Ofqual has fined engineering awarding body EAL £150,000 for serious and repeated failures that left apprentices assessed against the wrong standards, in some cases covering skills with workplace safety implications. The assessment regulator confirmed to FE Week it is the largest financial penalty it has imposed in connection with apprenticeship end-point assessment, three times the sum imposed on the last assessor it fined. More than 1,400 learners were caught up in EAL’s failings, according to the financial penalty notice published today. EAL, registered as Excellence, Achievement & Learning Limited, admitted ten separate breaches of Ofqual’s conditions spanning assessment delivery, results management, data controls, oversight of third parties and handling appeals. The most serious concerned 41 apprentices on an engineering qualification who were assessed against an incorrect version of the assessment plan. Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) that should have been tested were left out and results were issued before anyone noticed. EAL later concluded the omitted KSBs related to matters with potential workplace safety implications EAL’s attempt to fix the problem broke the rules as well. It allowed affected apprentices to demonstrate the missing KSBs through extra multiple-choice tests or professional discussions, which the assessment plan did not permit. Ofqual recorded that as a further breach. Eight apprentices had their certificates revoked for not complying with EAL’s remedial measures, a decision EAL took before it recognised the remedy was itself another breach. An EAL spokesperson said the organisation “respects Ofqual’s decision, which relates to specific areas of historic non-compliance”, and acknowledged the details of the case. They added: “Throughout the process we have engaged constructively, cooperated with Ofqual and have taken significant steps to further strengthen our governance, assurance and compliance systems. We will fully deliver the agreed undertakings.” EAL said it delivered qualifications and assessments to more than 75,000 learners a year and its priority was maintaining confidence in their quality, validity and reliability. It declined to comment further Ofqual’s notice said breaches were repeated and occurred over a sustained period Assessment material errors A second set of incidents involved incorrect results caused by errors in assessment materials, which Ofqual traced to system migration problems that introduced errors in the display of images and symbols. EAL’s quality assurance processes did not detect them and the errors surfaced only after results reached learners. Those assessments were sat by 1,375 apprentices. All were still on programme when results were corrected, so their progression was unaffected. Amanda Swann, Ofqual’s executive director for delivery, said EAL’s failures were “serious, repeated and preventable”. Ofqual will recover its legal costs on top of the penalty. EAL has also given the regulator a formal undertaking, a binding commitment to carry out a set of actions to bring itself back into compliance, which Ofqual checks up on. Lax appeals Ofqual’s audit found EAL failed to follow its own appeals procedure in two cases covering 13 apprentices. EAL’s policy barred anyone involved in an earlier stage of an appeal from taking part in later stages. In one case, the same investigators used at stage one of an appeal also supplied information at stage two, which Ofqual found breached the requirement that appeal decisions be taken by people with no personal interest in the outcome. EAL argued the integrity of the process was not compromised. Ofqual said if found no evidence of a conflict of interest or any adverse effect. Early warnings The regulator listed its March 2025 direction to EAL, over incorrect results on an end-point assessment, among the aggravating factors behind the fine. Ofqual told FE Week that the case was a separate incident. In that case, EAL failed apprentices on a multiple-choice test, rejected their employer’s appeal, then issued replacement pass results based on non-compliant assessments. Ofqual opened its audit three months later, in June 2025, after concerns emerged from ‘event notifications’ EAL had filed, which are formal reports awarding organisations must send the regulator when something goes wrong. The audit reported in October 2025 with no assurance on results correction, no assurance on assessment plan controls and limited assurance on appeals. A statement of allegations followed in January 2026 and EAL responded the next month. In mitigation, Ofqual accepted EAL reported many of the incidents itself, cooperated throughout, found no evidence of deliberate conduct or concealment, and noted the company has spent around £570,000 over two years on compliance and operational improvements. It was EAL’s first monetary penalty. EAL settled on July 22, agreeing to admit the breaches. Ofqual said the settlement meant a lower penalty than it would have imposed in a contested case. Previous penalties Qualifications for Industry was fined £50,000 plus £15,846 in costs in 2024 for breaching special conditions capping learner registrations. Owner Richard McClelland refused to pay and the firm went dormant, having accused the regulator of forcing it out of the market. The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives faced a £50,000 penalty in 2019 after delivery failures hit all 73 apprentices sitting the level 3 paralegal end-point assessment. The final fine was £1,000 once CILEx satisfied Ofqual it had fixed the problems. EAL is owned by the engineering and manufacturing skills charity Enginuity, recognised by Ofqual since 2010. It reported turnover of £14 million and pre-tax profit of £3.3 million in 2023-24, and holds generation two T Level contracts with WJEC Eduqas for building services engineering and onsite construction.