functional skills guidance - ncfe · exam between 20 march and 31 july. this includes: learners...

Functional Skills Guidance Version 7 2 July 2020

Printed versions are not subject to version control. Please see website for most up-to-date version.

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Important message – Centre Assessed Grade submission The extended deadline for submitting Centre Assessed Grades (CAGs) for your learners has now

passed (midday on 24 June). You are still able to submit grades for your learners, using the guidance documents below, and your learners will receive a calculated result. We will do

everything we can to support your learners in this process but must draw your attention to our previous communication which stated that any data received after the extended deadline would not be subject to a guarantee of a result being issued by the published results release date. If you have

any further queries, please contact us. Call 0191 239 8000 Email [email protected] Live chat www.ncfe.org.uk

Contents

1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 2

1.2 Bite-sized summary ....................................................................................................... 3

2. Terms for Functional Skills qualifications estimation process ........................................... 4

2.1 Scope ............................................................................................................................ 5

2.1.1 Eligible learners .......................................................................................................... 5

2.2 Centre assessment grade submissions required by qualification ................................... 5

2.3 CAG submissions to NCFE............................................................................................ 6

2.4 Completed components not yet submitted ..................................................................... 6

2.4 Learner Outcomes ......................................................................................................... 6

3. Centre responsibilities ...................................................................................................... 7

3.1 Role of the Head of Centre ............................................................................................ 7

3.2 Sense checking the submission ..................................................................................... 8

4. The estimation process .................................................................................................... 9

4.1 Timescales and Deadlines ........................................................................................... 10

5. Evidence and making judgements .................................................................................. 11

5.0 NCFE Statement on Equality ....................................................................................... 11

5.1 Ofqual Guidance .......................................................................................................... 12

5.2 Before judging CAGs ................................................................................................... 13

5.3 Judging CAGs ......................................................................................................... 13

5.4 Work generated after 20 March ................................................................................... 15

5.5 Standardisation............................................................................................................ 15

5.6 Completing the CAGs judgement process ................................................................... 15

5.7 Rank ordering of learners ............................................................................................ 16

5.8 Sharing CAGs with learners......................................................................................... 16

6 Guidance on the pass descriptors .................................................................................. 17

6.1 Level 1 and 2 Mathematics and English Reading and Writing ...................................... 17

6.2 Reformed assessments ............................................................................................... 17

Appendix A – Terminology .................................................................................................... 19

Appendix B – FAQs ............................................................................................................... 20

Latest updates to this version are highlighted

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ncfe.org.uk/

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1. Introduction

This document covers all Functional Skills assessments; reform and legacy, English,

maths and ICT at all levels (Entry Level 1 – Level 2).

Ofqual’s current proposed approach, in line with the directive from the Secretary of State for

Education, is that Functional Skills learners due to complete an assessment between 20

March 2020 and 31 July 2020 should ideally receive a calculated result (rather than an

adapted or postponed assessment), where there is sufficient evidence to support this.

NCFE has been working closely with Ofqual and other awarding organisations (AOs) to agree

full detailed common guidance for centres and this document is the result of this collaboration.

This document is intended to support centres whose learners fall into the above category, in

carrying out the estimation process for Functional Skills.

The information in this document provides guidelines to support centres, however it is not

exhaustive. NCFE reserves the right to make discretionary judgements that may not be

detailed within this document if they deem it necessary.

Due to the fast changing environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this document is

liable to change. For this reason we recommend that you always access the latest version of

this document directly from the NCFE website rather than saving digital copies or printing hard

copies.

Please note: alongside this Functional Skills specific guidance document we have also

published a ‘Summer 2020 Awarding Guidance’ document, available on our website. This

document covers all NCFE CACHE Vocational and Technical Qualifications (VTQs), and the

key guiding principles for estimation. We also have available ‘Summer 2020 Awarding

Guidance: Adaptation and Delay’ which provides information relating to the other forms of

VTQ mitigation in summer 2020 - adaptation and reschedule.

We recommend that centres are familiar with the process and content of all guides provided,

however this document is the primary guidance document for all Functional Skills

qualifications in summer 2020.



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1.2 Bite-sized summary The following points provide a bite-sized chronological overview of the process for Functional Skills estimation and links to other useful resources. When following the summer 2020 awarding process for Functional Skills, your centre must:

Understand what is happening for Functional Skills Qualification mitigation in summer 2020, and why this is required:

- read Ofqual’s Exceptional Arrangements for Assessment and Grading in 2020 - visit NCFE’s coronavirus information hub for regular updates - terminology definitions can be found in Appendix A of NCFE’s Functional Skills

Guidance document.

