Notice

Notice of intention to accept a settlement proposal - GCSE food preparation and nutrition, summer 2024

Published 31 July 2025

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2025

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Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation and WJEC-BCAC Ltd

Overview

  1. 1. The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (“Ofqual”) gives notice that it intends to accept a Settlement Proposal from WJEC-CBAC Ltd (“WJEC”) in terms that WJEC:

    1. a) admits the breaches set out in this Notice;

    2. b) agrees to pay the Monetary Penalty of £175,000;

    3. c) agrees to pay Ofqual’s reasonable legal costs in respect of this matter.

  2. 2.  This Notice relates to breaches of WJEC’s Conditions of Recognition which occurred in 2024. The occurrence of those breaches reflects a failure by WJEC to effectively undertake moderation of assessments in respect of the Summer 2024 GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition qualification, and the issuing of incorrect results to students.

Executive summary

  1. 3. WJEC was awarded Ofqual recognition in 2010 having transferred over to Ofqual from the Qualifications and Curriculum Agency (Ofqual’s predecessor).

  2. 4. WJEC has a broad scope of recognition to develop, deliver and award a broad range of General Qualifications as well as Vocational and Technical regulated qualifications.

  3. 5. On 26 September 2024, WJEC submitted an event notification to Ofqual under General Condition B3.1 in respect of the Eduqas GCSE Food Preparation & Nutrition qualification in summer 2024 (“the qualification”).[footnote 1]

  4. 6. The qualification is assessed as follows:

    1. Component 1: Written examination: 50% of the qualification;

    2. Component 2: Non-examination assessment: internally assessed, externally Moderated by WJEC: 50% of qualification. Moderation is a particular form of scrutiny where the marking of assessments by Centres is monitored by the awarding organisation to make sure it is meeting the required standards and through which adjustments to a Centre’s marking are made, where required, to ensure that results are based on the required standard.

  5. 7.  In respect of component 2, WJEC reported that a Centre had queried a discrepancy between the contents of its moderators’ report and the marks awarded to their students. WJEC identified that no mark adjustments (other than the awarding of moderator marks) had been applied to the non-examination assessment for the qualification in summer 2024.

  6. 8.  The failure to apply mark adjustments resulted in 2 issues:

    1. a. The rank order of students was not correct.

    2. b. A proportion of marks were inflated due to the lack of mark adjustments resulting in WJEC failing to set the correct standard for the series.

  7. 9.  WJEC determined that the most appropriate action was to apply the mark adjustments and recalculate the grade boundaries. The recalculation revealed that WJEC had issued 1,527 incorrect results:
    1. • 847 students should have received higher results.
    2. • 680 students should have received lower results.
    3. • 17,610 results remained unchanged.

  8. 10. On 11 October 2024, having had regard to Ofqual’s guidance on correcting incorrect results, WJEC implemented the 847 upward grade changes but did not process the 680 downward grade changes to prevent an Adverse Effect on students.

  9. 11. In relation to the root cause, the incident was caused by a failure to notice a validation error message, as a result the Moderation scaling file was not processed.

  10. 12. For the purposes of this case, the breaches can be grouped into the following 2 categories –

    1. a. Breaches resulting from not undertaking Moderation – Conditions H2.5(b), H5.1, H6.1(d) and GCSE9.2.

    2. b. Breaches related to the root cause of the failure – General Condition A5.

  11. 13. There were a number of mitigating factors in this case:

    1. a. WJEC was proactive in taking steps to resolve the issues as far as possible and to prevent re-occurrence.
    2. b. WJEC acted in good faith throughout, fully accepted responsibility for the non-compliance at the earliest opportunity and the impact on public confidence that has arisen.
    3. c. WJEC engaged fully, cooperatively and transparently with Ofqual.
  12. 14. On 8 July 2025, WJEC agreed to pay a Monetary Penalty in the sum of £175,000.

  1. 15. WJEC-CBAC Ltd (“WJEC”) is recognised as an awarding body by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (“Ofqual”) under section 132(1) of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (“the Act”) and is subject to the General Conditions of Recognition (“the Conditions”) which Ofqual is required to set and publish under Section 134 of the Act.

  2. 16. For the purposes of this case the following Conditions of Recognition are relevant:
    1. a. General Conditions: H2.5(b), H5.1, H6.1(d), A5.1 and A5.2 (a) and (e);
    2. b. Qualification Level Condition GCSE9.2.

  3. 17. Under Section 151A(2) of the Act, Ofqual may impose a Monetary Penalty on an awarding body if it appears to Ofqual that the awarding body has failed to comply with its Conditions of Recognition.

