Transparency data

22 September 2021 board minutes

Updated 9 June 2022

Applies to England

Time and venue

9.00am by Microsoft Teams

Date

Wednesday, 22 September 2021

Attendees

Board

• Ian Bauckham, Interim Chair
• Susan Barratt
• Delroy Beverley
• Lesley Davies
• Hywel Jones (until item 43/21)
• Dr Catherine McClellan
• Dame Christine Ryan
• Dr Jo Saxton, Chief Regulator
• Matt Tee
• Mike Thompson
• Frances Wadsworth

Ofqual

• Dan Cooper-Gavin, Private Secretary to the Chief Regulator
• Niamh Field, Board Secretary
• Daniel Gutteridge, Director of Legal
• Michael Hanton, Director of Strategy and Markets
• Katy Harding, Associate Director, Finance and Commercial (item 41/21)
• Charlie Henning, Associate Director, People and Culture (item 45/21)
• Steve Hickmott, Senior Manager, VTQ Policy (item 46/21)
• Cath Jadhav, Acting Executive Director, Standards and Research
• Catherine Large, Executive Director, Vocational & Technical Qualifications
• Emma Leary, Associate Director, VTQ Policy (item 46/21)
• Jane Parsons, Director of Communications
• Sean Pearce, Chief Operating Officer
• Julie Swan, Executive Director, General Qualifications

36/21 Welcome and apologies for absence

Dr Jo Saxton was welcomed to her first Board meeting as Chief Regulator. There were no apologies.

37/21 Declarations of interest

There were no other new declarations of interest.

38/21 Minutes and Matters Arising

The minutes from the Board Meetings held on 16 June 2021 were approved and there were no matters arising. The reports and updates from Board Committees were received and noted.

39/21i Decisions taken by electronic business

The Board noted the decisions taken by electronic business:

1. i. Appointment of Mike Thompson to the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (approved 18 August 2021)
2. ii. 2021 Spending Review (approved 25 August 2021); and
3. iii. Approval of delegation of Chief Regulator powers to Dr Jo Saxton (approved 16 September 2021).

39/21ii Urgent decisions taken between meetings

The Board noted that 2 decisions had been taken under the powers of urgency at the end of August:

1. i. The appointment of Ofqual’s existing external lawyers to a new contract following a full procurement process. The existing contract was due to expire at the end of August and therefore the urgency procedure was required to be used to avoid a break in service.

40/21 Executive Report

The Chief Regulator shared some reflections on her first few days in post and meetings with key stakeholders, including seeking and receiving the Board’s endorsement of her approach to regulation on behalf of learners. The Board was updated on the timeline for publishing both the adaptations arrangements and the contingencies consultation following the change in Secretary of State for Education (SoS) and Ministers. The adaptations for 2022 were important as teachers needed as much clarity as possible about content for teaching and assessment. The delay would have minimal impact on Vocational and Technical Qualifications (VTQs) but could be problematic for qualifications requiring advance information for the autumn assessment series.

In relation to results days in 2022 the Board was advised that the interests of students, and ministerial focus, would prioritise safe delivery of, and, therefore, public confidence in, exams in 2022. It was noted that although there was some support from the sector to hold results days in the same week this could be detrimental to students in terms of the ability of centres to provide pastoral support, and heightened delivery risks. In light of these reasons, it was noted that Ofqual’s view was that students would be best served by retaining results days at the usual time. This would need careful communication, making clear the reasons for this position, founded on the interests of students. The timetable for all VTQ results days had yet to be confirmed and the proposed timetable for General Qualifications (GQ) results days includes those VTQ qualifications that are assessed at the same time as GQs and allow for progression to further destinations in the same way.

The Board noted the update on the External Quality Assurance (EQA) transition programme.

The analysis of 2021 results was underway and undertaken and the Research Team was beginning to look at a range of other projects that had been deferred due to the pandemic.

An update was provided on the return to Earlsdon Park, staff wellbeing, Public Facing Services and the National Reference Test (NRT).

Board members requested, given the number of items requiring a decision to delegate the final sign off to the Chair and Chief Regulator, that they be apprised of the final decisions, particularly in advance of publication. The Governance Framework was being reviewed so that assurance can be given to the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.

RESOLVED: The Board resolved to delegate to the Chief Regulator in consultation with the Chair the decision on Ofqual’s formal response to the government’s Better Regulation Framework consultation and the nature of that response.

