Access to HE - affect of coronavirus

Was hoping I'd get my chance next year.

Email your teacher.
I expect the access programme to follow suit with btecs and GCSEs and A-levels.

What do you mean?

I don't see why the numbers would go back up if the country's at a 1984 standstill.

Everything I have read about btecs up to now says that they are continuing as are access courses.

What is your source?

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/news-policy/press-releases/2020/update-from-pearson-regarding-the-covid-19-coronavirus-outbreak.html

But obviously there is more than one BTEC provider.

"We welcome the principles being used for the assessment and believe they will deliver fair outcomes. It’s important that professional teacher judgements are taken into account, that a wide range of evidence is used and that there will be a clear appeals process. Students that prefer to sit a paper later in the year will also have the opportunity to do so.

For our BTEC vocational qualifications, we feel confident we can award grades for students finishing this academic year by working closely with teachers to collate completed student grades, taking into account student progress on assignments and course work to date and by sampling and verifying student work. Again, we are working to understand the implications of the current context for BTECs and other applied general qualifications and will communicate with learners as soon as we can."



This is early days though.

I tried to +1 you but it will not allow me at the moment, I think I have +1d you "too often" recently.

Do you want the Access programme to follow suit?

Email your teacher.
I expect the access programme to follow suit with btecs and GCSEs and A-levels.

They can not fail students because of this virus.
I'm pushing for this but students need to be Vocal. If you just go on with switching to online only then it will continue.

Which is frankly ridiculous seeing how reliant access courses are on using high quality resources for referencing. We don't even have access to libraries as they are all closed. Many other examples of why it is stupid. E.g. not all students have access to reliable internet.
Child care has drastically changed.
Jobs have drastically changed. Eg how many access students work as cleaners for the NHS or care institutions? More than a few I Reckon.

Oh. What course is it anyway?

I was interested in a course for a professional subject and emailed a university department asking them why the one that their university runs is not accreddited by the relevant professional body. The guy ended up emailing a small bunch of us to basically beg for applications 😂.. we could even see each other's email addresses (he did not use BCC).

Yes my tutor knows my situation and my concerns. I asked her this morning to ask what happens if I can't get all of the work done and i got a reply just saying they will help us through it and that they're in constant contact with the exam board.

Not exactly helpful really.

The PowerPoints I've seen so far haven't even been adapted for online learning. For example there's images that clearly have some kind of verbal description with them. So it's like we are teaching ourselves the rest of the course. 😞

Email your teacher asking for them to speak to the exam board. If your willing, halt all assessments by stating that online learning is not a practical option for you giving the current crisis.
If enough students do this then they will have no option but to cancel upcoming assessments.

But it will happen. I'm 99% sure of that.
How many students were reliant on libraries and childcare and now have neither? How many students do not have their own computer and only a phone?
The exam board will have to choose to either fail these students or follow suit with other exam boards.

the government guidance also suggests that they are looking at predicted grades for Access as a way of fairness.

Are there any unions or pressure groups that we can write to regarding our concerns? I think we should all be voicing our concerns to the Department of Education and award bodies, colleges etc.

Are there any unions or pressure groups that we can write to regarding our concerns? I think we should all be voicing our concerns to the Department of Education and award bodies, colleges etc.

There was a meeting this afternoon between DFE, QAA and the examination boards for Access. They are awaiting updates from the meetings to be disseminated over the next 24/48hrs. Hang fire for now. I think it will be predicted grades on the basis of what you’ve done so far. I cannot for one second imagine, they are going to say crack on in the current climate and claim we’re not hampered with everything going on.

There was a meeting this afternoon between DFE, QAA and the examination boards for Access. They are awaiting updates from the meetings to be disseminated over the next 24/48hrs. Hang fire for now. I think it will be predicted grades on the basis of what you’ve done so far. I cannot for one second imagine, they are going to say crack on in the current climate and claim we’re not hampered with everything going on.

Source?