  4. 18. Under Section 151B(3) of the Act, the amount of any Monetary Penalty may be whatever Ofqual decides is appropriate in all the circumstances of the case, subject to Section 151B(1), under which Ofqual may not impose a Monetary Penalty in an amount which exceeds 10% of the awarding body’s turnover.

  5. 19. Ofqual’s ‘Taking Regulatory Action Policy’ sets out how it will use its powers to take regulatory action, including the factors it will take into account when deciding whether to withdraw recognition and/or impose a Monetary Penalty and how it will determine the amount of any Monetary Penalty to be imposed.

The incident

  1. 20. On 26 September 2024, WJEC submitted an event notification to Ofqual in compliance with General Condition B3.1 concerning the issuing of incorrect results on the WJEC Eduqas GCSE Food Preparation & Nutrition qualification.

  2. 21. The qualification is assessed by:

    1. a. Component 1: Written examination: 50% of the qualification; and

    2. b. Component 2: Non-examination assessment: internally assessed, externally Moderated[footnote 2] by WJEC: 50% of the qualification.

  3. 22. On 20 September 2024, a Centre contacted WJEC regarding component 2. The Centre questioned why the moderator report referred to adjustments to the non-exam assessment marks, but the Centre couldn’t see where those adjustments had been made.[footnote 3]

  4. 23. After reviewing the query, WJEC identified that no mark adjustments (other than the awarding of moderator marks) had been applied to the non-examination assessment for the qualification in summer 2024.

  5. 24. On 9 October 2024, WJEC informed Ofqual that there were 2 related issues requiring consideration:

    1. a. The first issue was that the rank order of students was not correct, resulting in grades which did not accurately represent the attainment of students. Remedying this would require the application of mark adjustments as originally intended by the Moderation.

    2. b. The second issue was that a proportion of the marks were inflated due to the lack of mark adjustments. This resulted in WJEC failing to set the correct standard in the series. Remedying this required a change in grade boundaries, specifically, downwards by one mark at grades 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2.

  6. 25. WJEC identified that rectifying the failure would result in a change in grade boundaries, this showed:

    1. • 847 students should have received higher results
    2. • 680 students should have received lower results
    3. • 17,610 results remained unchanged

  7. 26. Having had regard to Ofqual’s guidance on correcting incorrect results WJEC decided to process the upward grade changes and not process the downward grade changes due to the potential Adverse Effect on students.

  8. 27. On 10 October 2024, WJEC implemented the necessary upward grade changes and contacted Centres on 11 October 2024.

  9. 28. WJEC confirmed that the primary root cause of the incident was an error message in respect of the Moderation file going unnoticed, this resulted in the Moderation file for component 2 not being processed.

  10. 29. WJEC confirmed to Ofqual that it has taken steps to prevent a recurrence of the incident, including enhanced quality checks and process improvements. Ofqual has monitored WJEC’s approach to ensure the 2024 incident should not have an Adverse Effect on standards for the 2025 award.

  11. 30. On 29 January 2025, WJEC promptly accepted non-compliance.

Non-compliance

  1. 31. Ofqual and WJEC agree that the incident reflected non-compliance with the Conditions of Recognition, as follows:

  2. 32. General Condition H2.5

    1. a. General Condition H2.5(b) requires: An awarding organisation must –

      1. (a) ensure that any such Moderation which it undertakes ensures that it is able to make any necessary changes to a Centre’s marking of evidence generated by a Learner in an assessment, and

      2. (b) make such a change wherever it considers it necessary in order to ensure that the assessment remains fit for purpose or that the criteria against which Learners’ performance is differentiated are being applied accurately and consistently.

    2. b. By reason of failing to process mark changes, WJEC failed to make such changes as it considered necessary in order to ensure that the assessment remained fit for purpose or that the criteria against which Learners’ performance is differentiated were being applied accurately and consistently, contrary to General Condition H2.5(b).

  3. 33. GCSE9.2

    1. a. GCSE9.2 requires: In setting the specified levels of attainment for a GCSE Qualification which it makes available, an awarding organisation must have regard to an appropriate range of qualitative and quantitative evidence.

    2. b. GCSE9.3 requires: In respect of each GCSE Qualification which it makes available, the range of evidence to which an awarding organisation has regard for the purposes of Condition GCSE9.2 will only be appropriate if it includes evidence of –

      1. (a) the Level of Demand of the assessments for that qualification,
      2. (b) the level of attainment demonstrated in those assessments by an appropriately representative sample of Learners taking that qualification,

      3. (c) the level of attainment demonstrated by Learners taking that qualification in a –

        1. (i) prior assessment (which was not for that qualification), whether or not that assessment was for a regulated qualification, or
        2. (ii) prior qualification, whether or not that qualification was a regulated qualification, and
      4. (d) following the first year in which the qualification is awarded, the level of attainment demonstrated by Learners who have previously been awarded the qualification.

