On Friday 22 January we are releasing our report ‘Unpacking qualification reform: UCAS AS and A level survey – January 2016 update’ that provides an update regarding the AS and A level provision being offered by schools and colleges in England. This follows a previous report that was released in January 2015.
The key findings of the survey.
- 59% of centres will offer the AS in all subjects in 2015 (up from 52% in the previous survey). 74% will offer the AS in some form, whether that be for particular subjects or cohorts of learners.
- Independent schools were less likely to offer the AS qualification than state schools and academies.
- 64% of respondents intend to revisit their decision about AS provision in 2017, once all A level subjects are reformed.
- 73% of respondents felt as if the amount of teaching time available had remained the same.
- 49% of respondents did not feel they had sufficient information about qualification reform when making decisions on future provision.
- ‘Other’ was the most common key driver behind the decision made by schools and colleges, indicating a high level of individuality behind these decisions. Following this, university and college entry requirements was the second most common key driver. However, this was to a lesser extent than shown in the previous survey.
UCAS has also made a number of recommendations for the education sector building upon the findings of the survey.
- Universities and colleges should continue to produce and review qualification reform statements, detailing how they are adapting to the changing qualification landscape. At present over 40 of these are hosted on our website.
- Schools and colleges should produce a web page detailing their qualification offer and the rationale behind this. The link to this can be included within the reference.
UCAS will also continue to support the education sector by producing and signposting to relevant information and advice about qualification reform.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss the report further please contact Ben Jordan (Senior Policy Executive – b.jordan@ucas.ac.uk).