Board minutes: 19 March 2025
Published 23 September 2025
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2025
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This document has been subject to redactions.
Date
Wednesday 19 March 2025
Time
9:30am
Attendees
Board
Susan Barratt
Sir Ian Bauckham CBE, Chief Regulator
Hardip Begol CBE (V)
Mark Farrar
Cindy Leslie
Dr Catherine McClellan
Chris Paterson
Clare Pelham
Matt Tee
Dr Susan Tranter, Chair
Frances Wadsworth CBE (V)
Ofqual
David Bowden, Executive Director, Finance and Operations
Tom Bramley, Executive Director, Research and Analysis (V)
Daniel Gutteridge, General Counsel
Michael Hanton, Deputy Chief Regulator
Catherine Large OBE, Executive Director, Vocational and Technical Qualifications
Dr Ian Stockford, Executive Director, Standards
Matt Trimmer, Executive Director, Strategy
Also Present
Tom Barcham, Associate Director, Risk and Markets (item 49/24)
Jo Handford, Associate Director, Strategic Projects and Innovation (item 48/24)
Pippa Hall, Director of Strategy and Markets (items 48/24, 49/24 and 50/24)
Laura Moores, Associate Director, Strategy (item 50/24)
Board Secretary
Lydia Waine, Director of Legal Affairs and Governance
Liz Walters, Associate Director, Vocational and Technical Qualifications Policy (item 51/24)
Mary Webb, Head of Private Office
Private Secretary
Frances Wilson, Associate Director, Vocational and Technical Qualifications Standards and Issues (item 48/24)
(V) denotes virtual attendance
42/24 Welcome and apologies for absence
The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Apologies for absence were received from Amanda Swann.
43/24 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest for this meeting.
44/24 Minutes and matters arising
i. Approval of minutes of meeting held on 11 December 2024.
With no amendments, the minutes of the board meeting held on 11 December 2024 were approved.
ii. Matters arising from previous board meetings
One matter remains open:
a. In relation to matter 12/24 this matter will now be closed.
All other matters arising have been closed.
iii. Reports and recommendations from board committees
The chair of the Technical Committee gave a brief oral update to the board on the most recent meeting. The board was recommended to note this meeting dealt with the planned GCSE in British Sign Language and the proposals to consult on the draft regulatory requirements.
The chair of the People, Resources and Finance Committee (PRF) gave a brief oral update to the board on the most recent meeting. The board was recommended to note the excellent results of the people survey 2024. The discussions held on both the budget and the Spending Review would be covered during these items which appear later on the agenda.
The chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) gave a brief oral update to the board on the most recent meeting. The discussions held on strategic risk would be covered during the item which appears later on the agenda.
iv to vi. Minutes from board committee meetings
The approved minutes from all previous board committee meetings that had taken place since the last board meeting were received and noted.
45/24 Decisions taken by electronic business
No decisions had been taken by electronic business since the previous board meeting.
46/24 Chief Regulator’s report
The board received an update from the Chief Regulator.
The board was advised that the interim report from the Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR) was published on 18 March 2025. The board was advised the report reflected support for T Levels, noting also that there is a proportion of young people for whom neither T Levels nor A levels were the right choice. The type of qualifications which should be available alongside T Levels and A levels was to be considered in the next phase of the review.
It was noted that some illuminating polling, commissioned by the review, had been published alongside the interim report.
The new senior appointments to Skills England have now been announced and the board was advised that the good working relationship between Skills England and Ofqual continues.
The board was advised that the National Reference Tests in English language and maths have now been administered with 359 schools taking part, corresponding to around 8,600 students. Results will be available in May at which time a decision will be taken by the Chief Regulator on whether any adjustments to grading in GCSE English language or mathematics are required to ensure grades continue to reflect performance standards accurately.
The board was advised that Ofqual is currently gathering evidence about use of reasonable adjustments and access arrangements, including applications for 25% extra time.