    3. c. In failing to process mark adjustments, WJEC failed to have regard to the level of attainment demonstrated in the assessment as expected under GCSE9.3(b), WJEC therefore failed to have regard to an appropriate range of qualitative and quantitative evidence when setting the specified levels of attainment, contrary to GCSE9.2.

  4. 34. General Condition H5.1

    1. a. General Condition H5.1 requires: An awarding organisation must ensure that the result of each assessment taken by a Learner in relation to a qualification which the awarding organisation makes available reflects the level of attainment demonstrated by that Learner in the assessment.

    2. b. WJEC issued results that failed to reflect the level of attainment demonstrated by Learners in their assessment, contrary to General Condition H5.1.

  5. 35. General Condition H6.1(d)

    1. a. General Condition H6.1(d) requires: An awarding organisation must, in relation to any qualification which it makes available issue results which accurately and completely reflect the marking of assessments (including the outcome of any Centre Assessment Standards Scrutiny and any other quality assurance process).

    2. b. During Moderation, marking adjustments were identified, however the required adjustments to a Centre’s marking were not applied, therefore the results issued by WJEC failed to accurately and completely reflect the outcome of Centre Assessment Standards Scrutiny, contrary to General Condition H6.1(d).

  6. 36. General Condition A5.1(a) and A5.2(a) and (e)

    1. a. General Condition A5.1 requires: An awarding organisation must –

      1. (a) ensure that it has the capacity to undertake the development, delivery and award of qualifications which it makes available, or proposes to make available, in a way that complies with its Conditions of Recognition, and
      2. (b) take all reasonable steps to ensure that it undertakes the development, delivery and award of those qualifications efficiently.

    2. b. General Condition A5.2 requires: For the purposes of Condition A5.1, an awarding organisation must establish and maintain –

      1. (a) arrangements which will ensure that it retains at all times a Workforce of appropriate size and competence,
      2. (b) …,
      3. (c) …,
      4. (d) …, and
      5. (e) appropriate systems of planning and internal control.

    3. c. For the purposes of Condition A5.1, under A5.2(a) and (e), WJEC was required to establish and maintain arrangements that would ensure that it retains workforce of appropriate competence and appropriate systems of planning and internal control.

    4. d. WJEC failed to ensure that it had the capacity to undertake the development, delivery and award of qualifications which it makes available, or proposes to make available.

    5. e. The root cause of the incident was an error message going unnoticed. Process improvements provided by WJEC identified that this happened because of ineffective processes and a lack of adequate supporting guidance for WJEC’s Workforce, contrary to A5.1 and A5.2(a). The incident also demonstrated that WJEC failed to establish and maintain an effective system of control that could detect results being issued without Moderation, contrary to A5.1 and A5.2(e).

    6. f. It is important to note that WJEC has provided assurance to Ofqual that the root causes have been addressed.

Regulatory action

  1. 37. On 8 July 2025, WJEC signed a settlement proposal by which it:
    1. a. Agreed that it had breached its Conditions of Recognition as set out in this Notice,
    2. b. Agreed to pay a monetary penalty in the sum of £175,000 in settlement of those breaches,
    3. c. Agreed to pay Ofqual’s reasonable legal costs.
    4. d. Agreed to an undertaking.

Determination of monetary penalty

  1. 38. On 14 July 2025, Ofqual’s Enforcement Panel considered the evidence relating to the breaches set out above, alongside the admissions made by WJEC. The Enforcement Panel determined that WJEC has breached its Conditions of Recognition as per the allegations set out above.

  2. 39. The Enforcement Panel has considered the settlement proposal presented by WJEC. In determining whether or not a Monetary Penalty is an appropriate regulatory outcome in this case and if so what amount would be proportionate to impose, the Enforcement Panel has had regard to Ofqual’s Taking Regulatory Action policy (2012).

  3. 40. The Enforcement Panel notes the aggravating and mitigating factors set out below. Having had regard to Ofqual’s policy, Taking Regulatory Action (2012), as well as to Ofqual’s objectives and duties as set out in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, WJEC’s failure to comply with the Conditions is such that Ofqual should impose a monetary penalty.

Aggravating factors

  1. 41. There was a significant failing in the Moderation of assessments which undermined the standard of the qualification. The incident resulted in WJEC re-running the award to establish the correct standard.

  2. 42. Ofqual considers this to be a serious case by reason of the fundamental nature of the failure. Ofqual considers the primary impact of WJEC’s breaches was to put public confidence in qualifications at risk, for those students directly affected by the error and for the public at large who might reasonably have expected such errors not to occur.

