Ofqual

Last updated

Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation
Ofqual logo 2018.svg
Agency overview
Formed
  • 8 April 2008 (8 April 2008) (part of QCA)
  • 1 April 2010 (1 April 2010) (independent)
Preceding agency
Type Non-ministerial government department
Jurisdiction England
HeadquartersEarlsdon Park, Coventry
52°24′22.2″N1°31′26.5″W / 52.406167°N 1.524028°W / 52.406167; -1.524028
Employees192 (2017/18)
Annual budget £17.5 million (2018/19)
Agency executives
Website www.gov.uk/ofqual OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) is a non-ministerial government department that regulates qualifications, exams and tests in England. [1] Colloquially and publicly, Ofqual is often referred to as the exam "watchdog". [2]

Contents

History

Ofqual was established in interim form on 8 April 2008 as part of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), taking over the regulatory functions that had previously been undertaken by the QCA directly through its regulation and standards division. [3] It was always intended that Ofqual would be an entirely separate body from the QCA. This was achieved on 1 April 2010, when Ofqual was established as a non-ministerial government department under the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009.

In 2020, Ofqual was involved in an GCSE and A-Level grading controversy during the COVID-19 pandemic. [4]

Role

Ofqual's role is "to maintain standards and confidence in qualifications." [5]

Area of governance

Ofqual regulates exams, qualifications and tests in England. Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland are regulated by each respective national government. However, the Scottish Qualifications Authority is also accredited by Ofqual. [6]

Ofqual collaborates closely with the UK government and the Department for Education on general qualifications, such as GCSEs and A levels, and with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on vocational qualifications such as NVQs and BTECs. In Northern Ireland Ofqual regulated NVQs on behalf of the Department for Employment and Learning until May 2016; this responsibility has since been handed to the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment. [7]

Ofqual is the authority which regulates and accredits British examination boards offering GCSEs and GCE A levels while it is the Joint Council for Qualifications which regulates administration of actual GCSE and A Level examinations.

Modular versus linear syllabi

The Conservative Party under Prime Minister David Cameron initiated reforms for A Levels to change from the current modular to a linear structure. [8] British examination boards (Edexcel, AQA, OCR and WJEC) regulated and accredited by Ofqual responded to the government's reform announcements by modifying syllabi of several A Level subjects. [9] [10] However, in 2014 the Labour Party announced that it would halt and reverse the reforms and maintain the modular A-Level system if it got into government. [11] The universities of Oxford and Cambridge have expressed support for the modular system. [12] [13]

Recent reports reveal that the linear examination approach and the toughening educational reforms initiated by Ofqual provoked many schools to "play the system" by requesting test remarking and supplementary aid for students (e.g. special consideration and extra time) in order to uphold high exam grade levels so as to not drop in league tables. [14]

Rising numbers of students taking GCSEs and GCE A Levels over the past decades has led to an increase in the quantity of examination results being enquired for re-marking and reported to Ofqual. [15]

Ofqual's remit and responsibilities are established in law by the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 [16] and the Education Act 2011. [17] As a Non-ministerial department Ofqual is accountable to Parliament, through the Education Select Committee. It is not accountable to government ministers and is independent from ministerial government. Whereas Ofqual regulates and accredits British examination boards (e.g. Edexcel, AQA, OCR etc.) and their GCSE and GCE A-Level specifications; the examination board CAIE (Cambridge Assessment International Education) which offers international GCSEs and GCE A-Levels predominantly for schools outside the United Kingdom operates independently without British governmental intervention. Therefore, although CAIE qualifications are accredited by Ofqual, they are not regulated by it and thus may differ significantly in subject content and exam structure from UK GCSEs and GCE A-Levels. [18]

Structure

Ofqual has four directorates:

Chief regulator

The chief regulator is the leader and figurehead of Ofqual.

Originally, the chief regulator was also the chair of Ofqual. When the chief regulator position was vacant during 2010 and 2011, the Deputy Chair, Dame Sandra Burslem, took on 'many of the responsibilities', though was never formally named chief regulator or chair. [19]

On 1 April 2012, in line with the Education Act 2011, the chief regulator role transferred from the chair, to the chief executive. When the chief regulator post was vacant in 2016, the chair acted as the interim chief regulator.

Chair of Ofqual

Until 31 March 2012, the chair of Ofqual was also the chief regulator. When the chair position was vacant during 2010 and 2011, the deputy chair, Dame Sandra Burslem, 'stepped in to provide continuity', though was never formally named chair or chief regulator. [33]

Chief executive of Ofqual

On 1 April 2012, the position of chief executive ceased to exist as an independent role when it was merged with the post of chief regulator.

Related Research Articles

The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. Public7 schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. However, private schools in Scotland often choose to follow the English GCSE system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency</span> Former English charity

The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA), previously known as the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), was a charity, and an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department for Education. In England and Northern Ireland, the QCDA maintained and developed the National Curriculum and associated assessments, tests and examinations, advising the minister formerly known as the Secretary of State for Education on these matters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AQA</span> British examination board and registered charity

AQA Education, trading as AQA, is an awarding body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It compiles specifications and holds examinations in various subjects at GCSE, AS and A Level and offers vocational qualifications. AQA is a registered charity and independent of the government. However, its qualifications and exam syllabi are regulated by the Government of the United Kingdom, which is the regulator for the public examinations system in England and Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edexcel</span> British multinational education and examination body owned by Pearson

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations</span> British examination board

Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR) is an examination board that sets examinations and awards qualifications. It is one of England, Wales and Northern Ireland's five main examination boards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment</span> Educational body in Northern Ireland

The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA) is an awarding body in Northern Ireland. It develops and delivers qualifications, including GCSEs, AS, and A Levels, and provides curriculum support and assessments for schools. CCEA is a non-departmental public body and regulator, approving and monitoring Awarding Organisations offering qualifications in Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJEC (exam board)</span> British examination board based in Wales

WJEC is an examination board providing examinations, professional development and educational resources to schools and colleges in Wales and Northern Ireland under its own name, and the Eduqas brand for England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International General Certificate of Secondary Education</span> English language based academic qualification

The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English language based secondary qualification similar to the GCSE and is recognised in the United Kingdom as being equivalent to the GCSE for the purposes of recognising prior attainment. It was developed by Cambridge Assessment International Education. The examination boards Edexcel, Learning Resource Network (LRN), and Oxford AQA also offer their own versions of International GCSEs. Students normally begin studying the syllabus at the beginning of Year 10 and take the test at the end of Year 11. However, in some international schools, students can begin studying the syllabus at the beginning of Year 9 and take the test at the end of Year 10.

The Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) was a subject-specific qualification family awarded in both academic and vocational fields in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. CSE examinations were held in the years 1965 to 1987. This qualification should not be confused with the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education which is a school-leaving qualification in India. Also, in some African and former British colonial countries there is a qualification named the Certificate of Secondary Education based on the original and former British variant. Also, the CSE should not be confused with the African qualification CSEE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health</span> UK-based examination board

The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health is a UK-based examination board offering qualifications in health, safety, environment and wellbeing management.

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The A-level is a main school leaving qualification of the General Certificate of Education in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is available as an alternative qualification in other countries, where it is similarly known as an A-Level.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) is a community interest company acting as a single voice for the eight largest qualification providers in the United Kingdom offering GCSE, GCE, Scottish Highers and vocationally related qualifications: AQA, CCEA, City & Guilds, Edexcel, NCFE, OCR, SQA and WJEC. The JCQ closely monitors examination administration, invigilation of exams at individual schools as-well as activities of exams officers.

The Joint Matriculation Board of the Universities of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Birmingham (JMB), sometimes referred to as the Northern Universities Joint Matriculation Board, was an examination board, operating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland between 1903 and 1992. It became part of NEAB, which itself is now part of AQA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenys Stacey</span>

Dame Glenys Jean Stacey DBE is a solicitor and civil servant serving as chair of the Office for Environmental Protection from February 2021. She was Chief Executive and Chief Regulator of Ofqual, acting in the post from August to December 2020, and previously from 2012 to 2016. Stacey also served as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Probation and led HM Inspectorate of Probation for England and Wales from 2016 and 2019.

The national qualification frameworks in the United Kingdom are qualifications frameworks that define and link the levels and credit values of different qualifications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Examining Group</span> Former examination board in the UK

The Southern Examining Group (SEG) was an examination board offering GCSEs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland formally established in 1987. In 1994, it was taken over by the Associated Examining Board, but kept its own identity until the AEB merged with NEAB to form AQA in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen Tattersall</span> English educationist (1942–2013)

