A limited pool of awarding organisations will be eligible to deliver the first tranche of V Levels under rules tabled by Ofqual today.
The exam regulator has opened a short, six-week consultation on new criteria for recognition ahead of the launch of V Levels, foundation certificates and occupational certificates.
Expectations that awarding bodies have a “proven” track record of delivering comparable qualifications mean that “relatively few” are likely to secure recognition, officials said.
Ofqual said awarding bodies must have existing “high levels of capacity, capability and governance” to ensure safe delivery.
It will draw on the standards that it expects from A Level and T Level awarding organisations, in line with the government’s aim for V Levels to have “parity of esteem” with them.
The consultation added: “As a consequence, we anticipate that few organisations will secure recognition in the first phase, because only a small number of awarding organisations currently award qualifications which require those attributes.”
Second consultation coming soon
Ofqual intends to run a separate consultation later this year on new ‘qualification level conditions’ that will set a long-term “level playing field” on assessment approaches, how standards are set, and requirements for review and appeal.
The regulator has similar qualification-specific conditions for awarding organisations delivering GCSEs and A Levels.
It expects to have these conditions in place in time for the new qualifications to be available for teaching of the first tranche of subjects in September 2027.
But awarding organisations that gain recognition for the first tranche will have to re-apply for recognition for the second batch.
Asking awarding organisations to undertake two recognition processes in a row could be a “major increase” in cost, but will result in the commercial benefit of a “more trusted and robust qualification ‘brand’”, according to the regulator’s impact assessment.
Students will also benefit from “increased trust in qualification quality” when progressing into work or further training.
Rushed circumstances
The DfE announced this week that V Levels will be taught in digital, education and early years, and finance and accounting from September 2027.
Eight further V Levels are planned from 2028, with the final batch rolling out in 2030. By then, there will be 18 V Levels available in subjects including care services, hair and beauty, sport, engineering and performing arts.
Rob Nitsch, chief executive of the Federation of Awarding Bodies, has raised concerns about the rushed timeline and pointed out that Ofqual has had to forego the normal 12-week consultation period deployed by government bodies and are “having to apply criteria from other qualifications”.
“This is a manifestation of the time pressure and risk that is being introduced to this change programme by the decision to have first teach in 2027 – and there will be more,” he told FE Week.
Ofqual said its approach of recognising awarding organisations for delivery of subjects due to be launched in 2027 before it has set qualifications level conditions “reflects the unique circumstances” of the timeline.
With previous complex new qualifications, the regulator said it already had qualification level conditions in place before recognising awarding organisations.
Officials also think introducing this round of new qualifications is “a more complex endeavour” than previous reform programmes because similar qualifications already existed.
T Levels were also introduced after a round of competitive tendering, the consultation added.
Proposed requirements
Conditions proposed by Ofqual include the awarding organisation having pre-existing recognition for other regulated qualifications, and demonstrated expertise and experience delivering large numbers of qualifications on a national scale.
They also include having the appropriate systems in place, such as governance, quality assurance qual, printing, data sharing, and cyber security.
The criteria for recognition consultation launched today is aimed at awarding organisations as well as schools, colleges, employers and their representative bodies.
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