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2. My pre-appointment hearing before the Education Select Committee is scheduled for 10 December. The Privy Council is not meeting until the new year after that date. This means that I have been asked to agree an extension to my one-year appointment as Chief Regulator into early 2025.

3. Since the board last met I have had positive meetings with DfE senior officials, including the Permanent Secretary, and also with the Secretary of State, Minister McKinnell and Minister Smith. Members of my senior team have also been closely engaged in discussions with DfE on Skills England and on CAR, where Ofqual is sharing knowledge and technical expertise.

4. This has been a busy period for external engagement, with Ofqual having a presence at many external conferences. Ofqual has also convened successful summits on qualification fraud and CASLO qualifications; details are set out later in this report.

5. In October we hosted a second annual forum for chairs of awarding organisations. This provided an opportunity to discuss latest policy developments impacting the qualifications sector, Ofqual’s consultation on the introduction of principles to our regulatory framework and our latest thinking on enforcement. The discussion was very valuable and constructive and the chairs were keen to meet again as a group with us.

6. Ofqual’s annual staff conference took place on 12 November, with a theme of ‘celebrating expertise’. I was delighted that board members were able to join us for this event. Further details are set out later in this report.

7. Work continues on the development of Ofqual’s corporate strategy, to be launched in 2025. This will be discussed with the board under a separate item.

8. Ofqual submitted evidence to the CAR Panel, contributing to the call for evidence that closed on 22 November. I am grateful to board members who offered important and useful suggestions on the content before it was submitted.

9. Ofqual’s submission is included for reference.

10. The committee stage of the IfATE Transfer of Functions Bill concluded in the Lords in late November. The next stage is the report stage, which is likely to happen in early December, ahead of the bill moving to its third reading in the new year. It then moves to the Commons. None of the amendments tabled for the committee stage were accepted by the government but the Lords noted that they would continue to seek movement on the status of Skills England (board members may have seen calls in the sector press for the new body to be more independent than currently planned) and how it reports to Parliament.

11. Ofqual continues to work closely with DfE on the development of Skills England.

12. DfE is on track to publish a set of decisions in the week beginning 9 December.

13. The Education Select Committee will be taking evidence from stakeholders on the subject of level 3 defunding in December. Ofqual will not appear.

14. Following post-summer meetings with the exam boards, outcome letters have been sent, sharing our observations and identifying areas of focus for the summer 2025 readiness reviews.

15. The November publication of Ofqual’s official statistics on access arrangements has drawn sector and media attention. Much of this has been centred on the apparent differences between the state-funded and independent schools sectors in use of reasonable adjustments, as well as the rise in the overall volume. We are working to clarify what conclusions can, and cannot, be drawn from the available data.  We will then determine what, if any, regulatory action should be in scope.

16. While we will reflect on our responsibilities in relation to standards and public confidence in qualifications, we will do so mindful of the fact that the provision of reasonable adjustments is a legal obligation placed on schools, colleges and awarding organisations under the Equality Act (2010). This means awarding organisations are legally responsible for determining which adjustments are reasonable; if specific reasonable adjustments were to be challenged it would be a matter for a court to determine.

17. Evaluative reviews have taken place with the 10 awarding organisations that deliver a VTQ summer exam series. All have received letters with our observations on specific risks to manage going forward. They have also been reminded of the importance of ensuring centres are aware of the actions they need to take to meet awarding organisations’ deadlines. The reviews have not identified any particular thematic risks. We continue to monitor this as we head into the winter series and will meet with awarding organisations in January to review progress.

18. The combined GQ and VTQ delivery report for summer 2024 is due to be published on 12 December. Official statistics on reviews of marking will be released alongside this report.

19. The November resit series for GCSE English language and maths has so far proceeded without significant incident, with only a handful of routine notifications regarding issues in exam administration. Results will be released on 9 January.

20. A T Level assessment series is also under way. Some students in this series will be resitting. We are reviewing a sample of the Employer-set Projects (ESP) and core exams. Results will be issued on 20 March.

21. We have published a range of materials on arrangements for exams and assessments in 2024 to 2025, including letters to governors, schools and colleges and higher education. We have also published updated versions of Ofqual’s guides for students and schools and colleges.

22. I and colleagues have spoken at a number of external conferences during the autumn. I delivered a session hosted by Steve Rollet at the CST annual conference, and also spoke on the future of assessment, in conversation with Jon Severs, TES, at the Schools and Academies Show.

23. The ED for VTQ, Catherine Large, joined a panel event at the AELP national conference alongside representatives from IfATE and ESFA. This provided an opportunity to relay key messages about Ofqual’s work on apprenticeships and our principles consultation.

