Correspondence

Letter to VTQ awarding organisations ahead of summer 2022 series

Published 15 December 2022

Applies to England

Dear Responsible Officer,

With the return to a full exam series this summer, this letter confirms Ofqual’s expectations for this series and how it will monitor your delivery of exams and results. Many of your qualifications are available to learners in Wales and Northern Ireland, and the regulators in these jurisdictions (Qualifications Wales and CCEA Regulation) share Ofqual’s expectations.

Ofqual recognises the challenges some awarding organisations have faced preparing for a large-scale exam series after a 2-year hiatus, while concurrently preparing to be ready to implement contingency arrangements. While this summer marks a return to exams for some vocational and technical qualifications, it is also not entirely a return to the pre-pandemic arrangements due to the additional support which is being provided to students – including adaptations to assessments and a transitional grading standard where appropriate.

Ofqual and awarding organisations share the desire for every exam series to run smoothly. This will be particularly important this year, however, due to the heightened scrutiny which will come with the return to assessment by examination. Where it is relevant to you, Ofqual expects you to have already taken all reasonable steps to identify the risks associated with the summer series and to have appropriate contingency plans in place to prevent or mitigate any Adverse Effect that may arise, and to deal with issues promptly and effectively.

Management of risks and incidents

Earlier this year Ofqual met with you to seek assurance on readiness to deliver assessments this year. Following that review, Ofqual wrote to you highlighting a number of areas of risk for this summer, some of which were specific to your organisation and others of which are more generic. Ofqual expects you to manage those risks effectively, and any other risks you may identify over the course of the series.

Notifying us about events

We remind you that in accordance with the General Conditions of Recognition (GCR), you must tell Ofqual promptly if you believe an event has occurred, or is likely to occur, that could lead to a potential or actual Adverse Effect (GCR B3). Ofqual’s Guidance sets out when notification should be made of an event and you should have regard to this. Notifications should be made through the Portal.

We have previously written to awarding organisations to highlight particular types of issues which they consider notifiable, and the expectation that they should make notifications promptly about issues that arise. This year this includes, but is not limited to:

• Any out of the ordinary events, or an event affecting large cohorts or a number of centres, which requires specific action by the awarding organisations or their centres to address the potential Adverse Effect (for example, unusual disturbance or disruption to the delivery of an assessment).
• Cyber-attacks on centres which could impact on an awarding organisation’s ability to issue results for a qualification. Ofqual’s letter of 20 July 2021 stated expectations for submitting notifications for cyber-security incidents and the Conditions which may be engaged. We recognise that awarding organisations are not responsible for centres’ cyber-security arrangements, but we expect to be notified where there is the potential for an Adverse Effect – e.g. where evidence for non-exam assessment is lost or inaccessible.
• Where scripts are confirmed missing (e.g. destroyed or stolen) before the issuing of results, or where this is identified before an appeal. We would not expect you to inform Ofqual of instances where missing scripts became apparent before you have completed searches for them.
• Any potential for, or actual, media or social media coverage that could have an Adverse Effect. This includes where the nature or volume of coverage causes an awarding organisation to take some form of action to monitor or respond to the potential issues that are being raised.

Ofqual aims to minimise any unnecessary and time-consuming exchanges. Therefore, where all relevant information is not available at the time of notification, please set out when it is expected that further details will be provided. If the event is complex and it would be easier to have a discussion, we are happy to discuss the matter. You should then provide the necessary notification or information via the Portal.

It is important that the fields on the Portal are completed as fully as possible, and in particular that there is a link to the relevant qualification from the Register. In terms of vocational qualifications included in performance tables, it is important that we can accurately identify the relevant titles as being included in these categories when events are assessed and managed. This will help consideration of how you are dealing with any issue and Ofqual’s subsequent reporting.

Assessment material errors

Ofqual considers any assessment material errors in assessments for any of the four categories of vocational qualifications in the DfE performance tables to constitute a ‘substantial error’ and therefore notifiable in accordance with Condition B3. As such, the expectation is that you make prompt notification of all assessment material errors in these assessments, including those for which an erratum notice or replacement paper is issued. You should continue to notify Ofqual of errors that come to light after the summer series.

This year there is additional potential for errors due to the interaction between assessment materials and the advance information provided in some qualifications and subjects. If you have issued advance information for any of your qualifications, please continue to consider whether it is necessary to make notifications regarding any issues in relation to your advance information under Condition B3, via an Event Notification, as per the Portal article about advance information in VTQ.

