Transparency data

Board minutes: 16 March 2022

Updated 20 July 2023

Applies to England

This document has been subject to redactions

Time and Venue

09:15 am in Room 9013

Date

Wednesday 16 March 2022

Attendees

Board:

• Ian Bauckham, Chair
• Susan Barratt
• Hywel Jones
• Dr Catherine McClellan
• Dr Jo Saxton, Chief Regulator
• Matt Tee
• Mike Thompson
• Frances Wadsworth

Ofqual:

• Kate Evans, Director, Digital, Data and Technology

• Daniel Gutteridge, Director of Legal

• Michael Hanton, Director of Strategy and Markets

• Katy Harding, Associate Director, Finance and Commercial

• Cath Jadhav, Executive Director, Standards, Research and Analysis

• Catherine Large, Executive Director, Vocational & Technical Qualifications

• Jane Parsons, Director of Communications

• Sean Pearce, Chief Operating Officer

• Julie Swan, Executive Director, General Qualifications

• Lydia Waine, Associate Director Legal Establishment, Senior Manager Board and Governance, Deputy Private Secretary

Present:

• Phil Carr, Director VTQ Policy and Evaluation (Item 79/21)

• Jo Handford, Associate Director, Strategy (Item 76/21)

• Charlie Henning, Associate Director, People and Culture (Item 77/21), Senior Manager Strategy (Item 72/21)

• Emma Scott, Director of Operations VTQ (item 80/21)

• Peter Stewart, Associate Director, Risk and Markets (Item 75/21)

• Ian Stockford, Director Strategic Projects (Item 77/21)

• Steve Walker, Associate Director Apprenticeships EQA (Item 80/21)

66/21 Welcome and Apologies for Absence

Board Members were welcomed to the meeting and it was noted that the Board was especially pleased to have Catherine McClellan be able to join them in person. Apologies were received from Dame Christine Ryan.

67/21 Declarations of Interest

Susan Barratt advised there had been a change to her Declaration. This will be updated in the register. Action LS

Catherine McClellan declared she was a member of the Oxford University Resilience Project Advisory Group.

The Board was advised that they would be asked to review their annual Declaration of Interests next month and the Register will be updated accordingly.

68/21 Minutes and Matters Arising

There were two corrections to the Ofqual Board Minutes of 08 December 2021:

• Item 56/21 Finance Update: the Board noted the forecast outturn is currently within the 2% aimed for.
• 57/21 Qualifications Review Consultation: the Board asked for an addition to the minute for the above item to reflect the discussions that took place on the 8 December 2021.

All matters arising had been dealt with or would appear as a separate item on the agenda.

Subject to the above, the Minutes from the Board Meeting held on 08 December 2021 were approved.

69/21 Decisions taken by Electronic Business

The Board noted the following decision taken by electronic business:

• Board and Committee Meeting Dates (approved 27 January 2022).

• the opportunity to review the submission for the Education Select Committee Enquiry into Post 16 Qualifications.

70/21 Chief Regulator’s Report

The Chief Regulator’s Report was circulated to Members before the meeting. The following was noted:

• Exam boards had published in February advance information for this summer’s GCSE, AS and A level exams. An evaluation will be undertaken to assess the impact on students and teachers.
• A landmark report was published on CASLO (qualifications that require assessors to Confirm the Acquisition of Specified Learning Outcomes) which sets out to conceptualise these qualifications.
• First year that marker training for National Assessments will be delivered online.
• Work is being undertaken to look at next steps for the Vocational and Technical Qualifications Contingency Regulatory Framework (VCRF). The Board was asked to delegate decisions to the Technical Committee.
• Work is continuing to progress Ofqual’s proposals and consultations on the Level 3 Qualifications Review. Ofqual’s policy consultation was launched in late February.

Resolved

The Board resolved to delegate to the Technical Committee decisions about the future of the Vocational and Technical Qualifications Contingency Regulatory Framework (VCRF) and ongoing considerations relating to the Level 3 Qualifications Review.