Decide which of your learners are in scope to require a Centre Assessed Grade (CAG): - qualifications and learners in scope can be found in section 2.1 - components that require the submission of a CAG for these learners can be found in

section 2.2.

Understand what a CAG is, and how to generate one: - section 5.2 highlights what you need to know before you begin the judgement process - guidance to support you on judging your CAGs can be found in section 5.3.

Understand what evidence could be used to support your CAG judgements: - evidence types are discussed throughout this document, but specifically in section

5.1, section 5.3 and Appendix B - the timescales of evidence, and work completed since lockdown can be found in

section 5.4 - section 6 provides guidance on how to use Functional Skills pass descriptors, and the

descriptors themselves can be found on the NCFE coronavirus information hub - no evidence is required to be submitted alongside CAGs, but must be kept for review

by NCFE for a minimum of six months.

Understand the role and responsibility of a Head of Centre:

- once they are ready, a Head of Centre must perform a sense check on a centre’s CAGs before they are submitted to NCFE, this is detailed in section 3.2.

- the Head of Centre also needs to be aware of the declaration that they must sign on behalf of their centre, as detailed in section 3.1.

Follow the submission timeframes, and CAG submission process: - the CAG submission process, including deadlines and timeframes, is outlined in

section 4 - further support on how to use the NCFE Portal and CAG submission screens,

including a guidance document and webinars, can be found on the NCFE coronavirus information hub.



https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/exceptional-arrangements-for-assessment-and-grading-in-2020

https://www.ncfe.org.uk/coronavirus-information-and-advice-for-customers-and-learners




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2. Terms for Functional Skills qualifications estimation process

The following terms governing this process have been agreed by all AOs offering Functional

Skills qualifications:

1. This is a one-off, time-limited process offered to minimise disruption caused by

measures taken by the government in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic so that as

far as possible, learners due to take assessments during this period are not

disadvantaged.

2. Centres are permitted to make one submission, and this must cover all learners

expected to take Functional Skills qualification assessment between 20 March and 31

July 2020.

3. Once a submission has been made by a centre AOs will not consider any

subsequent submission by that centre (except as part of issue resolution requested

by AO).

4. There will be no second submission for ‘fail’ learners. For externally assessed

components, an opportunity to sit the exam will be offered to all learners who do not

pass the component by the AO as soon as possible after the learner’s final calculated

result has been released by the AO.

5. As set out in Ofqual’s consultation on Exceptional Arrangements for Assessment

and Grading in 2020 (VTQs)1, for final calculated results that have been approved by

the AO, there will be no right of appeal by the centre or learner against the result. An

appeal based on whether the process was followed will be offered.

6. The AO reserves the right to review evidence used by centres to reach judgements

about Centre Assessed Grades (CAGs) on request. This may be through a quality

assurance of the centre’s submission and/or through routine EQA process when this

resumes.

7. As part of quality assurance of a centre’s submission, an AO may ask the centre to

reconsider its submitted CAGs, but the AO will not itself take action to change

CAGs for any learner without the agreement of the centre.

8. The AO will take all reasonable steps to support centres in resolving quality assurance

queries about a centre’s submission but as a last resort, may reject all or part of the

submission.

9. It is expected that for a range of reasons related to the current situation some centres

may not be able to participate. These may include, for example: centres with

furloughed staff or centres that are operating at the limits of their capacity such as for

example, healthcare providers.

In such cases, every effort will be made to minimise disadvantage but delaying

assessment may be unavoidable.

1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/extraordinary-regulatory-framework-vtq-covid-19-conditions-and-requirements



https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/extraordinary-regulatory-framework-vtq-covid-19-conditions-and-requirements

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/extraordinary-regulatory-framework-vtq-covid-19-conditions-and-requirements

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2.1 Scope

This guidance covers CAGs for the following qualifications:

Legacy Functional Skills qualifications at all levels (entry 1 – level 2):

Mathematics

English

ICT

Reformed Functional Skills qualifications at all levels (entry 1 – level 2):

Mathematics

English.

2.1.1 Eligible learners

Centres should submit CAGs for all Functional Skills learners affected by the COVID-19 disruption.

This is defined as all learners who they would expect to have taken the assessment / exam between 20 March and 31 July.

This includes:

learners attempting the assessment / exam for the first time

learners resitting the assessment (it is acknowledged that learners may have both

attempted for the first time and resat an exam/assessment during this period).

Centres must not submit CAGs for any learner they would not expect to have taken the

exam/assessment during this period.

2.2 Centre assessment grade submissions required by qualification

Centres must submit CAGs at the component level.