Errors will be categorised using the definitions below. To reflect the assessment context this summer, a separate category for errors relating to Advance information has been added.

Category	Definition
Category 1	Assessment material errors which could or do make it impossible for learners to generate a meaningful response to a question or task
Category 2	Assessment material errors which could or do cause unintentional difficulties for learners to generate a meaningful response to a question or task
Category 3	Assessment material errors which will not affect a learner’s ability to generate a meaningful response to a question or task
Advance information category	Assessment material errors where the advance information has contributed to the error, for example, this could be because there is a mismatch and/or missing information between what is stated in the advance information and the actual assessments

Marker recruitment and marking progress

Given the heightened risks in this area this summer, marker recruitment and marking progress are being monitored through data collections to provide assurance that marking is on track.

Ofqual understands that all awarding organisations have established procedures and mitigations to address risks to marking progress. However, should concerns about recruitment or marking for a particular specification lead to the conclusion that there is the potential for an Adverse Effect, a notification would be expected via the Portal.

Indications of when you may consider an issue to be notifiable under Condition B3 could include:

• normal activity to increase recruitment or marking progress has not resulted in the same progress at the same pace as in previous years
• marking is not expected to be completed to schedule
• the situation likely requires system level intervention
• the required percentage of marks may not be reached to allow a qualification to be awarded on the date scheduled

Special consideration and appeals

In Ofqual’s engagement with awarding organisations prior to the series, heightened risks were discussed in relation to potential volumes of special consideration requests and applications for appeals. This might arise because of students’ experiences in recent years. Ofqual would expect to be notified promptly should numbers prove significantly higher than expected or planned for, or should there be indications they will not be processed to the required timescales.

Ofqual’s approach to monitoring delivery

We will acknowledge and continue to monitor any notifications made.

We will leave you to focus on managing the event once we have the necessary information about the nature, scale, and potential impact, and have sufficient assurance that it is being managed appropriately. The event notification will be closed as soon as it is clear that the event itself has been contained, and that any Adverse Effect has been sufficiently prevented or mitigated. Further work may be carried out or action taken after the summer to address any outstanding thematic or compliance issues.

We may intervene if we believe your approach is inadequate or inappropriate, or believe that you are likely to breach your Conditions. Depending on the nature of the event and the urgency with which it must be dealt, we may:

• give you the opportunity to review your approach in light of our concerns
• direct you to take a specific course of action.

Where appropriate, we will monitor your delivery in a coordinated way with the other qualification regulators to minimise unnecessary burden.

Through VTQ Policy and Implementation Advisory Group we will provide awarding organisations with interim updates on any observed trends and patterns and discuss collective delivery risks and issues. Organisation specific issues will not normally be discussed at meetings where other awarding organisations are present. In fortnightly meetings, Ofqual will discuss risks and issues specific to you and may ask for further information on the way in which you have delivered the summer series.

Your named contacts

Your named contacts at Ofqual in relation to the delivery and performance of the summer series is [contact email address provided].

Should the nature or the urgency of the issue warrant it, Executive Director of Vocational Qualifications Catherine Large or Associate Director of Standards for Delivery and Performance of Vocational Qualifications Yun Ding can be contacted directly.

Should you wish to discuss an emerging issue which you do not yet consider to be notifiable, or any live event notification, you should approach your named contact (either by telephone or through the Portal) to arrange a conversation. Ofqual will respond as soon as possible, and if required, will schedule a meeting within 24 hours.

Setting and maintaining standards

It will be important to ensure that the awarding of qualifications this summer is as fair as possible to learners. Ofqual will invite you to separate discussions, where relevant.

Summer report

In line with Ofqual’s normal regulatory approach, a report will be published on the issues that occur during the summer exam series. Although the report will be anonymised, where we use your data, we will give you an opportunity to provide feedback on the report’s factual accuracy before it is published. We will share a complete version of the draft report (unredacted - so each awarding organisation’s data is visible) with all affected awarding organisations, unless concerns are raised about this approach.

Further clarification about any of the expectations outlined in this letter can be provided if required. We wish you every success in your assessment delivery for the remainder this year.

Yours sincerely,

Yun Ding
Associate Director
Standards for Delivery and Performance of VQ, Ofqual

CC: Caroline Egerton, CCEA Regulation
Denver Davies, Qualifications Wales
Philip Wright, JCQ