71/21 Update on the Ukraine Crisis

As part of Ofqual’s approach to preparing for a summer exam series, and prior to the crisis in Ukraine, readiness reviews were held with the exam boards to check on their readiness for the series. Potential security risks or supply chain issues associated with Ukraine were discussed at the meetings. Following on from the invasion the one exam board with students in Russia and Belarus has suspended all services to those countries. Heightened risks to cyber security were noted: guidance published by the National Cyber Security Centre had been published on the Portal.

72/21 Strategic Risk and Risk Appetite

The Board considered the Strategic Risk Register and proposed amendments.

The Board was advised that a new Internal Auditor had been appointed following on from five organisations co-procuring.

Resolved

The Board approved the amendments.

73/21 2021/2022 Financial Outturn

The forecast outturn underspend at 31 December 2021 was £0.6 million. Following agreement from Her Majesty’s Treasury to the budget exchange request, £0.3 million of reserved funding was moved from 2021/22 to 2022/23, which reduced the outturn forecast at 31 January 2022 to £0.36 million. Budget variance is 2%.

Potential risks to the forecast outturn had been identified as:

• External supply chain delaying delivery of goods beyond the year end. This could impact on the current office reconfiguration.
• Holiday pay accrual. If staff take less leave than forecast the cost will increase but the forecast outturn is considered to be sufficient to mitigate the risk of any additional holiday pay accrual.

The impact of these risks was anticipated to increase the final outturn to £0.5 million.

The Board was informed of the robust financial control framework which aligns to the Government Functional Standard for Counter Fraud. This had been discussed in depth at the last Audit & Risk Assurance Committee and it was content with the controls in place.

74/21 Approval of 2022/23 Budget

The Board was given a high-level summary of the 2021 Spending Review Settlement for the financial years 2022/23 to 2024/25. The analysis had been split into two sections:

• A Strategic Budget for 2022/23
• An indicative Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2023-25

The Board was informed the Budget for 2022/23 was developed to support the Corporate Plan.

Capital expenditure would support investment in Ofqual’s digital infrastructure.

The Board noted that all Government Departments would be measured against a new forecasting metric from the financial year 2022/23, requiring forecasting to within 1% of the eventual outturn in Period 6 of the financial year.

Resolved

1. The Board approved the draft 2022/23 Budget.

2. The Board approved the indicative financial plan for the financial years 2022/23 and 2023/24.

3. The Board endorsed the financial planning target to deliver the financial outturn for 2022/23 within 1% of the Month 6 approved forecast.

75/21 Regulatory Burden Statement 2022

The Board was asked to approve the annual Regulatory Burden Statement and recognised the additional interest this year in terms of the acknowledged consequences of the pandemic together with the report from the Federation of Awarding Bodies. The Board noted that 2021 was an exceptional year because of the pandemic which had placed an increased burden on awarding organisations to deliver qualifications due to the cancellation of exams and public health constraints. The Board acknowledged that mitigations to reduce burden had been taken where appropriate to prevent unnecessary burden.

Equally, the Board noted that as the regulator for qualifications and assessments, additional burden can be necessary to deliver our commitment to regulate in the interests of students and apprentices.

Resolved

1. The Board approved the Regulatory Burden Statement 2022 whilst acknowledging it is a substantive draft subject to final comments from external stakeholders.

2. The Board delegated final approval for publication of the Regulatory Burden Statement 2022 following any final amendments to the Chief Regulator in consultation with the Chair.

11:15 Matt Tee left the meeting

76/21 Corporate Plan 2022 – 2025

The Board was asked to approve the draft Corporate Plan. This had first been discussed at a Board Strategy Day in November 2021, brought to the Board meeting of December 2021 for further discussion and the draft plan presented for comment at the Strategy Day in February 2022. It was noted the final design of the Plan would be similar to the People Strategy in order to present a cohesive link between the two.

The Plan aimed to deliver four key messages:

• A commitment to regulate on behalf of students of all ages and apprentices.
• To demonstrate Ofqual is both expert and human.
• To be fully engaged in the debates of the day.
• That Ofqual is the expert organisation optimally placed to shape the future of assessment.

