Closed consultation

Consultation on amending statutory guidance for condition G4

From:: Ofqual
Published: 9 March 2017
Last updated: 11 May 2018 — See all updates

Applies to England

Feedback received

Analysis of responses to our March 2017 consultation on amending statutory guidance for Condition G4

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Detail of feedback received

We received 12 responses to the consultation, all from organisations. One response, from a union, did not comment directly on our proposals, but provided general comments. All other respondents answered the questions asked.

In addition to our formal consultation, we took part in a webinar with approximately 50 awarding organisations (organised by the Federation of Awarding Bodies), and a teleconference with exam boards. These activities were held before we launched our formal consultation and we incorporated feedback from these activities into the draft guidance we consulted on.

Respondents mostly supported our proposed guidance. They found it helpful in understanding what the Condition requires, and welcomed the inclusion of narrative-style guidance in addition to positive and negative indicators. Not all respondents supported the proposed guidance however. Some awarding organisations, including those offering general qualifications, thought there was too much guidance, and that the narrative style was too prescriptive.

We received some specific comments on individual parts of the guidance. These covered a variety of areas, including:

interactions other than ‘training’
requests for additional guidance or examples
arrangements for current and former staff
specific comments relating to the confidentiality of assessment materials

Consultation description

We are consulting on new guidance on maintaining confidentiality of assessment materials, including the conduct of specified training events.

Feedback suggests the current guidance could be clearer and more helpful. We asked stakeholders for views on the existing guidance and they told us that parts of it were unnecessarily burdensome, such as that relating to recording of training events. They also told us that parts of it only appeared relevant to awarding organisations offering general qualifications so were not relevant or difficult to follow for awarding organisations offering vocational qualifications. The feedback also suggested that some awarding organisations were interpreting the guidance inconsistently.

We would welcome your feedback on our proposed guidance.

We do not propose any changes to condition G4 itself.

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