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Transcript - 'Ofqual Explains: Qualification-level and subject-level rules'

Published 10 December 2018

Applies to England

Welcome to another episode of Ofqual Explains. In this episode, I’m going to talk about the qualification-specific rules we sometimes set, which apply in addition to our general rules for all qualifications.

You may recognise this picture from our first episode. It’s a representation of all our rules and guidance, divided into three different sections.
The top section contains general rules and guidance. These usually apply to all the qualifications and organisations we regulate. The other two sections show where we have set qualification-specific rules and guidance. There are two sections because we want to distinguish between what we call ‘qualification-level’ and ‘subject-level’ rules and guidance. The middle section shows qualification-level rules and guidance. These apply to all qualifications of a particular type. For example; all apprenticeship end-point assessments, all functional skills or all 9 to 1 GCSEs. The bottom section shows subject-level rules and guidance. These apply to qualifications of a particular type in a particular subject. For example, reformed A levels in French, or Functional Skills qualifications in maths.

The only qualifications that currently have extra rules are;

• GCSEs, AS and A levels,
• Project qualifications and Advanced Extension Awards,
• Functional skills and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) qualifications, and
• Ofqual-regulated apprenticeship end-point assessments (EPAs).

We set extra rules like these where we need, or want, to take a different approach for a particular qualification.

You may have seen that there are two sets of rules for GCSEs, AS and A Levels and functional skills qualifications. This is because these qualifications have been or are being reformed, and there are different versions of rules that apply to the reformed and legacy versions of these qualifications. We will be withdrawing the rules for the legacy versions of these qualifications once they are no longer needed.

Qualification-level rules and guidance build on our general rules by setting more detailed expectations for a particular qualification type.

They do different things for different qualifications, depending on what’s needed. They can, for example;

• require a formal assessment strategy for the qualification,
• mandate particular approaches to setting standards,
• restrict the subjects in which a qualification can be offered. One example of this is in reformed GCSEs, where we are only permitting qualifications to be developed in subjects for which the Department for Education has developed subject content,
• amplify a general rule in the context of a particular qualification. One example can be found in our rules for marking of GCSEs, where Condition GCSE10 sets out some specific things awarding organisations must do for these qualifications in order to comply with the general requirements around marking in General Condition H1,
• replace a general rule with a more tailored, bespoke approach. One example of this is our approach to reviews and appeals in GCSEs, AS and A levels. Here, we replaced a general rule (General Condition I1) with a more detailed set of qualification-level rules for appeals.

If a qualification-level rule modifies or replaces a general rule, it will say so explicitly. For example, in our rules for apprenticeship end-point assessments, Condition EPA2 states that General Condition E7 (Total Qualification Time) does not apply.

Again, what subject-level rules and guidance do varies between different qualification types, and between different subjects. But they all build on our general and any qualification-level rules to specify a particular approach in a particular subject. Some examples are;

• requiring a qualification to follow specified content. For example, the subject–level conditions for reformed Functional Skills English, and maths[DC4], require compliance with the Department for Education’s subject content for those qualifications,
• setting overall assessment requirements and their weightings?. For example, when setting assessments for reformed Functional Skills mathematics, awarding organisations must ensure that of the total marks available, 75% are allocated to questions or tasks for which Learners are permitted to use a calculator, and 25% must be completed without a calculator,
• requiring particular approaches to assessing some or all of the content – for example requiring non-exam assessment, or requiring a certain proportion of marks for demonstrating specific skills, like maths skills in science subjects.

To recap;

• we sometimes set extra rules and guidance for particular qualifications – these can apply to all qualifications of a particular type, or to qualifications of a particular type in a particular subject,
• these extra rules do different things for different qualifications, depending on what’s needed,
• we use them to change the way guidance, or a general rule, applies to particular qualifications, or specific subjects in a particular qualification.

You can find all of our rules and guidance on our website, simply click on ‘understand our rules’.