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Exams and qualifications regulator, Ofqual, has unveiled a new 3-year plan, setting out the organisation’s ambitions for the future of apprenticeships, technical and academic qualifications.
Plans set out by the regular look to put the interests students and apprentices at the centre of its work to ensure qualifications are “sought after, fair, accessible, valued and world class” as exam-based assessment are reintroduced this year following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ofqual has also outlined in its plans how it will influence how innovation and new technology will play a role in approaches to assessment and qualifications, and how this can improve quality and fairness for students in how they are delivered.
The regulator will also explore over the next three years how newly introduced technical qualifications, T-Levels, as well as apprenticeships, can meet future demand for rapidly evolving skills requirements in the digital sector. Considerations will build on the introduction of a new Digital Functional Skills qualification, and the government’s ongoing review into post-16 education and recently enacted Skills Bill.
Ofqual has also set out plans to ensure exams and qualifications that it regulates are accessible to all students, including those with special educational needs, disabilities, and for whom English is not their native language.
Ofqual Chair Ian Bauckham said:
“Ofqual’s deep assessment expertise, access to expansive data and our convening power afford us a unique role in shaping the future of qualifications and assessment. We are ambitious in that goal. Regulation must enable good innovation that is in the interests of students and apprentices.
“The pandemic has, rightly, catalysed questions about not if, but when, and how, greater use of technology and onscreen assessment should be adopted. All proposed changes need to be carefully assessed for their impact on students, including those with special educational needs and disabilities. It is right that we use research and evidence to challenge existing practice so that we continue to improve what we offer for students and apprentices.”
Chief Regulator Dr Jo Saxton said:
“I am delighted to be publishing our 2022 to 2025 corporate plan – the first in my tenure as Chief Regulator. At its heart is my personal commitment that the interests of students and apprentices will be the compass that guides us on every decision and action. They will be our true north. I know the power of qualifications from my own personal experience and from my time working on the frontline of schools in some of the most disadvantaged areas in the country. Qualifications open doors. They are a passport to new opportunities and possibilities. To fulfil that role they must be trusted, understood, good quality and fair.
“This corporate plan sets out the work that Ofqual will do to make sure that regulated qualifications are just that. I also want to make it easier for students to see a clearer choice of options. We are also looking at the future landscape of qualifications and so will be developing and consulting on arrangements to secure high-quality qualifications as part of the government’s post-16 qualifications review.”