A Guide to Vocational Subjects Assembly: Wednesday 29th March 2017

The Basics What are vocational courses and how do they compare to A Levels? Which vocational courses are offered at Toot Hill College? What will my child study on their vocational course and how will it be assessed? IMPORTANT: What is it important to understand about the assessment of vocational qualifications? How does the Toot Hill College Progression Policy translate into each of the vocational courses?

1. What are vocational courses and how do they compare to A Levels?

1. What are vocational courses and how do they compare to A Levels? A ‘vocational course’ means they are designed with a specific career path in mind, related to the subject. Unlike A Levels, instead of grades E – A*, vocational courses are graded Pass, Merit, Distinction or Distinction*. (Or if double awards PassPass – Dist*Dist*)

1. What are vocational courses and how do they compare to A Levels? Compared to A Levels, the vocational courses generally have a higher proportion of internally-marked coursework assignments, although all of the vocational courses now also include externally-marked exam units too. All the vocational courses we offer are categorised by Ofqual as being ‘Level 3’ in difficulty; this is the same rating Ofqual gives A Levels, so essentially Ofqual rates them as being the same level of difficulty as A Level courses.

1. What are vocational courses and how do they compare to A Levels? The overwhelming majority of university courses accept Level 3 vocational qualifications on the courses they offer; in fact, Level 3 vocational courses are given the same equivalent number of UCAS points as A Levels, which shows they rate them equally. A Level grades UCAS Tariff Points Vocational grades A* 56 Distinction* A 48 Distinction B 40 C 32 Merit D 24 E 16 Pass

2. Which vocational courses are offered at Toot Hill College?

2. Which vocational courses are offered at Toot Hill College? Vocational Courses offered: Equivalent of…? Lessons per week? BTEC Applied Science (Double Award) 2 A Levels 12 BTEC ICT (Single Award) 1 A Level 6 BTEC Sport (Single Award) BTEC Sport (Double Award) Cambridge Technical Business (Single Award) Cambridge Technical Business (Double Award)

3. What will my child study on their vocational course and how will it be assessed?

BTEC Sport (Single Award)

BTEC Sport (Single Award) So what will I have completed by the end of Year 12?

BTEC Sport (Double Award)

BTEC Sport (Double Award) So what will I have completed by the end of Year 12?

Cambridge Business Technical (Double Award)

Cambridge Business Technical (Double Award)

Cambridge Business Technical (Double Award) So what will I have completed by the end of Year 12?

Cambridge Business Technical (Single Award)

Cambridge Business Technical (Single Award) So what will I have completed by the end of Year 12?

BTEC Applied Science (Double Award)

BTEC Applied Science (Double Award) So what will I have completed by the end of Year 12?

BTEC ICT (Single Award)

BTEC ICT (Single Award) So what will I have completed by the end of Year 12?

Summary? You will all receive the results of any internally-marked coursework assignments by the internal Year 12 Results Day – Friday 14th July. You will all receive the results of any externally-marked exam-type units on the external A Level Results Day – Thursday 17th August.

External exam-units 2017: Dates for the diary? Cambridge Technical Business Unit 1 Single and Double Award students with ‘U’ or ‘Pass’ from January 2017. Thursday 18th May 2017 BTEC Applied Science All students Monday 5th June 2017 BTEC Sport Tuesday 6th June 2017 BTEC ICT A students Thursday 8th June 2017 Cambridge Technical Business Unit 3 Double Award students only. Monday 12th June 2017

4. What is it really important to understand about the assessment of vocational qualifications?

4. What is it really important to understand about the assessment of vocational qualifications? Failing an externally-marked exam type unit. The national average of attainment for vocational qualifications.

a) Failing an externally-marked exam-type unit This is national policy set by the awarding bodies of all of the vocational courses, over which the College has no control or say. If a student fails an externally-marked exam in the vocational courses, they are allowed only one re-sit. If they fail this re-sit, regardless of any of the externally-marked coursework units students may have completed and regardless of how high a level, they automatically fail the entire course and cannot continue. Finally, if a student does pass the exam unit but feels they could do better, it is possible for them to have a go at a resit to improve their grade; in any case they will keep their highest scoring exam attempt.

b) The national average of attainment for vocational qualifications It is important to understand how the grades of vocational courses are viewed nationally, particularly by Post-16 destination providers like universities, apprenticeship schemes and employers. This is the national picture, again over which the College has no control or say. The national average of attainment for all students studying these vocational qualifications is a Distinction (or DistinctionDistinction). Due to this fact, many destination providers will expect a Distinction or above, and almost all will want a Merit or above. A ‘Pass’ sounds positive - please remember that it is viewed as the equivalent of an ‘E’ grade at A Level and, therefore, there are much more limited destination options available to students who acquire this grade at the end of their qualification.

5. How does the Toot Hill College Progression Policy translate into the vocational courses?

What is my Toot Hill Target for the end of Year 13? Toot Hill Targets indicate the national level of attainment in that course. They are calculated based on: - An individual student’s prior attainment at GCSE. - The difficulty of the course. - The national level of attainment of that course. Essentially, achieving a Toot Hill Target means a student is making at least the national average of progress on that course.

