The first reports from Ofqual’s exploratory research into the grading of vocational and technical qualifications confirms not only the challenges of defining exactly what good practice looks like, but also the huge potential of grading to engage or disengage learners and teachers.

Ofqual’s reports exploring the policies, principles and practices related to grading vocational and technical assessments, show that grading raises highly technical challenges, such as standardisation, the relationship between grading and levelling, comparability, weighting, and transparency, which are further complicated by their operational nature and concept.

The research aims to provide insight into the variety of grading practices in operation in vocational and technical qualifications, and to consider what issues might arise in relation to the different approaches.

The work represents the first outputs from a programme of research designed to improve collective understanding of how grading is, and can be, accommodated in the assessment of technical and vocational education and training, particularly in light of increasing government policy to promote grading in vocational and technical qualifications and apprenticeships.