Functional Skills English qualifications at each level2 comprise three separately-assessed

components: Reading; Writing and Speaking, Listening and Communication (SLC). This

applies to both legacy and reformed Functional Skills English qualifications.

Functional Skills Mathematics qualifications at each level2 comprise one component. This

applies to both legacy and reformed Functional Skills Mathematics qualifications. Assessment

for reformed Functional Skills consists of a single component assessed in two parts, a non-

calculator and a calculator section.

2 (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3, Level 1 and Level 2)



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Functional

Skills ICT at each level2 comprise one component.

For components assessed by exam3 the centre will submit for each learner, an evidence-based judgement of whether the learner would pass or fail the component. (Please note: legacy Functional Skills outcomes are Achieved, Within 10% [but not achieved] and Not Yet Achieved)

For components assessed internally4 the centre will submit the judgement of the Teacher, using evidence, about which learners would have passed the assessment only (ie not those learners who they would not judged to have passed).

2.3 CAG submissions to NCFE

All CAGs must be submitted through the NCFE Portal, within the stated timeframes. For

further guidance on how to submit CAGs, please refer to the NCFE Guide to Submitting

Centre Assessment Grades in 2020 document.

2.4 Completed components not yet submitted Where you have a completed component that has not yet been submitted (eg components

that have been assessed and internally quality assured in the normal way at Entry Level or

SLC at Level 1 and 2) you should submit these using the COVID- 19 CAG submission

process no later than 24 June 2020. When submitting these, please include details within

the associated declaration clearly stating which learners and components are completed

(assessed and internally quality assured in the normal way)5.

Where you have incomplete components (eg unfinished/started components or components

that have not been assessed and internally quality assured) then you should generate and

submit a Centre Assessment Grade (CAG) using the COVID- 19 CAG submission process

clearly signposted in the portal by 24 June 2020.

2.4 Learner Outcomes

As part of the CAG submission process, alongside your CAG submissions you will also be

required to define the learner outcome as either Full (meaning a learner who, including CAGs

and any already banked outcomes, will be able to claim a full certificate for the qualification) or

Mid-Flight (meaning a learner who, by 31 July, including CAGs and already banked

components, will not yet have achieved a pass outcome for all required components).

3 (ie Mathematics level 1 and 2; English Reading level 1 and 2; English Writing level 1 and 2; ICT level 1 and 2) 4 (ie Speaking Listening and Communication at level 1 and 2; all components at Entry level) 5 Please note: v4.0 of this guidance document originally requested that completed components (that have been assessed and internally quality assured) were to be submitted in the Portal in the normal way. However to avoid potential complications with partial certification claims, we have reverted to the above process. (If you have already submitted completed components in the normal way following the instruction of v4.0 there is no further action required, and your learners will not be disadvantaged as a result of this.)



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3. Centre responsibilities

3.1 Role of the Head of Centre

The centre assessment process for Functional Skills qualifications must be overseen and

signed off by the Head of Centre.

The Head of Centre’s responsibilities are to ensure:

only staff who have taught the learner whose provisional component result is being

judged are involved in judging that learner’s result

all of those who are judging CAGs are briefed on the process as outlined in this

document and are familiar with the requirements of this document and associated

materials to support the process (ie the relevant Functional Skills standards for the

subject and level being judged and where applicable the pass descriptors for that

subject and level)

that there is sufficient valid evidence available to underpin the judgements to be made

by Teachers before any CAGs are judged

that Teacher judgement takes into account any reasonable adjustment that would be

made to the assessment in respect of a learner with a disability

that judgements are evidence based and as far as possible, free of any bias in respect

of any learner with a protected characteristic or any other factor (for example

character, appearance, social background or special educational needs) that does not

relate to their knowledge, skills and abilities in relation to the subject. Ofqual has

produced a detailed guidance document for centres on ensuring objectivity in CAGs,

which all teachers and Heads of Centres must be familiar with.

that where there is more than one member of staff involved in teaching an individual

learner for any component, that these members of staff work together to agree the

CAG

where more than one member of staff are responsible for teaching any Functional

Skills component, these staff work together to standardise their judgements in the way

described below.

The Head of Centre must contact NCFE to discuss additional support and options before any

CAG is judged where:

no member of staff is available who has taught any learner whose component CAG is

being judged

no evidence is available to support judgement of a CAG for any learner.

CAGs must not be submitted based on judgements made by staff other than those who have

taught the learner the component for which the CAG is submitted.

CAGs must not be submitted for any learner where there is no valid evidence on which

to base the judgement.

