Students who were due to sit exams this summer will receive grades determined by teachers, as part of proposals published today (Friday 15 January) to maximise fairness and help young people progress to the next stage of their education or training.

Following the cancellation of this year’s summer exams, the Department for Education and Ofqual have launched a consultation seeking views on how to award grades in a way that reflects students’ performance accurately, recognising the disruption they have faced this year.

Grades will be based on teacher assessment, with teachers supported in making decisions with guidance and training from exam boards.

The consultation will consider the range of evidence teachers use to award a grade, which could include coursework, other forms of assessment and papers provided by exam boards, to support consistency and fairness across schools and colleges.

The proposals ensure students are given the opportunity to demonstrate the standard at which they can perform and incentivise them to continue learning throughout the rest of the academic year.

The consultation will also seek views on results being issued to students earlier than usual to allow enough time for appeals to be processed ahead of the start of the new term.

The government has been clear that while cancelling exams was a last resort, it remains committed to ensuring that students receive a grade that reflects their hard work throughout the year and supports them to progress through their careers.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

Fairness to young people has been and will continue to be fundamental to every decision we take on these issues, and I’m determined that despite all the challenges posed by this pandemic, they will not prevent students getting on with and making a success of their lives.

These proposals should give young people confidence that despite exams being cancelled, they will still receive a grade that reflects their ability. This is quite rightly an issue of great public interest and concern and it’s important that those working in education alongside students, parents and employers are able to have their say.

Interim Chief Regulator Simon Lebus said:

We know that everyone wants clarity on the way ahead quickly. Above all, we need to support students to carry on with their education for the remainder of the academic year. Students and learners will carry with them for the rest of their lives the grades they are given on the basis of these arrangements, so we must make sure they are as fair as they can be in these difficult circumstances.

The consultation asks whether externally set papers should be mandatory or optional for schools and colleges. Where they are used, they would form only one part of a teacher’s wider assessment of a student.

Students should be assessed on what they have learnt, rather than against content they have not had a chance to study. There are proposals to give teachers flexibility to choose the papers they use for assessment based on the areas of the curriculum their students have covered.

Teachers’ assessments would be subject to quality assurance checks by exam boards.

A range of options for private candidates to be assessed and make sure they receive a grade are also part of considerations.

Similar alternative arrangements are proposed for students taking vocational and technical qualifications, such as BTECs and Cambridge Technicals, to ensure students are treated fairly and are equally able to progress. For qualifications where a practical demonstration of skills is needed, assessments would continue to be able to take place.

The consultation builds on of months of joint contingency planning between the Department and Ofqual and sets out the government’s position in making sure young people receive a grade that reflects their ability and lets them progress.

During this period of national lockdown strengthened remote education expectations are in place, with schools expected to provide a set number of hours of high-quality remote education for pupils. Schools, colleges and young people are supported by deliveries of laptops and tablets for those who need them most, with the Government now providing 1.3 million devices, and work to make sure families have the mobile and internet data they need to access key education sites.

Vocational qualifications with written exams scheduled in February and March, will not go ahead as planned, alternative arrangements will be put in place.

The Action Plan he has set out stipulates a swathe of measures MTC must take to improve conditions for children there and increased oversight by the Youth Custody Service. He has also demanded an end to a culture where senior staff are not visible to children and frontline staff – and don’t sufficiently understand what’s happening on the ground.

Many of these, including temporarily limiting the population of the centre, have already begun. The Youth Custody Service immediately halted the placement of all boys into Rainsbrook in December, with girls only placed there when no appropriate alternatives are available. This will remain the case until MTC guarantees all new arrivals will be appropriately supported.

Any children in the reverse cohorting unit – used to prevent children that have spent time out of the centre from spreading coronavirus to others upon their return – will be offered an increased programme of activity to ensure they have sufficient meaningful social interaction and time outside their room.

The Youth Custody Service has also increased its monitoring of the centre, with an experienced Youth Custody Service manager appointed to provide additional support and oversight. Extra Youth Custody Service staff will also be on-site for at least the first quarter of 2021 to ensure improvements are being implemented fully.

Barnardo’s has also significantly increased its presence on site, at the request of the Youth Custody Service, to provide independent assurances and give children an additional outlet to raise concerns.

Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland QC MP said:

What happened at Rainsbrook was simply unacceptable; it is MTC’s duty to ensure all the young people at the centre are properly cared for and they have failed to do that.

This Action Plan will drive MTC to make the vital, urgent improvements needed to turn things around and I am demanding they do that urgently.

Responding to Ofsted’s concerns about a lack of leadership, MTC has appointed a new Managing Director for Rainsbrook. Ian Mullholland has been recruited to drive improvement and has a wealth of experience overseeing change at a number of public sector services, including prisons.

The Action Plan also sets out measures to increase the visibility of senior management and ensure they are more approachable for both children and staff. The Duty Director will be required to carry out daily tours of the centre and senior leadership will now be based directly on residential units.

A new Head of Education is reviewing the curriculum to increase both the hours and quality of the education that the children receive.

The Ministry of Justice will carefully monitor progress against the Action Plan and can apply contractual levers including financial penalties if needed.

Cambridge engineering firm, CVE, is part of a consortium of organisations that have won an InnovateUK grant to dramatically reduce the installation costs of the world’s largest offshore wind farm in the North Sea. When completed, the Dogger Bank wind farms will generate enough energy to power over 4.5 million homes every year – around 5% of the UK’s electricity needs.

CVE has adapted its latest high-tech welding technology to reduce the fabrication time and cost of the wind turbine foundations by up to 25%. This new technology could represent a significant contribution to Dogger Bank’s achievement of being the first wind farm in the world to be able to generate electricity without the need for any subsidies.