Kathleen Tattersall was a British educationalist, specialising in examination administration. She was the leader of five examination boards in the United Kingdom before becoming the first head of exams regulator Ofqual.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, all secondary education examinations due to be held in 2020 were cancelled. As a result, an alternative method had to be designed and implemented at short notice to determine the qualification grades to be awarded to students for that year. A standardisation algorithm was produced in June 2020 by the regulator Ofqual in England, Qualifications Wales in Wales, Scottish Qualifications Authority in Scotland, and CCEA in Northern Ireland. The algorithm was designed to combat grade inflation, and was to be used to moderate the existing but unpublished centre-assessed grades for A-Level and GCSE students. After the A-Level grades were issued, and after criticism, Ofqual, with the support of HM Government, withdrew these grades. It issued all students the Centre Assessed Grades (CAGs), which had been produced by teachers as part of the process. The same ruling was applied to the awarding of GCSE grades, just a few days before they were issued: CAG-based grades were the ones released on results day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Collier</span> British civil servant and former exam regulator of Ofqual

Sally Collier is a British civil servant and former head of the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual). She also involved in negotiating changes to European Union rules governing public procurement.

References

  1. ↑ Gov.uk, Gov.UK Government, Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, Retrieved 6 February 2014
  2. ↑ "Exam watchdog Ofqual to check 'extra help' data". BBC News. August 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "House of Commons - Children, Schools and Families Committee - Minutes of Evidence". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  4. ↑ Richardson, Hannah (25 August 2020). "Ofqual chief resigns after exams chaos". BBC News. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  5. ↑ "About us". Ofqual. 17 May 2023.
  6. ↑ "Ofqual External Verification". Archived from the original on 26 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Changes to qualifications regulation in Northern Ireland". Ofqual. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "Changes to A levels - The Department for Education". Archived from the original on 30 April 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "Edexcel A levels" . Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "GCSEs, AS and A levels: new subjects to be taught in 2016". 25 September 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Labour pledges to halt A-Level reforms" . Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "Oxford raises concerns over A-level exam reform". BBC News. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "A-level reforms 'will harm English pupils', says Cambridge". The Telegraph. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "Ofqual: schools playing the system to boost pupils' grades". The Telegraph. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "GCSE and A level exam enquiries have exceeded 450,000 say Ofqual" . Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "Apprenticeship, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009". Office of Public Sector Information. 12 November 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  17. ↑ "Education Act 2011". Parliament of the United Kingdom.
  18. ↑ "Are Cambridge qualifications accredited by Ofqual?". Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  19. 1 2 3 "New Chair of Ofqual". GOV.UK. 7 June 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  20. 1 2 "Exam Regulator Ofqual Chief Kathleen Tattersall Steps Down". Evening Standard. 2 July 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  21. ↑ Tattersall, Kahleen (May 2009). The first Report of the Chief Regulator of Qualifications and Examinations (PDF). Coventry: Ofqual. ISBN   978-1-84721-945-9 . Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  22. 1 2 3 Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 (PDF). Norwich: TSO. July 2012. pp. 37–38. ISBN   978-0-10-297861-2.
  23. 1 2 Offord, Paul (6 August 2015). "Ofqual chief Glenys Stacey to stand down". FE Week. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  24. ↑ Whittaker, Freddie (26 February 2016). "Ofqual Chair Amanda Spielman to Replace Glenys Stacey as Interim Chief Regulator". Schools Week. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  25. ↑ "Education Secretary Selects New Ofqual Chief Regulator". GOV.UK. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  26. ↑ "Sally Collier named as Ofqual's new chief regulator". 8 March 2016.
  27. 1 2 Annual Report and Accounts 2016 to 2017 (PDF). Coventry: Ofqual. 19 July 2017. ISBN   978-1-4741-4435-3.
  28. ↑ "Ofqual announces interim leadership arrangements".
  29. 1 2 "New Interim Chief Regulator of Ofqual". GOV.UK. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  30. ↑ "New Chief Regulator at Ofqual". GOV.UK. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  31. ↑ "Dr Jo Saxton to stand down as Chief Regulator of Ofqual". GOV.UK. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  32. ↑ "Sir Ian Bauckham CBE". GOV.UK. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  33. ↑ Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) Annual Report to Parliament 2010/11For the period 1st April 2010 to 31st March 2011 (PDF). London: The Stationery Office. 2011. p. 25. ISBN   9780102974171 . Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  34. 1 2 Whittaker, Freddie (16 December 2016). "Roger Taylor Appointed as New Chair of Exams Regulator Ofqual". Schools Week. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  35. ↑ "Roger Taylor - GOV.uk".
  36. 1 2 "New Interim Chair of Ofqual". GOV.UK. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  37. ↑ "Frances Wadsworth CBE named as interim Chair of the Ofqual Board". GOV.UK. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  38. ↑ Ofqual Annual Report and Accounts 2010–2011 (PDF). London: TSO. 6 July 2011. p. 10. ISBN   9780102974164 . Retrieved 4 May 2020.
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