Board minutes: 13 March 2024
Updated 1 October 2024
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofqual-board-minutes-for-2024/board-minutes-13-march-2024
This document has been subject to redactions
Date
Wednesday 13 March 2024
Time
09:00 a.m.
Attendees
Board
Susan Barratt
Sir Ian Bauckham CBE, Chief Regulator
Hardip Begol CBE
Mark Farrar
Cindy Leslie
Dr Catherine McClellan
Eileen Milner
Chris Paterson
Clare Pelham
Frances Wadsworth CBE, Chair
Ofqual
David Bowden, Executive Director, Finance and Operations
Daniel Gutteridge, General Counsel
Michael Hanton, Deputy Chief Regulator
Catherine Large OBE, Executive Director, Vocational and Technical Qualifications
Dr Ian Stockford, Executive Director of Standards, Research and Analysis
Amanda Swann, Executive Director, General Qualifications
Matt Trimmer, Executive Director, Strategy
Also Present
Hisham Alhassan, Associate Director, Risk and Markets (Item 49/23)
Tom Barcham, Director of Strategy and Markets (Item 51/23)
Senior Manager, Strategy (Item 51/23)
Phil Carr, Director of Policy and Evaluation for Vocational and Technical Qualifications (Item 52/23)
National Reference Test Senior Manager (Item 55/23)
Senior Manager, Vocational and Technical Qualifications Policy (Item 52/23)
Matthew Humphrey, Director of Legal Moderation and Enforcement (Item 54/23)
Senior Manager, Standards (Item 53/23)
Board Secretary
Lydia Waine, Director of Legal Affairs and Governance
Liz Walters, Associate Director, Vocational and Technical Qualifications (Item 52/23)
Mary Webb, Head of Private Office
Emma Wild, Associate Director, Standards for Design, Development and Evaluation of General Qualifications (Item 53/23)
44/23 Welcome and apologies for absence
The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.
An apology for absence was received from Matt Tee.
45/23 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
46/23 Minutes and matters arising
i. Approval of Minutes of meeting held on 13 December 2023.
The Chair of the People, Resources and Finance Committee advised item 33/23, Finance Update, did not fully reflect that the issue of capital overspend was being addressed and it was agreed this point should be reflected in the Minutes.
With no further amendments, the Minutes of the Board meeting held on 13 December 2023 were approved.
ii. Approval of Minutes of meeting held on 24 January 2024
The Minutes of the Board meeting held on 24 January 2024 were approved.
iii. Matters arising from previous Board meetings
One matter remains open:
- In relation to matter 10/23, this will be kept open as an aide memoire to be brought to a future Board meeting.
It was noted this item is now due to be brought to the Board meeting on 03 July 2024.
All other matters arising have been closed.
iv. Reports and recommendations from Board committees
The Chair of the People, Resources and Finance Committee (PRF) gave a brief verbal update to the Board on the most recent meeting. Two items from the meeting were brought to the Board for consideration. The Chair of the PRF Committee asked for an update to be given to the Board on Ofqual’s work on artificial intelligence (AI) and it was agreed that would be done in the near future.
ACTION: MT
The Chair of the PRF Committee also asked for a general briefing on Ofqual’s approach to election planning and it was agreed this would be brought to the next meeting.
ACTION: PO
The Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) gave a brief verbal update to the Board on the most recent meeting.
v. Minutes from Board Committee meetings
The Minutes from all previous Board Committee meetings that had taken place since the last Board meeting were received and noted.
47/23 Decisions taken by electronic business
The Board noted three items of electronic business since the previous Board meeting:
i. E04/23: Memorandum of Understanding with IfATE - (approved 20 December 2023).
ii. E05/23: Growth Duty Revision consultation – (approved 12 January 2024)
iii. E06/23: Award of the Strategic Information Technology Delivery Partner contract – (approved 05 March 2024)
48/23 Chief Regulator’s report
The Board received an update from the Chief Regulator.
Following the request for an update at the last Board meeting on some exam boards’ plans to move the assessments for qualifications, or components of them, on-screen, the Board was advised that Ofqual and DfE have jointly commissioned research being undertaken by PA Consulting, which is due to conclude at the end of March. Ofqual is also conducting its own review of the international literature on the impact of mode effects on students and is considering the implications for maintenance of standards of on-screen assessment.
The Board was further advised about a centre-delegated arrangement that has existed under JCQ arrangements since 2010, whereby students taking GCSE, AS and A level exams can use a word processor, rather than pen and paper, to complete their exams if this is their normal way of working. There has been limited information available about the scale of use for this arrangement, as word processed scripts are printed off by centres and thereafter treated in the same way as hand-written scripts. Ofqual is prioritising work in this area and the Board asked to be kept informed.
