Harrogate College takes 'difficult decision' to cancel all January exams and plans mass testing of students and staff

Harrogate virtually at a standstill as heavy snow showers sweep district

Mr Danny Wild said there has been feedback from students and parents after they were informed of the news this week who he said appreciated the college putting the safety of everyone first and being as fair as possible.

Students studying for GCSE and A levels will now be based on teacher-assessed grades, rather than exam grades while those studying for BTEC and vocational assessments will be rescheduled later this year.

But Mr Wild said Harrogate College now planned to have a mass testing system in place for when lockdown is lifted after February half term.

And the launch of the nationwide vaccination programme also offered hope.

Mr Wild, who was appointed to the role of Harrogate College principal in August 2019 by Luminate Education group, one of the largest further education providers in the north, said he understood the stress students must be under in this disruptive situation but, as well as safety, creating a fair plan for everyone was the college's priority.

He said: "We made the decision to postpone January exams as we felt student and staff safety needed to be our top priority.

"The message from the Government was to ‘stay at home’ to defeat the virus, therefore asking college staff and students to ignore that message and sit exams seemed untenable.

"It was an incredibly difficult decision to make, however to go ahead with the exam series now would be unfair on students.

"The stress of the pandemic will undoubtedly affect their performance and probably has affected their preparation, potentially leading to unfair results."

In terms of how students and staff are feeling about having to learn and teach remotely again, Mr Wild said Harrogate College had learned a lot from the first national lockdown last year.

Mr Wild, 39, who lives with his wife and family in Boroughbridge, said: "Naturally, both students and staff are disappointed with the move back to remote learning.

"Teachers acknowledge the importance of face-to-face learning and have the responsibility of keeping lessons informative and engaging throughout lockdown.

"However, as we already have experience with remote learning from the first lockdown, teachers and students are well equipped and have the correct processes in place to work and learn effectively.

"GCSE and A levels will now be based on teacher-assessed grades, rather than exam grades.

"It is helpful to have these assessment methods confirmed already, as it makes forward planning easier and avoids the chaos of last year’s U-turn.

"BTEC and vocational assessments will be rescheduled later this year, allowing students plenty of time to prepare.

"We will be reviewing any other exams or assessments that are affected and create a fair plan around how and when these will take place."

The response so far after being informed on Tuesday this week of the decision to cancel exams had been encouraging.

Mr Wild said: "We’ve had some feedback from students and parents who appreciate us putting the safety of everyone first.

"It was such a challenging decision to make and it’s really important that both parents and students understand our reasoning.

"Although some students have been confused with mixed messages and last minute updates from the Government, their tutors are always on hand to provide clarity and support where needed."

Staff, too, at Harrogate College were facing challenges during the new lockdown, he continued.

Mr Wild said: "Cancelling exams has been a really tough decision for us, and we appreciate that staff may now face added pressure to ensure students are progressing and coping well with the move to remote learning.

"We understand how challenging remote learning can be for staff and students, therefore we’ll be supporting our staff in working closely with students to maintain motivation and engagement through this unprecedented time.

"As staff are now responsible for assessing GCSE and A level students, they will be focusing on planning for this and readjusting the attention from exams."

Mr Wild believes there is hope on the horizon for the college, its students and its staff, thanks to plans to introduce mass testing next month.

In addition, the vaccination rollout would allow a transition back into normal college life again later this year.

Mr Wild said: "We plan to have a mass testing system in place for when lockdown is lifted after February half term. We will be sharing these plans with students in the coming weeks.

"And the vaccination programme will have an incredibly positive impact on the college.

"Students and staff who are deemed more at risk will be able to come back to college sooner once they have the vaccine.

"As they may have been shielding before then, it will be a welcomed transition back into college.

"We acknowledge how important face-to-face interaction and learning is at college, and the vaccination programme will reduce the interruption to this by inevitably reducing how people have to self-isolate due to collapsed ‘bubbles’."

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