  3. 43. The incident resulted in a significant number of students receiving an incorrect result including 847 results that understated the level of attainment demonstrated by students and 680 that overstated the level of attainment demonstrated in their assessments. Public confidence is affected by the issuing of incorrect results and students would have been inconvenienced, however there was no evidence to suggest student progression was adversely impacted.

  4. 44. 399 Centres were contacted to correct the results. Each Centre incurred the burden of contacting their students to explain and correct WJEC’s error.

  5. 45. The circumstances of the breach were within the control of WJEC. Although the breaches were not deliberate, the breaches fell within the category of negligence on behalf of the awarding organisation. WJEC’s mark adjustment process lacked sufficient robustness, allowing an error at a critical stage to go undetected. Ofqual has acknowledged that, despite WJEC’s reliance on a fragile system of control, this was an isolated failure of that process.

  6. 46. The non-compliances in the Food Preparation incident arose subsequent to those identified in the Review of Marking matter, however Ofqual acknowledged that the nature and circumstances of each were materially distinct.

Mitigating factors

  1. 47. WJEC was proactive in taking steps to resolve the issues as far as possible and to prevent re-occurrence.

  2. 48. WJEC acted in good faith throughout and has fully accepted responsibility for the non-compliance and the impact on public confidence that has arisen.

  3. 49. WJEC engaged fully, cooperatively and transparently with Ofqual on these events, maintaining clear lines of communication reaching a settlement at the earliest opportunity.

  4. 50. WJEC did not benefit in any material way from any of the activities that were not carried out in accordance with Ofqual’s Conditions of Recognition.

Other considerations

  1. 51. Ofqual also considered a number of other factors set out below.

  2. 52. The need to deter WJEC and other awarding organisations from making similar failings in the future.

  3. 53. The need to promote public confidence in qualifications through visible, appropriate and effective regulatory action.

  4. 54. The nature and circumstances of these breaches in comparison to other breaches for which fines have been imposed by Ofqual on other awarding organisations.

  5. 55. WJEC’s relative size and turnover as an awarding organisation and its turnover from regulated activities in relation to its total turnover.

  6. 56. The likely impact of the fine on the awarding organisation’s provision of regulated qualifications.

Turnover

  1. 57. In compliance with section 151B of the 2009 Act, Ofqual may not impose a monetary penalty that exceeds 10 per cent of the annual turnover of the awarding organisation.

  2. 58. Provided that penalties are within this limit, Ofqual is not required to determine the amount of a penalty by reference to a percentage of an awarding organisation’s annual turnover and the amount of the fine may be whatever Ofqual decides is appropriate in all the circumstances of the case.

  3. 59. The turnover of an awarding organisation is determined in accordance with Regulations 3 and 4 of the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Determination of Turnover for Monetary Penalties) Order 2012/1768 (as in force from 6 July 2012).

  4. 60. For the business year 2024/2025 WJEC’s turnover was £59.2m.

  5. 61. Ofqual does not consider the proposed monetary penalty to be excessive in light of turnover. It is well below 10 per cent of the annual turnover of WJEC.

Representations

  1. 62. WJEC has confirmed that it will not make representations in respect of Ofqual’s intention to impose a Monetary Penalty, as part of its settlement proposal.

  2. 63. Interested parties may make representations in respect of Ofqual’s proposal to accept a settlement proposal from WJEC and impose a monetary penalty in the sum £175,000. Any such representations must be sent by email to EnforcementCommittee@ofqual.gov.uk and must be received before 4pm on 14 August 2025.

Next steps

  1. 64. The Enforcement Panel will consider this case again on or after 15 August 2025.

  2. 65. The Enforcement Panel will consider any representations made as specified in this Notice and will decide whether to accept a settlement proposal from WJEC in the terms proposed or whether any other order should be made.

Signed: Susan Barratt

Chair of the Enforcement Panel

Date: 16 July 2025

Enforcement Panel:

Susan Barratt

Frances Wadsworth

David Bowden

  1. General Condition B3.1: An awarding organisation must promptly notify Ofqual when it has cause to believe that any event has occurred or is likely to occur which could have an Adverse Effect. ↩

  2. Moderation is a particular form of Centre Assessment Standards Scrutiny through which the marking of assessments by Centres is monitored to make sure it meets required standards and through which adjustments to a Centre’s marking are made, where required, to ensure that results are based on the required standard. Moderation takes place before final results are issued under Condition H6.1 – See General Condition J1.8. ↩

  3. Centre - An organisation undertaking the delivery of an assessment (and potentially other activities) to Learners on behalf of an awarding organisation. Centres are typically educational institutions, training providers, or employers – See General Condition J1.8. ↩

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