Jeremy Benson, Executive Director of Vocational Qualifications at Ofqual 3 March 2015

1. Next steps for the regulation of adult vocational
qualifications
Jeremy Benson, Executive Director of Vocational Qualifications
3 March 2015

2. Areas to cover
Where do qualifications fit into the system?
What makes a good qualification?
Our regulatory approach
Apprenticeships and functional skills
Some challenges
Questions

3. Where do qualifications fit into the
vocational system?
What matters is skills and knowledge
Qualifications are not an end in themselves (but often seen that
way)
Not all learning should lead to a qualification
Many factors other than qualifications drive a healthy vocational
education and training system, eg
– good teaching
– good student choices
– employer input
But qualifications are important in signalling achievement, and
so supporting progression
Can also help to define user needs

4. What makes a qualification good?
Should be ‘valid’ – does what it’s meant to
The whole lifecycle is important: good design is necessary but
not sufficient – all stages need to be right
A qualification’s objective (purpose) and content should be
defined with end users
High quality assessment and awarding by skilled awarding
organisations
Constantly kept under review – are they testing the right things
in the right way?

5. What this means for vocational
qualifications
‘Vocational qualification' means very different things
– eg college-based, employment-based, continuing development etc
Employment sectors need to define their needs, and the
qualifications system must respond
– Eg through National Occupational Standards or apprenticeship
trailblazer standards
Recognise differences between employment sectors, eg
– Types of skills
– Level of commonality of skills needs between employers
– Sector infrastructure and history

6. Our regulatory approach
Focus on outcomes – is the system doing what it should be?
Enable and incentivise awarding organisations to do the right
thing
Test awarding organisations’ systems and products in different
ways, and hold them to account
Tackle perverse incentives - market doesn’t always drive quality
Check that good practice is followed eg on assessment design
Secure comparability where it's needed (between qualifications
with the same objective)
Help users to understand qualifications and the qualifications
system

7. Under the bonnet - changes to our
approach
We will remove Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) rules
– Too inflexible, did not always support validity
– But existing qualifications can stay, if they’re good
We have removed the accreditation requirement
– Awarding organisations must take responsibility for qualifications
– Not enough to look only at up-front design
Will shortly consult on a new descriptive framework for
qualifications, covering level and size, and continuing to link to
European Qualifications Framework
Learn from the ghosts of reforms past
– Take the time to do it properly
– Work closely with users and awarding organisations
Try and keep these changes under the bonnet!

8. Apprenticeships
Existing frameworks defined mostly by reference to
qualifications
But there is much more to apprenticeships than assessment (a
‘job with training’)
Assessment should be good and valid
Apprenticeship reforms a healthy challenge to the qualifications
system
Ofqual stands ready to regulate apprenticeship assessments
under the new arrangements

9. Functional skills
Report last month sets out improvements that awarding
organisations are making to current functional skills
qualifications, following our recent review.
In particular, awarding organisations will be:
– improving the quality of assessments
– strengthening awarding processes and monitoring standards
– working more closely with employers and other users
We will review their progress in the autumn this year
We will set out guidance and work with awarding organisations
to make sure standards are set more consistently.
We are working with and advising the Education and Training
Foundation on their review of literacy and numeracy.

10. Some challenges
Local flexibility v portability
Arrangements across the UK
Responding to policy changes and funding pressures
Making the qualifications system work for employers (not the
other way round)
Soft skills
Use of technology
Responsiveness v simplicity

11. Any questions?
Background reading:
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/putting-validity-at-the-
heart-of-what-we-do
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/qualifications-place-in-a-
high-performing-vocational-system
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/improving-functional-
skills-qualifications
jeremy.benson@ofqual.gov.uk