Pictured (above and top): CVE’s Ebflow local vacuum electron beam welding system.

In addition to this, CVE are involved in two other renewable energy projects, which are focusing on the new generation of small modular reactors (SMRs) that the UK government are currently promoting as part of the recently announced Green Energy Strategy. CVE obtained these grants with support from UKEF.

The development of this technology required a great deal of investment by CVE, locking up valuable cash and putting pressure on its successful exporting business. Together with UKEF, they managed to secure a trade loan facility with their bank under our Bond Support Scheme. This allowed CVE to finance several export contracts and unlock the capital that they needed to supply both the offshore wind and nuclear projects.

David Evans, Finance and Accounting Director at CVE, said:

Even though our export order book has been full of orders from China, USA, and India, the economic disruption that has been caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult to get all of the finance needed from our bank.

UKEF’s guarantee will allow us to deliver contracts with clients around the world and deliver on the Dogger Bank project.

Jo Archer, UKEF Export Finance Manager for the region, added:

The UK is world-renowned for the quality of its manufactured goods and is rapidly becoming a centre for green technology.

UKEF is one of the world-leading ECAs for supporting clean, sustainable projects. Through supporting companies like CVE, it is playing its part in helping the UK achieve its clean energy goals and help the world transition away from fossil fuels.

This support for CVE is part of UKEF’s ongoing support for renewables projects around the world, with £2 billion of direct lending support dedicated to clean growth projects.

• The set, used in formal court assemblies, is extremely rare and is of fundamental importance to the study of Indian silver
• An incredibly rare darbār or Durbar set owned by Clive of India is at risk of being lost abroad unless a UK buyer can be found.

Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage has placed a temporary export bar on the Durbar set, which includes rose water sprinklers and stands, and is valued at £730,000. It is hoped that this will offer a UK gallery or institution an opportunity to acquire the set for public display.

Although a controversial figure, Major-General Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, known as ‘Clive of India’ was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency and is credited – along with Warren Hastings – with laying the foundations of the British Empire in India.

The items at risk of export offer a rare glimpse into the manners and customs of courtly life in 18th century India. The pieces in this set were listed in an inventory of Clive’s possessions made in 1766.

It is likely that the set would have been used at court. Contemporary paintings depict regional rulers reclining on a bolster surrounded by members of their court with an array of rosewater sprinklers, caskets and perfume containers, all of which are represented in this set.

Each piece has surface decoration of tear-drop motifs carefully accentuated by mercury gilding. They all had a function in the elaborate rituals of a formal darbar, or court assembly. Those attending the darbar would be sprinkled with rose water from one of the slender-necked vessels, or given an attar of roses from one of the perfume holders. The two lidded boxes, or pāndāns, each of different form, contained pān. This refers to small pouches made of edible leaves wrapped round aromatic spices and chopped betel nuts. Pān was chewed as a mild stimulant, but in a darbar would be offered on salvers to indicate that the audience had come to an end.

The set adds another dimension to our understanding of Clive of India’s career which has been seen almost exclusively from a Western perspective as it demonstrates that he adopted formal Indian customs.

Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage said:

These beautiful items showcase the luxury of the Indian court and offer us a glimpse into the inner workings of how the British interacted with traditional Indian ceremonies.

I hope that an institution is able to save this collection for the public to help us better understand our nation’s long friendship with India.

The Minister’s decision follows the advice of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA). The committee noted that the set was a striking assemblage of objects, with an extraordinary range of component parts.

Committee Member Peter Barber said:

A variety of silver vessels, used in formal receptions or Durbars, provided the essential aesthetic and courtly backdrop for doing business in Moghul India. This is the most complete and splendid known set. Assembled by Robert Clive while he was working for the East India Company, it demonstrates how the British adopted Indian customs in pursuit of their commercial and political goals. It also enables people today to evaluate accusations of greed thrown at Clive by his British contemporaries.

More research needs to be done on how and from where Clive assembled the set, which is very important also because, uniquely, it has an unbroken provenance going back to the later eighteenth century.

Every effort should be made to retain this Durbar set in the United Kingdom so that it can be viewed, researched, and its ambiguous meanings drawn out by future generations.

The committee felt that the set was of significance to the study of the history of the British in India through its association with the undeniably controversial figure of Robert Clive, whose collection of Indian art is remarkably well documented.

The RCEWA made its recommendation on the grounds of the Durbar set’s outstanding significance for the study of silver and the culture of court etiquette, and diplomatic gift-giving between Britain and India within the broader Mughal context.

The decision on the export licence application for the Durbar set will be deferred until 14 April 2020. This may be extended until 14 September 2020 if a serious intention to raise funds to purchase it is made at the recommended price of £730,000.

Notes to editors

Organisations or individuals interested in purchasing the set should contact the RCEWA on 0845 300 6200.

Details of the set are as follows:

• ‘Durbar’ set comprising 19 pieces, including rosewater sprinklers with stands, caskets for pan, and components of huqqa bases
• Silver, cast, chased and partly gilt
• Mughal empire, mid-18th century
• The condition is excellent.

Provenance: Acquired in India by Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive (1725-1774); some items listed in his inventory of 1766; the set listed in his 1775 inventory. Inherited by his son, Edward Clive, 2nd Baron Clive of Plassey and 1st Earl of Powis (1754-1839); Edward James Herbert, 3rd Earl of Powis (1818-91); George Charles Herbert, 4th Earl of Powis (1862-1952); Mervyn Horatio Herbert, Viscount Clive, 17th Lord Darcy de Knayth (1904-1943); Styche Estate and Trust.

The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest is an independent body, serviced by The Arts Council, which advises the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on whether a cultural object, intended for export, is of national importance under specified criteria.

The Arts Council champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections.