South Devon UTC is pleased to report some outstanding achievements by our students in their Level 3 qualifications this summer. Staff and Governors are extremely proud of each and every one of our students.

Students have received grades which are a testament to their hard work and commitment throughout their studies and which really promote our aim to make these young people ready for the world of work. We are confident that our students have completed Year 13 with the grades they fully deserve and which put them in a strong position to embark upon the next destination; such as apprenticeships, university or employment. For example, Fern who is going to Plymouth University to study engineering, Georgia who will be attending the University of Exeter on a degree level apprenticeship in radiography and Ben on an apprenticeship in Engineering at Benbow.

Claire Plumb, Head of College, said ‘I am delighted for the students. Their hard work over many years, great teaching and the overwhelming support from parents have resulted in the College continuing to go from strength to strength. The challenges that everyone has faced over recent months/years, does not take away from the excellent achievements and is a testament to the strength and resilience of everyone’. There is much to celebrate in 2022 and for the future ahead.

As you will be aware the government have been working to bring grades back into line with the 2019 national GCSE results after two years of Teacher Assessed Grades. Summer 2022 will be a transition year to reflect that we are in a pandemic recovery period. There will be more generous grading of exams this year compared to a normal exam year. In 2023 results will return to be in line with those in pre-pandemic years.

For vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs), grading is set by awarding organisations (AOs) whose approach is broadly in line with that taken for GCSEs and A Levels, to ensure learners taking these qualifications are neither advantaged nor disadvantaged compared with their GCSE and A Level peers.

What does this mean for summer 2022? As we move back to pre-pandemic standards, overall results will be lower than in 2021 when teacher-assessed grades were used, but higher than in 2019 when summer exams were last held. The approach exam boards take to grading will reflect a midpoint between summer 2019 and 2021. Very few schools or colleges, if any, will get higher results than in 2021.