Failure to produce evidence as part of our quality assurance process could result in a malpractice investigation (please refer to our policy for further information).



https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/886921/Guidance_on_objectivity_in_grading_and_ranking_21MAY2020.pdf


https://www.qualhub.co.uk/policies-documents/mandatory-policies-and-fees/

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Once the

process has been completed, the Head of Centre must sign off a single submission covering

all Functional Skills learners whose CAGs the plan to submit. This must be a single

submission covering all Functional Skills components that the centre intends to submit at all

levels offered for both legacy and reformed qualifications (where applicable). Submissions

cannot be staggered or submitted in batches. Sign off is in the form of a declaration that the

process has been followed in full.

The declaration includes:

for all learners, confirmation that

- for all components, where a CAG is submitted, only staff with experience of

teaching that component to the learner provided their CAG

- at least one piece of valid evidence (see below) per learner was used to reach

judgement

an indication of the types of evidence used for the component

confirmation that the Head of Centre has overseen a sense check comparing

the numbers and proportions of pass and fail CAGs for each component with

expectations about how each cohort of learners would perform under normal

circumstances (see below)

a description of any factors which account for divergence between historic

achievement rates and the achievement profile of the CAGs.

For more information on the CAG submission process and the Head of Centre declaration,

please our Guide to submitting Centre Assessed Grades in 2020 document.

3.2 Sense checking the submission

This process covers any Functional Skills assessment which would have taken place

between March 20 and July 31 2020.

As part of a final sense check ahead of submitting CAGs to NCFE, the Head of Centre must

oversee a comparison between:

For all components:

the number of CAGs submitted for each component and

the number of results they submitted for each component for an equivalent historic

period (eg March 20 – July 31 2019). Approximate figures may be used where it is not

possible to generate exact figures.

Any variance between the two should be accounted for any component as part of the

submission.

For examined components:

The Head of Centre should oversee a sense check comparing the numbers and proportions of

pass and fail CAGs for each component with expectations about how each cohort of learners

would perform under normal circumstances. A comparison with centre records for an

equivalent period of time (eg 20 March – 31 July 2019) should be used for this. The extent of

the similarity should be noted and known factors to account for this fed back to NCFE as part

of the submission.



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4. The

estimation process

The estimation process for Functional Skills qualifications will follow the basic structure

outlined below:

1. Centres ensure eligible learners are registered on the appropriate Functional Skills

qualification before 31 May 2020.

2. Teachers/Assessors use evidence and judgement to derive CAGs for each component

a learner would have been entered for between March 20 2020 and July 31 2020.

Further guidance on this process is below.

3. Where more than one Teacher provides CAGs for learners for any one component,

these grades must be standardised to ensure a consistent approach has been

followed for subsets of learners within a centre.

4. The centre must perform a final check on CAGs before they are submitted. This

process must be overseen by the Head of Centre and a declaration must be signed

by the Head of Centre to confirm that CAGs are reasonable and that considerations

have been made about equality, accuracy and evidence. You will also be required to

check CAGs against performance for your centre in a similar period in previous years

and asked to account for any discrepancies.

Note: We will not ask you to submit evidence to us as part of the initial submission

process, but you will need to retain this evidence for a period of time as discussed in

section 5.1.

Further guidance on the CAG submission process is now available on our

website.

5. NCFE will carry out a quality review of submitted CAGs.

6. If we identify any concerns which are not sufficiently addressed in the declaration, we

will contact you to discuss our concerns and ask you to review your CAGs or provide

further clarification.

7. If concerns are resolved then we will provisionally accept the submission (pending a

final quality check before results are released). If it is not possible to resolve our

queries with you then we will not be able to accept your submissions and in these

cases, adaptation/delay may be unavoidable.

8. Once CAGs have been provisionally accepted for all centres, we will then perform a

final check on the full cohort of results for a qualification across all learners.

9. NCFE will then release calculated results.



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4.1 Timescales and Deadlines

Stage Dates

Registering learners Until 31 May 2020

Window for submission of CAGs 1 June – 24 June 2020

NCFE quality assurance process This process will begin as soon as a centre

makes its submission to us. NCFE may

contact you to discuss queries throughout

June and July.

NCFE issues calculated results 31 July 2020*

*Please note: if NCFE requires further information and have to contact you following

your CAG submission, results may be released outside of this timeline.

We understand that centre staff may not be available to make judgements for a range of

reasons. If a centre believes that they are not able to complete the estimation process for

whatever reason, they should contact NCFE as soon as possible to discuss this.



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5. Evidence and making judgements

5.0 NCFE Statement on Equality

NCFE is responsible for ensuring that our qualifications are fair to all learners and that they do not disadvantage any sub-set of learners who share a protected characteristic or any other factor (for example character, appearance, social background or special educational needs) that does not relate to their knowledge, skills and abilities in the subject. For calculated grades and CAGs we consider there to be two main categories of potential inequality: Bias This includes both conscious and unconscious bias Ofqual has produced the below document which provides detailed guidance for Heads of Centre, Heads of Department and Teachers on ensuring CAGs submitted are objective. Ofqual - Guidance on objectivity in grading and ranking Lack of evidence

There may be learners for whom there is little or no available evidence to support a CAG due to absence or any other circumstances related to a protected characteristic or any other factor (outlined above). The following are examples of where this might be the case, however please note that this list is by no means exhaustive:

learners who missed mock exams/class work due to absence related to a long term illness/disability

learners who missed school and did not complete a practice paper due to observing a religious event/holiday.

If you are unsure whether any of your learners fall into this category or if you have any concerns about any potential disadvantage to learners you should contact NCFE at the earliest opportunity to discuss this.




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5.1 Ofqual Guidance

Ofqual has provided the following guidance on making CAG judgements. The CAGs submitted to awarding organisations must reflect a fair, reasonable and carefully considered judgement of the most likely grade a student would have achieved if they had sat their assessments this summer. Judgements must be objective and fair. They should be a holistic professional judgement, balancing the different sources of evidence, using knowledge of the assessment aims and criteria and reviewed by qualification Teachers/Assessors and relevant Heads of Department. You will need to consider each student’s performance over the course of study and make a realistic judgement of the grade each student would have been most likely to get if they had completed the relevant components as requested by the awarding organisation. In some cases this may be a fail. In coming to your holistic judgement, you may want to draw on a range of information sources. In many cases you will have a good understanding of an individual’s performance and how they compare to other learners on the same course this year, and on previous courses and in previous years. We realise you may not know precisely how each learner might have performed on assessments and examinations that they did not encounter. However, you may have a good understanding of how your learners with similar achievements have performed in the past on the same or similar assessments. You should use this knowledge, combined with other evidence, including previous formal and informal assessments, mock examinations and homework, in coming to your judgements. You should assume that it is no easier or harder for a learner to achieve a particular grade this year, compared to previous years. You should not provide a CAG where there is no evidence upon which to base one. Failure to produce evidence as part of our quality assurance process could result in a malpractice investigation (please refer to our policy for further information). The following list of supporting evidence could come from all or some of the following:

mock test results from completed NCFE practice papers

learner work, completed independently, during the course towards the qualification. This can be work that has been undertaken in class or at home

learner work, completed independently, demonstrating the skills assessed by the relevant Functional Skills qualification that has been completed in support of another qualification learning aim

attempts at Functional Skills practice papers marked by the centre

previous attempts at the live exam (based on results previously released by NCFE)

formative assessment results, (formative assessment is defined as assessment

undertaken to check learning has taken place and assess progress towards the

Functional Skills level) this can be centre-devised or a commercially-available product.



https://www.qualhub.co.uk/policies-documents/mandatory-policies-and-fees/

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Results of initial and diagnostic assessment can be used but must be used in conjunction with other evidence (not as a single source of evidence) in the following ways:

as a benchmark to gauge progress made towards the component requirements by the learner

where this provides evidence that the learner had already met one or more of the component’s assessed requirements at the point at which the initial / diagnostic assessment was taken.

Other forms of evidence may be acceptable, but it is recommended that the centre submits queries around these to NCFE via the Customer Support team before judging CAGs. It is acknowledged that these forms of evidence would not normally be considered in assessing these qualifications. It is also acknowledged that available evidence may only show partial achievement. Teachers/Assessors will need to exercise judgement and discretion in reaching decisions about which learners would have passed or failed. This includes a judgement where learning has been disrupted about whether the learner would have passed had they completed the full programme of learning. Centres should bear in mind the learner’s progression aim when providing a ‘pass’ CAG for a learner and that this means they believe that the learner would be able to progress to the next Functional Skills qualification level or operate in an employment setting in respect of the skills that will be certificated. All evidence used to support judgement of CAGs may be subject to inspection by NCFE and

must be retained for six months unless otherwise notified by the awarding organisation.

5.2 Before judging CAGs

Teachers should be familiar with:

the most up to date guidance on the process issued by NCFE.

the standards for the Functional Skills subject and level being assessed these can be

accessed from Ofqual’s website. For legacy Functional Skills qualifications (ie

Mathematics and English pre September 2019 and ICT) the relevant legacy criteria

should be used. For Mathematics and English learners from September 2019, the

standards are published within the Conditions and Requirements documents as

appendices.

