36-500: Northampton College is a further education college in Northampton , England, which opened in 1973, following building work which started in 1970. The college's main campus is at Booth Lane which provides almost all courses offered, and later expanded to include its Daventry campus after merging with Daventry Tertiary College in August 2004, and its Lower Mounts campus after its facility in
72-602: A GCSE Music paper was given away by accident in the copyright declaration printed on the back of the question paper. 2011 : OCR set an impossible maths question in the 2011 AS Mathematics paper. In addition, there were errors in Section B of the Latin Literature paper, confusing names of both authors and characters. 2011 also saw the start of, by now regular, social media protests against the content in exam papers. An A2 Biology paper on Control, Genomes and Environment (F215) had
108-401: A framework for an insolvency regime for further education colleges known as "Education Administration". This is a form of corporate administration adapted to the needs of further education, to be used "where a further education body is unable to pay its debts or is likely to become unable to pay its debts" and intended "to avoid or minimise disruption to the studies of the existing students of
144-580: A large emphasis on Ecology, deemed by many students to be 'unfair'. This issue was made public on a Facebook page which generated support from thousands of students. The Times and The Times Educational Supplement reported on this story. 2012 : A Channel 4 News investigation revealed that examiners were making the most basic errors, such as wrongly adding up marks on hundreds of papers, which in some cases led to candidates in 2011 getting an incorrect grade. A senior supervisor at OCR, David Leitch, ordered his team perform supplementary checks on scripts by
180-631: A large service provider for apprenticeships where most of the training takes place at the apprentices' workplace, supplemented with day release into college. FE in the United Kingdom is usually a means to attain an intermediate, advanced or follow-up qualification necessary to progress into HE, or to begin a specific career path outside of university education. Further Education is offered to students aged over 16 at colleges of Further Education, through work-based learning, or adult and community learning institutions. Provision for further education colleges
216-590: A restaurant, which is open to the public. The Lower Mounts site in Northampton town centre was officially opened on 6 July 2011, by Skills Minister John Hayes MP. This is the home of the College's hairdressing and beauty therapy programmes including The Salon NC which is open to the public, plus courses for adults including English for Speakers of Other Languages and help with basic skills in English, Maths and IT. In addition,
252-534: A vocational route after the end of compulsory education at age 16. They offer a wide range of vocational qualifications to young people and older adults, including vocational, competency-based qualifications (previously known as SVQs ), Higher National Certificates and Higher National Diplomas . Frequently, the first two years of higher education – usually in the form of an HND – are taken in an FE college, followed by attendance at university. Further education in Wales
288-625: Is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It may be at any level in compulsory secondary education, from entry to higher level qualifications such as awards, certificates, diplomas and other vocational, competency-based qualifications (including those previously known as NVQ/SVQs ) through awarding organisations including City and Guilds , Edexcel ( BTEC ) and OCR . FE colleges may also offer HE qualifications such as HNC , HND , foundation degree or PGCE . The colleges are also
324-554: Is one of England, Wales and Northern Ireland 's five main examination boards. OCR is based in Cambridge , with an office in Bourn, Coventry . It is part of the University of Cambridge 's Cambridge Assessment which merged with Cambridge University Press in August 2021. OCR delivers GCSE and A Level examinations in the United Kingdom whereas for other countries Cambridge Assessment operates
360-416: Is provided through seven multi-campus colleges. Northern Ireland's Department for Employment and Learning has the responsibility for providing FE in the province. Most secondary schools also provide a sixth form scheme whereby a student can choose to attend for two additional years to complete their AS and A-levels. Scotland's further education colleges provide education for those young people who follow
396-882: Is provided through: Further education in Wales comes under the remit of the Welsh Assembly Government . Funding came from Education and Learning Wales from 2000 until 2006, when that organisation was merged with the Assembly. Further education in the Republic of Ireland is similar to that offered in the UK. Typical areas include apprenticeships and other vocational qualifications in many disciplines, such as childcare, farming, retail, and tourism. The many types of further education awards are known as Post Leaving Certificates . Further education has expanded immensely in recent years, helped by
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#1733106749604432-658: The Further and Higher Education Act 1992 , which removed further education colleges from local government control. Types of college include: Policies relating to colleges are primarily the responsibility of the Department for Education (DfE). Until July 2016, colleges were also covered by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS); on the abolition of BIS and formation of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), responsibility for FE colleges moved to DfE. The regulatory body for sixth form colleges