Resolved

1. The Board approved the Corporate Plan 2022-2025

2. The Board delegated final approval to the Chief Regulator in consultation with Chair should there be a need for any final comments to be included.

77/21 People Strategy

The Board considered the draft People Strategy. The Board was asked for any final strategic reflections.

11:35 Matt Tee returned to the meeting

Resolved

The Board delegated final approval for the publication of the People Strategy to the Chief Regulator in consultation with the Chair following any final amendments.

78/21 Update on Arrangements for Summer 2022 Grading

A paper outlining the key considerations relating to the awarding of GQ and VTQ grades in summer 2022 was presented to the Board. On GQ, the context for awards this summer is that this will be a transition year with an aim to set standards at the midway point between grades awarded in summer 2019 and summer 2021. The Board was advised wider expectations of stakeholders are likely to focus on overall outcomes being at or near a midpoint of 2019 and 2021, but that some variation from a precise midpoint was likely. The Board was also advised as to the potential role of examiner judgement in the process.

On VTQ, the Board noted that a single approach was not possible due to the variety of qualifications, but that awarding organisations were also approaching 2022 as a transition year.

The Board discussed the approach to grading and acknowledged that it was key for Ofqual to ensure that the approach is set out clearly for students, parents, teachers and the wider public.

The Board noted the work was ongoing and was supportive of the approach being taken.

79/21 The T Level Re-procurement Approach and its Implications

The Board was provided with an update on the planning of the procurement process for the next generation of T levels by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. Initial discussions around that process have started and Ofqual is part of the Procurement Steering Group that has this process in its scope.

80/21 Apprenticeships

At the meeting held on 08 December 2021, the Board had requested a ‘deep dive’ into Ofqual’s ongoing work in relation to the regulation of Apprenticeship End Point Assessments. The Board was briefed on progress with the External Quality Assurance (EQA) transition programme, whereby End Point Assessment Organisations not currently regulated by Ofqual are required to apply for Ofqual recognition in order to stay on the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s Register of End Point Assessment Organisations (EPAOs). The Board noted that 40 new organisations have been recognised to date and further decisions are yet to be made. The Board was assured that the quality bar for entering the regulated market is being upheld, as agreed at the start of the programme.

The Board was also briefed on the work that Ofqual is carrying out to identify risks in the Assessment Plans that underpin Apprenticeship End Point Assessments and therefore form an important blueprint. Over 300 Apprenticeship Standards and associated Assessment Plans have transitioned to Ofqual to regulate to-date and it is therefore important to review them and share risks with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education who approve them. The Board noted Ofqual’s progress here and was assured that Ofqual was working productively with the Institute.

The Board noted the increased Apprenticeship withdrawal rates and asked if any data Ofqual holds would be pertinent to analysing this issue. The Board was advised that End Point Assessment outcomes data is starting to be collected and analysed but it is still too early on in the collection series to draw any conclusions. The Board asked to be kept informed on this matter.

81/21 Review of the Composition of the Standards Advisory Group

The Chair gave a verbal update to the Board advising consideration was being given as to whether to redefine the remit of the Standards Advisory Group (SAG).

Resolved

The Board approved a four-month extension to contracts of relevant SAG members.

82/21 Publication of Papers

The Board agreed to publish Open Papers.

83/21 Any Other Business

1. Appointment of Matt Tee to Audit & Risk Assurance Committee

The Audit & Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) had been left short of members due to the end of term of office of one of its Board members. Recruitment is being undertaken for new Board members but this is not likely to come into effect until the summer and therefore the Board was asked to approve the appointment of Matt Tee to ARAC.

Resolved

The Board approved the appointment of Matt Tee to ARAC.

2. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Security Services

The Board was asked to agree to a new MOU. The Board was advised of the change to the MoU currently in place with the Government Security Centres to a new model which would result in a reduction in the year-on-year cost in return for the same level of service.

Resolved

The Board agreed to the signing of the MoU with Government Security Centres.

Next Board Meeting

The next Board meeting will be held on 15 June 2022 and it is proposed this will be held in person.

The meeting ended at 13:10