For legacy and reformed Mathematics and English at levels 1 and 2, the awarding

organisation common pass descriptors (guidance given below).

Ofqual guidance on objectivity in ranking and grading.

5.3 Judging CAGs

Only learners affected by the COVID-19 disruption should have CAGs submitted. This is

defined as: all learners who they would expect to have taken the assessment/exam

between 20 March and 31 July. This includes:

learners attempting the assessment / exam for the first time

learners resitting the assessment / exam. It is acknowledged that learners may have

both attempted for the first time and resat an exam /assessment during this period.



https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/functional-skills-qualifications-requirements

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/functional-skills-qualifications-requirements


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Centres must not submit CAGs for any learner they would not expect to have taken the exam

/ assessment during this period.

Teachers should identify eligible learners before starting the process of judging learner CAGs.

The Teacher should consider each eligible learner in turn. For each learner whose CAG is

being judged, the Teacher should consider:

at least one piece of valid evidence that demonstrates the learner’s progress towards

the assessment requirements of the component

the assessment requirements of the component

(where available) the pass descriptor for the component being considered

their knowledge of the learner’s ability

any permitted support that would have been given to that learner in completing the

assessment (at entry level)

any reasonable adjustment that would have been made to the assessment for that

learner in respect of a disability.

They should also use their professional expertise to reach a considered judgement about

whether that learner would have passed or whether the learner would have failed the

component had they taken the assessment in the usual way.

The evidence used may only show partial achievement of the component’s requirements. In

reaching a decision about each learner’s component CAG, Teachers must make a judgement

that includes a reasonable consideration of whether the learner would have passed had the

scheduled programme of learning taken place and been completed by the learner.

Centres should bear in mind the learner’s progression aim when providing a ‘pass’ CAG for a

learner and that this means they believe that the learner would be able to progress to the next

Functional Skills qualification level or operate in an employment setting in respect of the skills

that will be certificated

In some cases, it may be considered that a learner would have been on the borderline

between passing and failing the assessment, but the teacher may feel unable to reach a

definitive judgement. In such cases it is recommended that:

where possible, such cases are discussed as part of standardisation

particular attention is paid to the pass descriptor provided by NCFE (where this is

available for the component being considered)

comparison is made between the evidence for that learner and evidence considered

for other learners felt to be around the borderline but where it has been possible to

reach a pass or fail decision.

It is further recommended that borderline decisions could be noted and reconsidered as part

of the centre’s quality assurance check in relation to the overall profile of the CAGs for the

component relative to expectations based on an equivalent historic period.

The judgement for each learner should be recorded and the evidence retained in line with

instructions given by NCFE.



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5.4 Work generated after 20 March

Given the disruption to education caused by COVID-19, we do not expect you to use evidence

generated after centres closed on 20 March for the purposes of determining a CAG. The

primary source of evidence should be taken from current learning programme up to the 20

March. This is in line with government expectations for determining a CAG for GCSEs, A

Levels and other VTQs.

However we acknowledge that there may be circumstances where some centres have been

able to continue teaching and learning, and the resulting work may provide additional

evidence to support a CAG.

Where additional work has been completed after 20 March it is acceptable to be used as

underlying evidence, however centres should exercise caution where that evidence suggests

a change in performance, and use this to factor into their judgements. In many cases this is

likely to reflect the circumstances and context in which the work is done.

5.5 Standardisation

Where there is more than one Teacher responsible for delivering a component within the

centre and involved in judging CAGs for that component then these Teachers must work

together to standardise their judgements.

At the start of the process, Teachers should individually consider an initial sample of learners

and make provisional judgements about whether each would pass or fail. Any learners who

are felt to be on the borderline of pass and fail should be noted. Before judging any further

CAGs, the teachers should collaborate to discuss and compare their CAGs, the evidence

used, and the judgement applied and reach agreement about the characteristics of pass and

fail learners.

As a result of this process, judgements reached about the initial sample of learners may be

revisited.

The Teachers should then complete judgement for all learners but may wish to discuss any

borderline decisions with colleagues as required.

5.6 Completing the CAGs judgement process

When CAGs have been judged for all learners for a particular component within an individual

centre, the following should be recorded for each component:

a) Total number of learners for whom a CAG has been judged

b) Total number for whom a ‘pass’ is recommended

c) Total number for whom a fail is recommended (where applicable)

d) The types of evidence used to support the process.

The CAGs for each learner and a) to d) above should be passed to the Head of Centre for

checking and submission to NCFE.