41/21 Finance Update

The Board noted the Finance Report which provided an update on Ofqual’s financial performance to 31 May 2021. There was an outturn forecast underspend of £0.1 million which was materially unchanged at the end of Q1 2021 to 22. The position remains the same at Q2. The underspend provided an opportunity to redeploy resources to other areas of the organisation and towards planning for 2022.

The 2021 Spending Review was submitted on 13 September and the settlement was expected in October.

The Chair of the Finance and HR Committee confirmed the financial update was consistent with the information provided to the Committee.

42/21 Grading for general qualifications in the autumn 2021 exam series

The purpose of the autumn 2021 series was to give students the opportunity to sit an assessment (in the same subject) if they were not satisfied with their Teacher Assessed Grade (TAG). The Board considered the different options for grading in the autumn series.

RESOLVED: The Board resolved to agree to seek alignment, as far as possible, with summer 2021 outcomes for all students, following the precedent of the pioneering 2020 Autumn series.

43/21 Approach to grading GCSE, AS and A levels in 2022

Consideration was given to 2 options for grading in 2022 (and 2023 and beyond).

RESOLVED: Subject to the comments made, the Board resolved to:

1. i. Endorse the principles
2. ii. Delegate the final decision on grading in 2022 to the Chair and Chief Regulator, with referral back to the Board only if necessary following discussion with SoS.

44/21 Qualifications Review

The Board received an update on the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) review of Post-16 qualifications at Level 3 and below that receive public funding, and Ofqual’s role and responsibilities in the review. The review aims to establish a landscape of funded qualifications for Post-16 students that is clearer to navigate, populated by high-quality qualifications and ensures students are better equipped to progress to their intended destination. The review will provide Ofqual an opportunity to strengthen qualifications where needed, considering their stated purpose.

The government’s intent is to streamline the qualifications offer and that qualifications that overlap with T Levels will not be funded for 16 to 19 year olds. Technical qualifications will need to be approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Institute) and meet requirements set by Ofqual and academic qualifications will need to meet requirements set by Ofqual.

The Board noted that, as far as possible given Ofqual’s limited role in the review, the review should not affect qualifications in a way that would create an additional barrier for students from socio-economic disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Board noted the proposed regulatory approach for Level 3 academic and technical qualifications that will be eligible for public funding going forward. For both academic and technical qualifications, Ofqual will provide additional scrutiny of the qualifications and advice to those approving them for funding. In each case, this will include an increased emphasis on entity-level analysis and risk, with the intelligence generated being used to help shape our ongoing regulation of these qualifications.

The Board noted that a formal Ministerial steer has not yet been given to Ofqual for this work, and key policy decisions are still outstanding that prevented full implementation at this stage.

RESOLVED: The Board resolved to:

1. i. Endorse Ofqual’s proposed regulatory approach to the relevant academic qualifications at Level 3, many of which are those currently referred to as Applied Generals and endorse the proposed regulatory approach to the Level 3 technical qualifications that will sit alongside T Levels
2. ii. Delegate to the Chief Regulator and Chair approval of the consultation to develop the regulatory framework to support the regulatory approach set out, and the subsequent decisions needed, so that the programme can proceed in a timely way

45/21 Bi-Annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Update

The Board endorsed the direction of travel as outlined in the report.

An investment of more than £100k has been put into the HR team to support the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) work and a further £50k has been ringfenced to support the delivery of this work.

46/21 Apprenticeships End-Point Assessments Conditions and Guidance

Consideration was given to the proposal to consult on new and amended statutory guidance to help improve End-Point Assessment Organisation’s (EPAO’s) understanding of Ofqual’s regulatory framework. The amended guidance will focus on areas where we know that EPAOs sometimes struggle to understand how to comply with our requirements and is intended to support our current approach rather than change it.

In relation to the proposed guidance on interpreting assessment plans, it was clarified that our guidance is intended to support EPAOs’ understanding, but that overall responsibility for approval remains with the Institute. Ofqual provides feedback and raises issues with the Institute as necessary to ensure consistency across EPAOs. The guidance will support these existing processes.

RESOLVED: The Board resolved:

1. i. To consult on new and amended statutory guidance, as set out in the report
2. ii. To delegate sign-off of the final form of the guidance and consultation to the Chief Regulator
3. iii. That any amendments to the guidance following consultation are brought back to the Board by exception only, and that final sign-off of the consultation outcomes and guidance, subject to this being in line with the approach set out in this paper is delegated to the Chief Regulator, with an update provided to the Board

47/21 Publication of Papers

Agreed to publish open papers

48/21 Any Other Business

There was no other business.

The meeting ended at 12.15pm.