Matt Trimmer joined the meeting at 10:38 am
With regard to the regulation of National Assessments, the board was advised that work is ongoing for KS2 test delivery and key milestones for the 2025 cycle are being met.
The board was given an update on regulatory action undertaken since the previous meeting.
The Chief Regulator advised that, following the launch of the qualification fraud action plan in November 2024, 42 awarding organisations (AOs) have confirmed their commitment to tackling qualification fraud, along with a number of partners.
The Chief Regulator advised the board that there has been a good mix of submissions to Ofqual’s innovation service and positive feedback from the AOs who have used the service.
47/24 Finance
i. Finance update
The Executive Director for Finance and Operations advised the board on the position at the end of period 9 (end of December 2024) with a forecast for a full year resource departmental expenditure limit (RDEL) underspend of £96,000. An oral update for period 11 (end of February 2025) is showing the underspend remaining constant at around £100,000.
The board was advised that HM Treasury had confirmed that it had approved Ofqual’s 2024 to 2025 Supplementary Estimate bid in respect of additional RDEL funding of £190,000 in relation to increased employer pension contributions, an RDEL transfer of £250,000 to DfE in relation to the pause of works in relation to Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications review and an increase in the retainable income threshold from £62,000 to £115,000 in recognition of the recovery of increased legal costs from awarding organisations that have been subject to enforcement action.
Staff and project costs were as expected and the board was advised the budget was on track for the current year.
ii. Budget 2025 to 2026
The board was advised there had been a challenging process undertaken to be able to present a balanced budget in line with limits set at phase one of the 2025 Spending Review. This had involved a high level of collaboration across the Executive team and much scrutiny of areas to prioritise and de-prioritise within Ofqual’s work programme. The plans were also developed in line with the objectives and goals agreed as part of the new Ofqual strategy for 2025 to 2028.
The Chair of the People, Resources and Finance Committee (PRF) advised that the budget had been brought to the last PRF committee meeting where it had been looked at from 2 perspectives. Firstly, the process, which had been particularly important this year with the key challenge being to get the priorities correct. Secondly, the PRF committee looked at the outcomes and assumptions to ensure they were reasonable and credible. The PRF committee endorsed the budget to the board.
RESOLUTION
The board agreed:
a. The draft budget as set out in paragraph 8 of the paper presented and supplemented by the pay spending plans contained in paragraph 11 and non-pay spending plans contained in paragraph 18.
b. The approach to vacancy savings as set out in paragraph 15 of the paper presented and project savings as set out in paragraph 21 to manage the spend portfolio and mitigating the risk of both underspend and overspend throughout the year.
iii. Spending Review 2025 to 2026
The board was reminded that this was phase 2 of the Spending Review and it sets out Ofqual’s detailed plans for the 3 years from 2026 to 2027 to 2028 to 2029 for revenue departmental expenditure limits (RDEL) and up to 2029 to 2030 for capital departmental expenditure limits (CDEL).
The board was advised that the outcome of the Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR) could be transformative but that the final policy decisions are not due until later in 2025. Despite this, Ofqual wanted to make clear that the outcomes of CAR may generate significant additional work for Ofqual, requiring commensurate resource.
As part of the Spending Review process, Ofqual had set up an external challenge panel, as requested by HM Treasury, to review the draft submission. The panel included the chairs of both ARAC and PRF and an external advisor. Feedback had been helpful. HMT welcomed this work by Ofqual.
RESOLUTION
The board agreed the proposed final submission (including any suggested amendments from the meeting) of the Spending Review 2025 to 2026 to HM Treasury.
48/24 Regulatory approaches for on-screen assessment
The board was advised that, since the last discussion on OSA at the December board meeting, Ofqual has carried out detailed work to review general, qualification and subject level conditions that may impact on OSA.
The board was introduced to a number of areas relating to OSA in which policy decisions would be needed. The board recognised and endorsed the importance of reaching a position on OSA and proceeding in a timely way to a public consultation. The board considered there were complex technical questions which needed more time for debate, and arrangements would be made to facilitate that discussion.