468-666: The Royal Society of Arts Examinations Board (RSAEB). At the time of the merger, UCLES' qualifications were offered by two wholly owned subsidiaries: the Oxford and Cambridge Examinations and Assessments Council (OCEAC) for A Level and the Midland Examining Group (MEG) for GCSE and Certificate of Achievement. RSAEB offered vocational qualifications. After the merger, the OCR name replaced all previous names. UCLES had previously taken over
504-510: The 2018 award, after being asked to look at them again by the regulator. 2023: OCR was criticised by pupils and teachers for the level of difficulty in Paper 2 of the Computer Science GCSE . Students took to social media to express concern at the disparity between Paper 1 and 2, as well as the change in style of the paper. OCR assured students that the final mark scheme would reflect
540-593: The Booth Lane site in November 1970, completed in time to welcome new students in September 1972. The college was officially opened on 18 May 1973 by Lord Belstead, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science. The second phase was completed in time for September 1974. Northampton College grew and saw the construction of other buildings to its complex at Booth Lane over the next few decades. The Booth Lane site
576-501: The Internet to research information during examinations. This statement evoked a heated debate with support on the one hand and criticism on the other. 2017: A question in the reformed OCR GCSE English Literature exam, sat by over ten thousand students, swapped the surnames of the families in the play Romeo and Juliet , asking how Tybalt's hatred of the Capulets influenced the outcome of
612-624: The South East Midlands Enterprise Partnership, Northamptonshire County Council, the Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce and other bodies to provide targeted initiatives for local needs. 52°15′35″N 0°50′53″W / 52.2596°N 0.8481°W / 52.2596; -0.8481 Further education college Further education (often abbreviated FE ) in the United Kingdom and Ireland
648-456: The UK schools examinations and vocational qualifications of the UCLES Group were transferred to OCR. Subsequent Physics syllabuses released by OCR included the fictional units the "Ocrawatt" and "Ocrajoule" due to overzealous find-and-replace on MEG's part (in previous and later syllabuses, the units were correctly written as "Megawatt" and "Megajoule".) 2008: The answer to one question in
684-561: The University of Cambridge, making Cambridge the only British university to maintain a direct link with a school exam board. Cambridge Assessment, which celebrated its 160th anniversary in 2018, became part of Cambridge University Press & Assessment in August 2021. The following exam boards are now part of OCR: In some of its material, OCR has made mistakes and inaccuracies, sometimes including inaccurate or fictitious content in subject specifications or errors in exam papers. 1998: All
720-487: The University of Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations (founded 1857) and the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examinations Board (founded 1873). Both were acquired by UCLES in 1995; earlier, it had taken over the Southern Universities Joint Board (SUJB). The acquisition of RSAEB was completed in 1998 and brought a new range of qualifications and activities to the UCLES Group because RSEAB's principal activity
756-546: The college has a site at Badby Road West in Daventry where it provides a range of full-time and part-time courses for young people and adults. The college is part of the Northamptonshire Federation of Colleges and works closely with other education providers including Moulton College , the University of Northampton and Tresham College , and a number of secondary schools. Partnerships have also been established with
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#1733106749604792-493: The exam board "to carry out extended checks, identify the weaknesses in its processes and to put these right in time for the January exams". The Department for Education said the level of error was "simply unacceptable". 2014: UK exam regulator Ofqual investigated OCR's "near miss" on issuing GCSE and A level results on time. 2015: The then Chief Executive of OCR suggested that students should be allowed to use Google and
828-446: The examination board Cambridge Assessment International Education . An important distinction between the two is that OCR qualifications must comply with UK government regulations set by Ofqual while Cambridge International Examinations international GCSEs and GCE A Levels do not. The name OCR reflects the fact that it was created in 1998 through the amalgamation of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) and
864-585: The further education body as a whole". Education administrators were appointed to run Hadlow College and West Kent College in 2019. All colleges and FE providers are subject to inspection by Ofsted , which monitors the quality of provision in publicly funded institutions in England. Membership organisations for providers include the Association of Colleges and the Sixth Form Colleges' Association . In 2020,
