Jacki Hughes, Executive Principal of The Guernsey Institute, said some of her students' assessments were just weeks away. 

“A change in the process for assessing technical and vocational qualifications was announced yesterday, as the Department for Education decided that exams for Vocational and Technical Qualifications (VTQs) will not take place in February or March this year," she said.

Pictured: The Guernsey Institute's senior leadership team, with Mrs Hughes second from the left. 

"This means that any scheduled external assessments for BTEC Level 2 Tech Awards, Firsts, Technical and Level 3 Nationals, as well as qualifications for other awarding organisations in those months will now not go ahead."

The announcement also saw UK Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, instruct Ofqual to start working with awarding organisations and education professionals on alternative arrangements for VTQ assessments due to take place in the spring and summer terms. 

“We now await information from our awarding organisations with instructions about the new process for assessing our students for the work they are doing and about how those assessments will contribute to their qualification," said Mrs Hughes.

Pictured: Mr Williamson announced this week that spring examinations for VTQs will not take place as planned. 

"Locally, this means that it is now clear we will need to adapt the way we assess our students for the remainder of this academic year. The consultation carried out by Ofqual should take place over the coming weeks, after which we will expect clear guidance on how these assessment processes will work for Bailiwick students.

"At that stage we will ensure that our students, parents, employers and other stakeholders are fully informed about what this means for the qualifications we teach so that that our students are assessed for all of their hard work and effort so far and are able to make progress to achieve their planned qualifications and take their next steps.”