The UK’s examination system has long been untenable, with Covid-19 highlighting the need for change. Following Edge’s first seminar on rethinking assessment with Robert Halfon MP, on 6th July we welcomed expert panellists to explore the issue further.

For the past 25 years, the Association of Colleges (@AoC_info) has been organising the annual Beacon Awards. A recognition and showcase of innovative practice in further education (FE), the Awards have become a regular and vital measure of success in the UK’s FE sector. As a long-term AoC partner, Edge has been proudly sponsoring the Edge Beacon Award for Excellence in Real World Learning since 2005.

National Occupational Standards: What Do Users Think?  As the Fourth Industrial Revolution accelerates, there’s a clear need to ensure that workers have the skills and competencies required to thrive in the future economy. Although new technologies offer increased efficiency and quality of life, they come with potential downsides. The de-skilling of jobs, loss of autonomy and reduction in the number (and quality) of social relationships heavily impact individuals. Societal inequality is another pressing concern – lower income groups generally lack access to innovations and changes in working conditions can result in job insecurity and higher levels of unemployment. Covid-19, of course, exacerbates these issues.

There have long been calls to reform our broken examination system, with little action in response. Nobody, therefore, could have foreseen how suddenly change would be thrust upon us.

Our young people are our future designers, thinkers and leaders, but far from being the ‘lost generation’, we can support them to be the ‘bounceback generation’, poised at the forefront of exciting and perhaps unpredictable change.