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Ofqual

About us

The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) regulates qualifications examinations and assessments in England and vocational qualifications in Northern Ireland. We are here to secure the standards of qualifications, and to promote confidence in them. And we are here to ensure that the system works well – that standards are delivered. We are independent of government and report directly to Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly. We have five legal objectives and these provide the basis for our organisational strategic objectives. Through our strategic objectives we aim:

to secure (and where necessary reset) the standards of qualifications and assessments and promote confidence in them to secure a healthy, robust and efficient qualifications system.

The Ofqual Board

The Ofqual Board is the legal authority responsible for ensuring that we comply with our statutory responsibilities. It provides leadership and direction, and sets the strategic aims, values and standards of the organisation. The Board is entrusted with public funds and has a particular duty to observe the highest standards of corporate governance. The Board members are: Amanda Spielman, Glenys Stacey, Sandra Burslem, Tim Balcon, Ray Coughlin, Philip Fletcher, Maggie Galliers, Anne Heal, Denise Holt, Barnaby Lenon, Roger Taylor, Tom Taylor, Neil Watts and Julius Weinberg.

What do we do?

We want to make sure that learners, parents and carers, teachers and employers are confident that qualifications and assessments are of a high quality and an appropriate standard. The whole qualifications system must have integrity. We step in and take action where there is a risk to the integrity of the system or a risk to learners. We aim to make consistent decisions based on evidence, and to make our decisions clear and understandable.

We do this by:

making sure the awarding organisations that offer qualifications have good systems and expertise in place, and holding them to account for their performance making sure that qualifications offered by awarding organisations are fair and are comparable with other qualifications in the UK and internationally monitoring standards in qualifications, examinations and assessments and reporting on our findings checking that there is equal and appropriate access to qualifications and assessments for all candidates monitoring the quality of marking of examinations and other assessments to make sure that learners get the results their work merits taking steps to make sure the qualifications market provides value for money and meets the needs of learners, employers, and further and higher education encouraging debate about important topics, such as standards of examinations and qualifications.

The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 and Education Act 2011 provide a detailed statutory framework within which we must regulate. These Acts of Parliament require us to have regard to a number of factors when carrying out our work including the reasonable requirements of:

  • learners
  • higher education institutions
  • industry
  • commerce
  • finance the professions and other employers.

We must have regard to:

the advantages and disadvantages of facilitating innovation in the provision of regulated qualifications the purposes of regulated assessment arrangements the need to give learners reasonable choice, while ensuring that there is not an excessive number of qualifications in similar subject areas or serving similar functions.

We must: make sure we don’t impose unnecessary burdens report annually to Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Northern Ireland

We also regulate in Northern Ireland, where we are responsible for the regulation of all vocational qualifications. We have an office based in Belfast.

We work with Northern Ireland government departments and key stakeholders, keeping them informed of relevant developments and seeking their views on the regulation of vocational qualifications. Our role in Northern Ireland requires us to regulate all vocational qualifications within the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) and National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

Our values

We have committed to a set of values that drive the way we work as individuals and as an organisation. These are our values:

Expertise – we will always be willing to listen and to develop ourselves so we can demonstrate the knowledge, understanding, skills and tools of an informed expert in our field.

Integrity – we will act in a professional and principled way to achieve objective and fair outcomes, and earn respect in line with our values.

Consistency – we will take care to take measured and thorough decisions as quickly and effectively as possible whilst keeping our sense of proportion.

Transparency – we will be honest, open and straightforward in the way we work so that we can easily explain our actions and decisions.

Leadership – we will be firm but fair in leading our areas of work, influencing and empowering others and inspiring trust and confidence.

How do we regulate and maintain standards?

We recognise awarding organisations. Only recognised awarding organisations can offer regulated qualifications. In this way we make sure that only those organisations that have the appropriate resources, capability and expertise can award regulated qualifications. Awarding organisations must comply with our recognition conditions. Some qualifications, such as GCSEs and A levels, are subject to extra specific checks and requirements. As of March 2012, there are more than 175 awarding organisations offering regulated qualifications. We list all recognised awarding organisations and the regulated qualifications they offer in The Register of Regulated Qualifications: http://register.ofqual.gov.uk

We monitor awarding organisations to ensure that the way in which they operate is fair and consistent. We also monitor fees charged by awarding organisations so that schools, colleges and other centres can be confident they receive value for money.

We maintain standards in existing, revised and new qualifications and assessments by:

monitoring qualifications and maintaining grade standards in examinations

providing advice on new assessments, including setting appropriate standards

providing expert advice in research and assessment monitoring National Curriculum assessments, reporting our findings and taking action when needed developing regulatory arrangements for the Early Years Foundation Stage profile.

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