centres regarding the estimation process. This guidance covers:
Please click here to download the guidance document. This is also available on the One Awards website.
The document also contains specific information regarding NOCN’s Functional Skills Qualifications (both legacy and reform) (Appendix 1) and includes a policy template that centres may wish to utilise (Appendix 2).
Clarifying NOCN Policy on Estimations and Adaptions
To aid centres’ understanding of NOCN’s policy regarding estimations and adaptations, NOCN has published the below policy documents:
The policy documents contain important information regarding NOCN’s policy on calculated results and adaptions of its qualifications. They may be useful for centres in determining their own policies. These documents are subject to change as Ofqual’s Extraordinary Regulatory Framework (ERF) develops.
Further information regarding the mitigations in place for the Summer 2020 assessment series can be found on our website here: https://www.nocn.org.uk/what-we-do/qualifications/guidance-for-centre-assessment-grades/
14th May 2020 Date of publication
Further to the COVID-19 Quality Update – 11th May 2020, please find below a link to the following guidance which has been published on the NOCN and One Awards websites today: Guidance for Centre Assessment Grades for Awarding Organisation Calculated Results and Adaptations: Summer 2020 results for vocational, technical and other qualifications.
The document includes links to the process flowchart and timeline (point 8) and guidance for Functional Skills and ESOL Qualifications (point 6) and Sector Specific Qualifications (point 13). Further guidance on the production of centre policies for arriving at centre assessment grades is in development and will be issued shortly. Your External Quality Assurer will be a key point of contact during this process and they will work closely with the One Awards Quality Team to support you in the implementation of the requirements.
We fully appreciate the difficulties and challenges faced by centres and learners at during this unprecedented period of disruption and will work closely and flexibility with you over the coming months to ensure your learners have a fair and equitable opportunity to achieve and progress.
Please find below a link to the latest NOCN COVID-19 update following the launch of the Ofqual consultation on calculating results for Vocational and Technical Qualifications. NOCN are in the process of defining the process and producing guidance for centres and this will be published as soon as it is available.
Calculation of results - Summer 2020 results for vocational, technical and other qualifications:
Following the publication of the Ministerial Directive on 9 April 2020, NOCN is working with Ofqual to develop alternative arrangements for the awarding of NOCN qualifications to enable learner progression in life and work within the current government guidance. For additional information please see government news awarding vocational and technical qualifications this summer.
Government guidelines set out in a Letter from Secretary of State for Education - VTQs that ‘assessments cannot proceed as planned this Spring and Summer’, and states the measures to be taken to reduce the impact of the pandemic. NOCN is implementing these measures and confirm that learners due to complete assessments for NOCN qualifications between March and July 2020, will not be expected to take outstanding assessments. Instead NOCN will issue a calculated result. This calculated result will be based on a range of evidence and data capture. NOCN will contact centres shortly to inform them about evidence requirements for impacted learners.
Ofqual Consultation
Ofqual have consulted on the exceptional arrangements that they have set out for awarding vocational and technical qualifications, and general qualifications. Further information on the consultation here: Ofqual Consultation VTQs. The consultation closed on 8th May 2020 and the outcomes of the consultation will be published in due course. NOCN will inform centres of the process for centres to calculate grades once we receive confirmation of the consultation outcomes. NOCN is working closely with Ofqual and other awarding organisations and will update centres shortly to inform them about evidence requirements for impacted learners.
Quality Assurance
NOCN offers arguably the broadest range of qualifications and alternative routes for both experienced workers and new entrants to the jobs market. Our continuous program of development and improvement will continue during this COVID-19 situation, to keep our qualifications fresh and up to date.
We know that individuals will want to continue with their learning and assessments where possible. NOCN will facilitate this by providing online assessment as usual, IT systems, certification and full office support during this time and we will continue to provide Quality Assurance services.