The Board was advised the response to DfE’s consultation on the Advanced British Standard (ABS) is currently being finalised. Several Board Members have been involved in reviewing the document and external support has also been sought. The final document will be circulated to the Board.
Readiness reviews with exam boards ahead of the summer series have now been completed, with equivalent meetings with VTQ awarding organisations (AOs) on schedule. The Board was advised that marker recruitment is ahead of this time last year for general qualifications.
The Board discussed cyber security and exam delivery risks and was updated on the work Ofqual is doing with JCQ and exam boards to achieve longer-term minimum standards in this area. The Board recognised these risks cannot be reduced to zero, but welcomed the feedback Ofqual is providing to JCQ and the AOs on areas where it considers progress could be more ambitious and to seek to ensure that contingency plans are in place. This is an area of focus in readiness review meetings with AOs.
The Board was advised Ofqual’s national assessments regulation annual report for the 2023 series is being finalised and will be published imminently.
49/23 Regulatory Burden Statement
The Board was asked to approve the annual Regulatory Burden Statement which outlines Ofqual’s plans to keep its regulatory functions under review and to not impose or maintain any unnecessary regulatory burden. The Board was advised the statement includes a brief introductory section that contained broad themes regarding Ofqual’s general approach to managing burden, and a more detailed section that outlines specific projects and workstreams that have managed burden over the previous year and outlines projects that are planned for the upcoming year.
The Board asked Ofqual to reflect on 2 aspects of the current drafting.
ACTION: HA
The Board noted the document is still subject to final comments from external stakeholders.
RESOLVED
1. The Board approved the Regulatory Burden Statement 2023 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 2023, following any final amendments, to the Chief Regulator in consultation with the Chair.
50/23 Finance
i. Finance Update
The Board noted the period 10 financial statement which forecasts a full year Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (RDEL) underspend of £239,000. This figure is an increase from the underspend position reported for period 9, mainly due to the receipt of £249,000 following a successful bid for additional funds from the Supplementary Estimate to support the exceptional accommodation costs.
The Board was reminded that at the previous Board update, reflecting the period 6 position, Ofqual was forecasting a modest in-year overspend due to the office move. This had been addressed through a combination of the request for additional funding and spend management in case funding was not made available. With the receipt of the additional funds confirmed by HMT, Ofqual is now taking suitable action to ensure monies are spent appropriately. The Board requested this position be outlined clearly to the auditors.
ACTION: DB
ii. Budget 2024 to 2025
The Director of Finance and Operations presented the Budget for 2024 to 2025 to the Board. The information presented by each directorate on its budgetary requirements and business plans had enabled collaborative discussions to agree priority spend, with a list of desirable projects also in place which could be mobilised should funding materialise during the year.
The Chair of the PRF Committee advised the Board the proposed budget had been fully discussed at their recent meeting and the Committee was content with both the process undertaken and the sensible assumptions made. The Committee endorsed the Budget and proposed for approval by Board.
RESOLVED
The Board approved:
i. The draft budget as set out in paragraph 7 of the paper presented and supplemented by the Pay spending plans contained in paragraph 9 and Non-Pay spending plans contained in paragraph 16.
ii. The approach to Vacancy Savings as set out in paragraph 11 and Project Savings as set out in paragraph 23 to managing the spend portfolio and mitigating the risk of both underspend and overspend throughout the year.
51/23 Strategic Risk and Risk Tolerance
The Board noted the annual review of the assurance map that was presented at the last ARAC meeting.
RESOLVED
The Board noted the changes in the Strategic Risk Register and endorsed the proposed risk tolerances.
52/23 Post 16 Level 2 and below qualifications review: Proposed regulation of Personal, Social and Employability Skills qualifications (PSEQ)
A high-level summary of the paper circulated to the Board was presented. The Board noted Ofqual will propose to regulate these qualifications primarily through the General Conditions of Recognition and a limited number of additional Qualification Level Conditions and Guidance.
The Board welcomed the clarity of purpose that would be provided by the 2 types of PSEQ; Personalised PSEQs and Employability qualifications.
The Board was asked to delegate to the Technical Committee any decisions required both prior to consultation and in finalising the regulatory framework following the consultation.