ACTION: MT/JH
49/24 Strategic risk and risk tolerance
The Associate Director, Risk and Markets presented the Strategic Risk Register to the board and advised that, since the previous meeting, there had been 4 main changes.
The board was reminded that an annual exercise is carried out to analyse the sources of assurance in place on the controls managing risks. This gives confidence to ARAC that the risk management arrangements in place are adequate. The chair of ARAC advised that the committee found the exercise a positive management tool and endorsed the continuing use of assurance mapping.
RESOLVED
The board noted the changes in the risk register.
50/24 Corporate strategy development 2025 to 2028
The Executive Director, Strategy reminded the board of the work that had already been undertaken on the Ofqual strategy. He advised it was intended to publish a 3-year Ofqual strategy for 2025 to 2028 that, while building on the approach from the 2022 strategy, will focus even more on objectives, goals and outcomes and include less specific activity. The board was reminded that equality objectives, presented as an annex to the main strategy, were required to fulfil the Public Sector Equality Duty.
The board was advised that the primary role of the publication is to inform key stakeholders of Ofqual’s direction and clearly set out its priorities. The board was invited to comment on the positioning of the document.
The board discussed the document and gave some positive and constructive feedback, particularly in terms of the tone of the narrative and language used. The board was advised this would be incorporated into the final document. The board agreed that final sign off should be delegated to the Chief Regulator in consultation with the Chair and noted the intention of publication in April.
RESOLVED
The board noted the intention to publish Ofqual’s strategy and agreed to delegate final approval to the Chief Regulator in consultation with the Chair.
51/24 Revised regulatory framework for apprenticeship assessment
The board was advised that, currently, all apprentices are assessed through an end-point assessment (EPA) which means that all assessment takes place at the end of their apprenticeship programme. The assessment methods for EPA are prescribed through very detailed assessment plans. In February, DfE published a set of principles to reform this approach, permitting assessment on programme and introducing less prescriptive assessment plans. In response to the publication of DfE’s principles, Ofqual has developed a proposed revised regulatory framework to support this reform of apprenticeship assessment and embed DfE’s principles.
The revised regulatory framework is intended to set out the regulatory parameters within which AOs would have greater accountability for assessment design and delivery decisions, in the context of streamlined assessment plans. AOs would have greater freedom to innovate and continuously improve their apprenticeship assessment as is the case in other qualifications. Through the proposed revised regulatory framework, Ofqual is seeking to permit changes to the current EPA model rather than require change where the current approach is valued by employers.
The board was advised that the revised regulatory framework would sit alongside the streamlined assessment plans published by Skills England. The streamlined assessment plans would be the vehicle through which employer expectations are communicated.
The board welcomed the proposed changes.
The board agreed the recommendations set out in the paper.
RESOLVED
The board approved delegation to:
a. The Technical Committee of all necessary decisions in relation to the development of the detailed policy proposals and the draft regulatory framework for consultation.
b. The Chief Regulator, in consultation with the Chair, of final sign-off of the policy consultation, technical consultation and draft regulatory framework for consultation.
c. The Technical Committee of all necessary decisions in relation to finalising the regulatory framework following consultation.
d. The Chief Regulator, in consultation with the Chair, final sign-off of the consultation analysis documents, decisions documents and regulatory framework following the policy and technical consultations.
52/24 Publication of papers
The board agreed to publish the open papers.
53/24 Any other business
i. Appointment of deputy chair
The board agreed to the appointment of a deputy chair. Chris Paterson was proposed by Cindy Leslie. There were no other nominees for the position.
RESOLVED
The board agreed unanimously on the appointment of Chris Paterson as Deputy Chair of the Ofqual Board.
Next board meeting:
The next board meeting will be held in Coventry on Wednesday 2 July 2025.
The meeting ended at 1:12 pm.