The number of vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs) awarded in Northern Ireland fell by about 20% during the Covid pandemic.

That is according to a Department for the Economy (DfE) report.

There were just over 142,000 vocational and technical certificates issued in 2020-21, down from almost 178,000 in 2018-19.

Like GCSEs, AS and A-Levels, many exams and assessments in VTQs were cancelled in 2020 and 2021.

That meant schools and colleges calculated grades in BTECs and other VTQs for their students.

Read more...


Don't worry, please call us anyway to discuss your ideal job.


18/12/24Worry for staff and children as London council moves ahead with plans to close Kent special school

Staff at a residential special school in Kent, which is run by a London council, have voiced worries about plans to close the facility down. Wandsworth Council is moving forward with plans to shut down Bradstow School in Broadstairs due to escalating financial pressures.

17/12/24Schools given £740m to adapt buildings for Send pupils

The government has announced £740m of funding to increase the number of places for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) in mainstream schools in England. ??The money, part of the £6.7bn of education spending announced in the Budget, will be targeted towards adapting school buildings to make them more accessible.

10/12/24Starmer wants 75% of children ‘school-ready’ by 2028

Target of three in four reception pupils at a 'good' level of development is one of six key 'milestones'

09/12/24Kent school where pupils feel 'safe and happy' named The Sunday Times 'best in the South East'

A Kent school has been named the best secondary school in the South East by The Sunday Times Parent Power Guide 2025. The highest-achieving primary and secondary schools across the UK have been ranked by the paper, which said its survey is "widely acknowledged as the most authoritative".

06/12/24Ofsted "alarmed" by absences and "flexi-schooling."

The “alarming” level of children missing school has become a “stubborn and damaging issue”, according to the chief inspector of Ofsted, England's schools regulator. Sir Martyn Oliver said he was also worried about a rise in "flexi-schooling", where parents educate their children at home for part of the week. It is not clear how many children are taught in this manner. The Department for Education (DfE) said the government was putting education "back at the forefront of national life". Ofsted's annual report said attendance issues had "deepened" since the pandemic.