900-705: The government allocated £200 million for repairs and upgrades of FE college buildings, subject to a degree of matched funding by the colleges, and the Department for Education is allocating this to colleges via the Further Education Capital Transformation Fund (FECTF). Sixteen colleges with sites in poor condition have been selected, and detailed proposals were invited for submission before October 2021, for projects which can be completed by December 2024. Further education in Northern Ireland
936-418: The grade boundaries this year were "sound", so shifted their focus onto the previous year's grade boundaries for the new Mathematics A-Level for the 2,000 students who sat it after studying it for one year. Ofqual said "We want to understand why the grade boundaries were so different between the two years.", and had called the significant shifts in boundaries "unusual". None of the exam boards decided to re-open
972-451: The institutions and their relationships with their communities. Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), which was established in November 2012, is the regulator for FE qualifications. Comprehensive Employment and Training Act Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations ( OCR ) is an examination board that sets examinations and awards qualifications (including GCSEs and A-levels ). It
1008-465: The need for a new further education college in Northampton to complement the existing College of Technology and School of Art (now part of the Avenue campus of University of Northampton ). The need arose from continuing pressure on the accommodation available at those establishments and the anticipated expansion of the population over the period 1971 to 1981. The first phase of the building project began at
1044-452: The play, when in fact, Tybalt is a Capulet himself. OCR apologised, undertook to ensure no candidates would be disadvantaged while the regulator Ofqual stated it was "very disappointed to learn of the error". OCR also apologised for "poorly wording" an A Level Psychology Paper and assured candidates that it could correct it in its marking. Ofqual asked OCR to go through all its remaining papers again to make sure there were no further errors. OCR
1080-407: The same markers, and found hundreds of errors. This led to OCR ordering these additional checks to stop, and to only inform those schools which had specifically requested scripts to be re-marked. David Leitch was suspended from OCR, after reporting the incident to Ofqual , and informing 30 schools about the mistakes himself. Ofqual have said to have subsequently investigated the exam board, and asked
1116-557: The town centre was extended in 2010. The Booth Lane campus has just undergone a massive redevelopment, reopening for study in 2012. The college is one of the largest further education colleges in the South Midlands , with around 7,000 full-time and part-time students. Towards the end of the 1960s, the Northampton Borough Council Education Committee and Chief Education Officer, MJ Henley MA, identified
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1152-890: Was already DfE prior to the 2016 changes. Following the merger of the Education Funding Agency and the Skills Funding Agency in 2017, funding for colleges is provided through the Education and Skills Funding Agency for all further education students.In 2018/19, colleges' income totalled £6.5 billion, of which £5.1 billion (78%) was public funding. Most college funding follows the learner. Colleges must attract students, competing with each other and with other types of education and training provider. Colleges can borrow commercially, own assets, employ staff and enter into contracts, and they may make financial surpluses or deficits. The Technical and Further Education Act 2017 laid out
1188-430: Was completely re-developed between 2009 and 2012 following an £85m capital investment. The re-development was officially opened on 20 March 2012 by The Duke of York . The building now contains a library, study areas, computer suites, a professional theatre, underground sound recording booths and performance space, automotive spray booths, engineering studios, dance studios, photographic laboratories, TV and radio studios and
1224-642: Was eventually fined £175,000 for their error on the English Literature exam, which Ofqual deemed not fit for purpose, as the question was "unanswerable". 2019: After a leak of the A-Level Grade Boundaries ahead of results day, it emerged that in order to pass the new specification Mathematics A-Level (H240), candidates needed to score 13% (40 marks out of 300) to pass. Edexcel , another British exam board, also had similarly low grade boundaries. Subsequently, Ofqual said that they were confident
1260-415: Was in vocational qualifications. The formation of OCR represented the culmination of several decades of corporate activity on the part of UCLES, activity that came about as a response to the policies of successive British governments towards public examinations and the provision of qualifications, as well as moves to strengthen the regulatory framework. Cambridge Assessment is a non-teaching department of
1296-553: Was laid out in sections 41 to 47 of the Education Act 1944 ; their role was to offer "full-time and part-time education" and "leisure-time occupation" for persons over compulsory school age. In the 1960s, A-level students predominantly studied at school rather than colleges (often referred to as "techs" at that time). More types of colleges were introduced over the next decades, and by 1990 colleges took in almost half of A-level students. Colleges in England are corporate bodies under
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