Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 2:41 pm on 13 January 2021.
Bethan, you're right: vocational qualifications are particularly challenging. The landscape for those qualifications is much more complicated than for general qualifications, not least because many of them are not regulated by our own qualifications body. The Member will be aware that, as we emerged out of lockdown last year, the learners of whom she speaks were prioritised by their local colleges to be able to return, if students felt able to do so, to allow them to complete those practical assessments so that they could gain their qualifications and their professional accreditation for those particular roles, and we will work closely with Colegau, and financial resources were made available to assist in that process. We were also able to, in some instances, extend provision into the new academic year, and, again, financial resources were made available to assist colleagues in that regard. And we are keen to continue to have conversations with our further education principals as to what can be done to safeguard the progression of those students taking vocational qualifications and seeking professional accreditation.