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5.7 Rank ordering of learners Rank ordering of learners is not a requirement for any Functional Skills CAG submissions.

Some VTQ qualifications do require this, therefore NCFE have referenced rank ordering in

other guidance and documentation, but it is not required when submitting CAGs for any

Functional Skills components.

5.8 Sharing CAGs with learners To protect the integrity and validity of the CAG process, and to ensure impartiality, you must not share your CAG with learners, their family, or anyone else, even within your own centre,

who is not required to be involved in this process. NCFE must be made aware of any instances of this information being shared incorrectly, and this will require full investigation.



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6 Guidance on the pass descriptors

6.1 Level 1 and 2 Mathematics and English Reading and Writing

Pass descriptors have been provided for Mathematics, English Reading and English Writing

at level 1 and 2. These should be used by Teachers judging assessment CAGs for these

components for both legacy and reformed Functional Skills qualifications. These are used to

help ensure a common understanding of the minimum requirement for a pass for each

component.

As part of the process leading to the implementation of reformed Functional Skills

qualifications from September 2019, Functional Skills awarding organisations worked together

to develop an approach to standardise awarding of the Functional Skills qualification

components assessed through an exam.

Awarding organisations separately considered exam scripts for these components and noted

the characteristics demonstrated by learners who had achieved the same total number of

marks as the exam pass mark (eg learners who achieved 28 marks where the pass mark was

28 out of 40). This is defined as a, ‘minimally-competent’ learner.

Awarding organisations then came together to agree common descriptors of the skills and

capabilities typically demonstrated by a ‘minimally-competent’ learner.

It was noted, and this is acknowledged by the descriptors, that not all minimally competent

learners are the same and that in some cases, weak performance against some of the

assessed requirements is compensated for by strong performance against other

requirements. Teachers should apply this consideration in reaching judgement.

These common descriptors are used by Functional Skills qualifications AOs as part of the

process for each AO for setting exam pass marks in order to support:

a common interpretation of the standard required in order to pass the exam

consistency between the pass standard required for legacy and reformed

qualifications.

The evidence used to develop the descriptors was taken from assessments for legacy

qualifications and they are used to support awarding for reformed qualifications. Therefore,

these are appropriate and should be used to support judgements for both legacy and

reformed assessments.

6.2 Reformed assessments

For reformed assessments, the descriptors are being kept under review and it is planned that

further work will take place to consider requirements that have been added or revised as part

of Functional Skills reform. At the present time, this work has been suspended on account of

the COVID-19 disruption. At the point in time at which the disruption took place, the reformed

qualifications had only been established for about 6 months. This means that evidence is

incomplete and still emerging about the reformed pass standard and where awarding for



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reformed

assessments has taken place, this will have taken into account unfamiliar aspects of the new

specifications.

The following guidance is given in respect of this:

Throughout the Functional Skills qualification reform programme, Ofqual has given

AOs guidance that while aspects of the requirements for each component have

changed, there was no steer from government that the overall standard required to

pass any Functional Skills qualification assessment should change.

For awards made so far for reformed Functional Skills qualifications, Ofqual has asked

AOs to take into consideration any impacts on achievement caused by the relative

unfamiliarity of the requirements of reformed Functional Skills qualifications and to

take these into consideration in setting pass marks. In practice, where there is

evidence of such impacts this means that pass marks may be set a few marks below

where these would be set for a more established qualification. It was expected that this

process of the new requirements becoming established would have continued

throughout the first year of the reformed qualifications and this includes the period for

which CAGs are judged. Teachers judging CAGs should therefore apply a similar

judgement in judging learners CAGs for reformed Functional Skills assessments.



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Appendix A – Terminology This document uses the following terminology which is defined here for clarity

Term Definition

Centre Assessment Grade (CAG) This is a professional judgement by

teachers/assessors on the most likely grade

a learner would have achieved this summer,

if learning had continued as normal. These

are the provisional grades you submit to us.

Judge/Judgement This refers to the process of deriving centre assessment grades (CAG) and NCFE calculated grades.

Calculated Grade This is the final result(s) that NCFE will issue

for your learner.

Assessment Any exam or Functional Skills assessment.

Component This refers to the assessments that make up

an overall Functional Skills qualification.

Maths and ICT contain only a single

component, but English is made up for three

components: Reading, Writing, and

Speaking, Listening and Communication

(SLC)

Teacher This is used throughout the document to

refer to any Teacher, Tutor or Assessor who

has taught the learner.



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Appendix B – FAQs

Following our recent FSQ support webinars, we collated responses to provide additional

clarity based on some commonly asked questions, a selection of which are reproduced here.