RESOLVED
1. The Board approved the recommendation that Ofqual consults on the introduction of regulatory requirements for Personalised PSEQs and Employability qualifications related to:
a. Qualification purposes
b. Qualification content
c. Grading scales
d. Assessment strategies
e. Ofqual review of qualifications
f. Managing the withdrawal of public funding
2. The Board further approved the recommendations to:
a. Delegate to the Chief Regulator and Chair final sign-off of the combined policy and technical consultation document and draft framework for consultation.
b. Delegate to the Board Technical Committee all necessary decisions prior to consultation if DfE policy changes following its consultation on the national standards.
c. Delegate to the Board Technical Committee all necessary decisions in relation to finalising the regulatory framework following consultation.
d. Delegate to the Chief Regulator and Chair final sign-off of the consultation analysis document, decisions document and regulatory framework following the policy and technical consultation.
53/23 The development of the new GCSE in natural history
The Board was advised the DfE is in the final stage of developing draft subject content for a new GCSE in natural history.
54/23 Strategic Enforcement Committee
Following on from the previous Board meeting, where it was agreed to create a new Committee of the Board, the Strategic Enforcement Committee (SEC), and for the current Enforcement Committee to be re-named as the Enforcement Panel with an extended remit to cover appeals in certain circumstances, the Terms of Reference for both were presented to the Board for approval.
The Board was advised the Terms of Reference of the SEC are drafted in broad terms in order to allow the Committee to set its own priorities and align with strategy. The Board discussed whether it should be a requirement for a member of the SEC to always sit on an Enforcement Panel and it was agreed non-inclusion of a SEC Member will only happen in exceptional circumstances and with prior consent from the Chair of the Enforcement Committee. The Terms of Reference will be amended to reflect this.
ACTION: MH
The Board agreed there should be a requirement for the Enforcement Panel to consider any enforcement policy or strategy determined by the SEC, although the Panel should not be bound by such policy. The Board agreed that the Terms of Reference should require the Panel to ‘have regard to’ SEC policy and strategy.
ACTION: MH
It was agreed the Enforcement Panel will report back to the Chair of the SEC as well as the Chief Regulator.
RESOLVED
The Board agreed the recommendations to:
a. Approve the Terms of Reference for the new Strategic Enforcement Committee.
b. Approve the revised Terms of Reference for the Enforcement Panel
c. Delegate to the Chief Regulator in consultation with the Chair, all decisions necessary to make consequential changes to the Ofqual Governance Framework.
55/23 National Reference Test Procurement
The Board was advised the current contract for the supplier of the National Reference Test (NRT) is due to end with the 2024 test cycle and a procurement exercise has been undertaken.
The procurement process was taken to PRF at its last meeting for scrutiny and the Chair of PRF confirmed the Committee requested further clarification be given to the Board on cost reduction of the new contract and the main differences between the preferred supplier and the next main contender as the preferred supplier is the incumbent supplier. The Committee endorsed the awarding of the contract to the preferred supplier for Board approval.
RESOLVED
The Board approved the awarding of the contract for the National Reference Test to the preferred supplier, National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).
56/23 Publication of papers
The Board agreed to publish Open Papers.
57/23 Any other business
i. Technical Committee Members and Chair
The leadership restructure within Ofqual created a vacancy for a new member of the Technical Committee and also for the position of Chair of the Technical Committee.
It was proposed that Frances Wadsworth be appointed to the Technical Committee, both as a Member and as Chair.
RESOLVED
The Board approved the appointment of Frances Wadsworth as a Member and Chair of the Technical Committee.
ii. Strategic Enforcement Committee Membership and Chair
A proposal was put to the Board that membership of the new Strategic Enforcement Committee would include the same board members previously appointed to the Enforcement Committee, namely Susan Barratt, Hardip Begol, Cindy Leslie, Chris Paterson, Clare Pelham and Matt Tee.
In addition, it was proposed the Chair of the Board would be a member of the SEC but would not sit on any Enforcement Panel that might be convened.
Chris Paterson was proposed as Chair of the Committee.
RESOLVED
The Board approved:
a. The appointment of Susan Barratt, Hardip Begol, Cindy Leslie, Chris Paterson, Clare Pelham and Matt Tee to the Strategic Enforcement Committee.
b. The appointment of Ofqual’s Chair as a Member of the Strategic Enforcement Committee, with agreement that the Chair would not sit on any Enforcement Panel.
c. The appointment of Chris Paterson as Chair of the Strategic Enforcement Committee.
iii. Car Park Lease
The Board was advised Ofqual is in the process of finalising the lease for the new car parking facilities for the office move, which requires signature by two Board Members. Legislation allows for the Board to nominate a member of Ofqual staff to be the second signatory and, because of the tight time schedule involved, it was proposed the Board appoint the Deputy Chief Regulator as the second signatory.
RESOLVED
The Board approved the Deputy Chief Regulator as the second signatory for the car parking lease.
Next Board meeting:
The next Board meeting will be held on Wednesday 03 July 2024.
The meeting ended at 11:52 a.m.