Consultation outcome

Foreword by Sir Ian Bauckham CBE, the Chief Regulator at Ofqual

Updated 10 September 2026

Earlier this year, Ofqual consulted on proposals for regulating V Levels, Foundation Certificates, and Occupational Certificates. I am grateful to everyone who took time to respond. Having considered every contribution, we have now reached our final decisions. While much remains as proposed, we have made important changes in response to the thoughtful feedback we received.  

Together with A Levels and T Levels, these new qualifications create clear and credible pathways for all students aged 16 and over, whatever their background and ambitions. V Levels will provide a high-quality vocational option for young people. A Levels have been a respected qualification for more than 70 years. T Levels, though much newer, are increasingly established and valued. Together, these qualifications provide meaningful choices for students. 

Ofqual’s role is to make sure that these new qualifications are equally trusted and valued by students, employers, universities, and the wider public. Our regulatory framework is intended to provide clarity of purpose and choice, and parity of esteem whatever route is taken. This means regulating V Levels to the same high standards as A Levels. The government will define the subjects and content, while Ofqual will establish clear requirements at qualification and subject level as well as a unified approach to grading. This will mean results can be clearly understood and will open doors to the future for students.  

We aspire to a comparable level of trust and confidence for V Levels as exists for A Levels. However, V Levels have a different purpose from A Levels, provide different options for students, and support progression to different destinations. Assessment design must therefore reflect the nature of the subject being studied. A qualification in education, for example, may require different assessment approaches to one in accounting and finance, just as A Level art and design differs from A Level physics. Our regulatory approach provides a consistent national framework while allowing important flexibility at subject level. 

That flexibility is reflected in several ways. Practical work-related assessment will play a central role in V Levels, to reflect their vocational purpose. Courses will be able to reflect specific local employment opportunities, appropriate to the subjects being studied. Awarding organisations will have scope to introduce innovative approaches to assessment, to make sure that assessments reflect effectively the vocational contexts students will be learning about. We will determine, subject by subject, whether V Levels should be able to use on-screen assessment, for the same reasons. Indeed, two of the first three V Levels – digital systems and data, and accounting and finance – permit the use of on-screen assessment, precisely to reflect the use of technology in those vocational areas.  

In this way, our regulatory approach pursues two objectives. The first is to ensure the consistency and rigour that means these new qualifications will always be immediately and universally understood, recognised, and valued. The second is to secure assessment that is directly relevant to the vocational nature of the qualification, the subjects being taught, and the destinations to which students will progress. 

I am confident the regulatory approach set out achieves this balance and is the basis for ensuring that V Levels, Foundation Certificates and Occupational Certificates become a long-term and valued part of our education system. I look forward to students starting to take these qualifications from September 2027.