NOCN appreciates that centres will need to ensure their processes are safe for staff, and learners, and that COVID-19 will provide great challenges for continued routine delivery. The attached FAQs outline NOCN guidance for alternative arrangements and how centres can submit requests for special considerations for this period.
To keep centres, learners and NOCN staff safe, all face-to-face visits have been cancelled with immediate effect as per Government announcements and official advice over COVID19. NOCN will continue to support centres and quality assure but will employ contingency arrangements for remote external quality assurance activities. If you require an EQA visit or remote sampling in the next two to three months please contact quality@oneawards.org.uk. The quality assurance team will discuss how this can be done in a safe manner whilst ensuring fairness to your learners. The attached EQA COVID-19 Contingency – Remote EQA Visits and Remote Sampling outlines our contingency plan for this period and provides guidance to centres on what remote EQA visits will involve.
We believe that while assessments are taking place, we have to provide monitoring of the assessments to ensure the quality of our qualifications is maintained and will continue to do this via remote platforms. Our EQAs and office-based quality assurance team will be available to answer questions and queries during this period.
We are working with our Awarding Organisation peers to develop new assessment arrangements due to the Coronavirus outbreak and will notify you of these as soon as possible. Enhanced monitoring will be conducted once the lock down is ended.
Please contact us if you need help or support rolling these out remotely on quality@oneawards.org.uk.
Certificates
NOCN are continuing to produce and issue certificates in the usual way, dispatching in batches via the Post Office’s registered mail to Training Centres’ main sites. If you are a Training Centre and you are having difficulty receiving certificates due to the COVID19 situation, please arrange a redirect with the Post Office, or please let us know an alternative address through our email cst@oneawards.org.uk. If you are a learner or an employer, please contact your Training Centre for your certificates.
Further to our update on the 20th March, NOCN have issued further guidance to support centres at this challenging time. Please find attached the following documents which are also available on our website
If you have any questions about this guidance please don’t hesitate to get in touch and I hope you, your staff and learners are staying safe and well.
20th March 2020 Date of publication
Further to the Government’s announcements yesterday the One Awards office will close from 4.30pm on Friday 20th March. Staff will be working from home with access to all electronic systems and we will endeavour to minimise the impact on centres and learners as far as possible. For quality assurance queries please use email for contact with us wherever possible Quality@oneawards.org.uk For emergencies and urgent calls please use the office number (0191 5186550) and your call will be diverted to a mobile phone.
For general communication One Awards will send directed emails and provide information and advice on our website: https://www.oneawards.org.uk/
Please click here for information relating to Access to HE Provision
In addition to the office close, One Awards face-to-face EQA visits will be cancelled from Monday for an indefinite period and so there are now three options (please see guidance attached):
EQA remote sample
EQA Remote visit
Postpone the visit
If there is no learner work to sample it may be appropriate to postpone the visit. EQAs will contact your centre for a discussion about your circumstances and plans and make a decision on a risk assessment basis. In all cases, EQAs will notify One Awards of arrangements made with centres.
EQA COVID 19 Contingency - Remote EQA Visits and Remote Sampling
Registration and Certification
NOCN Qualifications – please continue to register your learners and certification will continue for as long as possible. We will notify you of any changes to this service.
One Awards units - please continue to register learners but unfortunately we will not be able to print and distribute certificates until the office re-opens. You may wish to provide in-house confirmation of completion for your learners but please do not use the One Awards logo.
Quality Mark centres – please continue to register participants but unfortunately we will not be able to print and distribute certificates until the office re-opens.
We will work with you as flexibly as we are able to support your plans to ensure learner assessment and verification continue, whilst maintaining One Awards and NOCN standards. If you have any questions at this time, please don’t hesitate to contact your EQA or a member of the Quality Team on Quality@oneawards.org.uk
I have worked with other Awarding Bodies in the past but must say that I am really pleased with the service offered by One Awards and NOCN along with the support given as well, it makes me feel as if I could ask absolutely anything and they wouldn’t mind at all and would deal with it efficiently.
Julia Hamby
JM Training Services