What is my Toot Hill Target for the end of Year 13? Collect your THT now if you do not know it: Business Sport ICT Applied Science

Reminder: What is the whole THC Progression Policy? Students must achieve within two grades of their Toot Hill Target to continue to Year 13. If a student achieves more than two below their Toot Hill Target, they will not be able to continue this course into Year 13.

Reminder: What is the whole THC Progression Policy? Progress according to THT Example: THT = A THT = B THT = C On THT A B C One below THT D Two below THT E More than two below THT U

How does the whole THC Progression Policy translate specifically into the vocational courses? Failing an externally-marked exam-type unit: Please remember: if a student fails an exam unit a second time round, national policy is that the student fails the entire course and cannot continue. As such, we must be confident that there is evidence that a student is likely to pass the exam unit during the resit, otherwise they risk spending 18 months with us (the next resit opportunity will be January 2018) studying a course for which they could walk away with nothing. As such, if a student fails the exam unit the first time round, we will assess the likelihood that they will be able to pass the exam unit the second time round by gauging how close to the ‘Pass’ grade boundary they were.

Failing an externally-marked exam-type unit: How does the whole THC Progression Policy translate specifically into the vocational courses? Failing an externally-marked exam-type unit: As such, if a student fails the exam unit the first time round, we will assess the likelihood that they will be able to pass the exam unit the second time round by gauging how close to the ‘Pass’ grade boundary they were. In order for us to be confident that a student is likely to be pass the exam unit a second time round, the exam mark must be within 10% of the Pass mark. In this instance, we will then count this unit as a probable ‘Pass’ and allow the student to continue on the course, as long as their overall grade is still within two grades of their THT (see below).

How does the whole THC Progression Policy translate specifically into the vocational courses? What do I need to get to be within two grades of my THT? In a nutshell, students must achieve: A ‘MeritPass’ or above in double award vocational courses. A ‘Merit’ or above in single award vocational courses.

Why? If student THT is: On THT One below: Two below: In a nutshell, students must achieve: A ‘Merit’ or above in single award vocational courses. A ‘MeritPass’ or above in double award vocational courses. Why? If student THT is: On THT One below: Two below: More than two below: D*D* D*D DD DM* DM MM* MM MP* MP PP *Students will still be allowed to continue with vocational course in these instances because: The nature of the course at Year 13 still makes it possible for them to pull this grade back.

What about Single Awards? Remember: This is how each of the vocational grades relates to A Level grades. A Level grades UCAS Tariff Points Vocational grades A* 56 Distinction* A 48 Distinction B 40 C 32 Merit D 24 E 16 Pass

Progress according to THT Example: THT = A* THT = Dist* THT = Dist On THT A* One below THT A Two below THT B More than two below THT C D E

Progress according to THT Example: THT = A* THT = Dist* THT = Dist On THT A* Dist* One below THT A Dist Two below THT B More than two below THT C Merit * D E Pass *Students will still be allowed to continue with vocational course in these instances because: The nature of the course at Year 13 still makes it possible for them to pull this grade back.

Progress according to THT Example: THT = A* THT = Dist* THT = Dist On THT A* Dist* A One below THT Dist B Two below THT C More than two below THT Merit * D E Pass U

Progress according to THT Example: THT = A* THT = Dist* THT = Dist On THT A* Dist* A Dist One below THT B Two below THT C Merit More than two below THT Merit * D E Pass U

Equivalent A Level Grade In a nutshell, students must achieve: A ‘Merit’ or above in single award vocational courses. A ‘MeritPass’ or above in double award vocational courses. Why? Single Award grades: Equivalent A Level Grade If student THT = Dist* If student THT = Dist D* A* On THT   D A One below THT B Two below THT M C More than two below THT P E

Summary? The external exam-type units: If fail – within 10% of pass mark will count as a pass. If fail – not within 10% pass mark, too risky to waste 18 months. The overall grade: If single award vocational course – ‘Merit’ or above. If double award vocational course – ‘MeritPass’ or above.

Finally? Please be aware this is the first year these new vocational courses have run across the country. In some respects, this still makes them a little bit of an unknown entity. In all cases, we will work simply to secure the best outcome for every single student; the progression policy is put in place to avoid any student wasting their time without the probability this will lead to a worthwhile qualification at the end. If a student does not make the re-entry requirements, we will work closely with students to help them find the best path for them, and there are numerous options available – these could be within or outside THC – we will explore all.

A lot of information… where can I see it again? All this information is included in the Parents’ Guide to Vocational Courses Handbook, given to you today (Wednesday 29th March 2017). All the information is also uploaded and available to see on the ‘College Noticeboard’ section of the Toot Hill College website.

Reminder: What are the other requirements for re-entry to Year 13? Attendance: At Toot Hill College, we expect 100% Present and Authorised attendance from all students. Any figure below this percentage will be taken into consideration when agreeing re-entry to Year 13. 2. Homework and Effort: At Toot Hill College, we expect all students to try their best. As such, homework and effort scores will also be taken into consideration when agreeing re-entry to Year 13.