Speaking, Listening and Communicating

Given that this component is assessed in a different way to all the other components due to its

verbal nature there have been a number of queries over what would be deemed sufficient

evidence for the learner.

The best way to identify if the learner has met the level required for a pass is to use the

subject criteria that can be found on the Learner Observation and Achievement Record

(LOaAR) for each level, or the Ofqual subject content on the relevant version (legacy or

reform). These statements have been created to help guide Teachers to identify the level at

which their learners are working.

If you have observed learners and made contemporaneous notes on their performance where

they have presented, taken part in group discussions, or a Q&A session, you can use this

against the criteria to assess their standard, even if the evidence was generated for another

qualification. Examples of evidence could be in the form of witness testimony, observation

records, or mock assessments, and should be assessed against the FSQ criteria, with CAGs

reflecting a fair, reasonable, and carefully considered judgement.

Direct Claim Status (DCS)

DCS is not relevant to the Exceptional Arrangements for Assessment and Grading in

2020 (VTQs) and the CAG process, regardless of whether your centre holds it or not for the

qualification. You should still follow this process for your learners as outlined above regardless

of your DCS status.

External Quality Assurance

Should your External Quality Assurer (EQA) be furloughed and you need some support,

please contact [email protected] where we will be able to put you in touch with an EQA who

will be able to support you.

You do not require an EQA visit as part of the CAG process, however an EQA may request to

retrospectively review the evidence used to support your CAGs once BAU resumes and you

have your normal EQA visit.




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Evidence

This is an area that has generated a high volume of questions. Ultimately, you as a centre

need to use your judgement to select from a range of trusted evidence for your learners in

order to submit a CAG. Should you have no evidence upon which to judge a CAG, then one

should not be submitted.

NCFE has intentionally avoided providing a definitive list of ranked evidence, as we recognise

that the range and amount of evidence will vary between centres and learners.

Work completed in class can be used as valid evidence, as long as it has been completed

independently (examples of group work would not be valid evidence). Mock assessments or

past papers can be used as valid evidence, however centres must be aware of the conditions

under which they were completed and factor this into their judgement. We would accept a

single mock assessment as valid evidence, however your CAG should be based on all

evidence available to you, preferably across a range of evidence types.

There is no definitive figure for the number of pieces of evidence needed to generate a CAG,

however judgements should be made holistically using as wide a range of evidence as is

available.

Ofqual has stated that it is acceptable for you to take into account how a learner may have

progressed if they had the expected amount of delivery time when coming to your judgement.

Teachers should use their professional expertise to reach a considered judgement, including

a reasonable consideration of whether the learner would have passed had the scheduled

programme of learning taken place and been completed by the learner. However centres

must always bear in mind the learner’s progression aim when providing a pass CAG for a

learner, and ensure that this means you reasonably and fairly believe that the learner would

be able to progress to the next Functional Skills qualification level, or operate in an

employment setting in respect of the skills that will be certificated.

If your learner’s evidence has been completed for other Awarding Organisations this is still

valid evidence, as all Functional Skills qualifications work to the same standard across AOs.

Initial/Diagnostic Assessment

An initial diagnostic assessment cannot be used as a sole piece of evidence on which to

make a judgement, however it can be used as part of a holistic judgement or supplementary

evidence. The initial assessment is the starting point showing where a learner is working

towards; it is an ideal piece of evidence to show a learner progression when backed up with

additional evidence.



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If you use a

platform such as Skills Forward, you can use evidence of learner’s work completed on the

platform outside of the assessment. You can also use a distance travelled assessment as a

piece of evidence to back up any progression a learner has made.

Achievement Rate Analysis

Reviewing historic achievement rate is one of many different quality assurance tools that

NCFE will apply in monitoring the submitted CAGs from a centre, and one that centres should

also use as part of their judgement for generating and sense checking CAGs.

We recognise that there may be variations in achievement when compared to an equivalent

historic period related to a number of factors such as different cohorts, learners, and the

nature of roll-on roll-off delivery. This is why, as part of your CAG submission, you have the

opportunity to put forward your rationale for any variations as comments alongside your

submission.

Sample and Past Papers

NCFE provides sample and past papers for both legacy and reformed assessments, and

these can be found on the relevant qualification page, found through the qualification search

on our QualHub website. Each paper also has a mark scheme, and for reform assessments

they also include a Chief Examiner report.

Where available, pass marks can be found in the mark scheme (legacy) or Chief Examiner

report (reform). Please note: exact pass marks are not available for reform sample papers,

however the pass marks from equivalent component past papers from the same version

(legacy or reform) will be indicative of the pass mark of a sample paper.



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