24. The Deputy Chief Regulator, Michael Hanton, joined a panel event at the FAB annual conference on qualification regulation, alongside representatives from the other UK qualifications regulators. Associate Director for Strategy, Jo Handford, also joined a panel discussion at this event, on AI and assessment, taking the opportunity to encourage regulated awarding organisations to make use of Ofqual’s innovation service.

25. We continue to progress plans for external communications to strengthen understanding of grading, including a video for publication on gov.uk and a recorded ‘fireside’ chat with the chief executive of ASCL, to be distributed to their members. We aim to release these materials in early 2025.

26. I have continued to visit schools and colleges during the autumn term. I and the Chair had a particularly insightful visit to a college providing education to learners in prison and I have also recently visited Sheffield College and a (largely) land-based college in Leicestershire. I have now undertaken provider visits in all regions of England, and across all main types of provider.

27. I reported in my last update DfE’s decision that students taking GCSE mathematics, physics and combined science exams in 2025, 2026 and 2027 will not need to memorise the usual formulae and equations. Following a public consultation and subsequent consultation with the exam boards, we are changing our rules to require exam boards to provide students with formulae and equation sheets for exams in these years. Exam boards are publishing the sheets this December so students can familiarise themselves with them, and exam boards will provide clean copies with exam papers.

28. Ofqual’s national assessments regulation annual report for 2024 will be published on 17 December.

29. Ofqual has concluded its monitoring of test development governance meetings that oversee STA’s finalisation of the live tests for 2025.

30. STA has confirmed they and Capita continue to meet delivery milestones for KS2 tests in 2025.

31. Further to previous engagement with the board, on 6 November we launched a consultation on the introduction of principles to Ofqual’s General Conditions of Recognition. We hosted a webinar for awarding organisations and external stakeholders to set out the proposals. The consultation will close on 12 February.

32. Having consulted the relevant awarding organisations on minor amendments to our rules for T Level Technical Qualifications (TQs), these changes were implemented in November. As set out in my last report, the changes correct an anomaly whereby awarding organisations offering one fewer assessment series than normal in the first year a TQ is available were technically non-compliant.

33. Work is under way on the drafting of proposed regulatory requirements for GCSE BSL, and we expect to bring proposals for consultation to the Technical Committee in December or early January.

34. Ofqual convened a summit of regulators, industry licensing organisations and government agencies on 18 November to mark the launch of an action plan to tackle qualification fraud. The plan sets out measures to tackle fraud in key sectors such as construction and security. It includes commitments to make it easier to report suspicious activity and for awarding organisations to alert other awarding organisations who may be affected when fraud is reported. This was a timely discussion and demonstrated Ofqual’s leadership in this area. Our social media activity on this issue has attracted significant interest.

35. On 18 November we published a  on CASLO qualifications and shared the findings at a launch event. Ofqual’s Research Chair, Dr Paul Newton, engaged the packed audience of experts, sector bodies and awarding organisation representatives. I was delighted some board members were also able to attend. It is evident the work put into research in this area in recent years has been worthwhile. We now look forward to building on this and using it to inform our work, and others’ work, on qualification reform in the future.

36. The ED for Research and Analysis, Tom Bramley, along with a number of Ofqual colleagues, attended the AEA-Europe conference in early November to present a range of research conducted by Ofqual. This included research on behaviours in apprenticeship end-point assessment, on-screen assessment in high stakes qualifications, problem solving in Functional Skills qualifications and the ‘sawtooth effect’ in new qualifications.

37. The P6 finance update is presented in more detail in a separate paper.

38. As indicated in my last report, the 5% pay award, in line with pay remit guidance, was implemented in full in October for all employees.

39. The 2024 people survey results were released in late November. The results remain under embargo for external publication until early 2025. Analysis of the results is underway, following which any actions at directorate or corporate level will be identified. The results will be shared with the PRF Committee in February and the board in March.

40. Ofqual’s annual staff conference took place on 12 November. The conference theme of ‘celebrating expertise’ was showcased throughout the day via a distinguished keynote address and comprehensive seminar programme.  I was delighted that board members Cindy Leslie and Mark Farrar were able to join us for the day, and our Chair, Frances Wadsworth, opened proceedings with a welcome address.

41. We were privileged to welcome Professor Becky Francis, Chair of the Curriculum and Assessment Review, as the keynote speaker. Professor Francis delivered an insightful presentation on the review’s opportunities and challenges, which prompted substantial engagement during the subsequent Q&A session.

42. I spoke about plans for Ofqual’s new corporate strategy during the plenary session. The internal seminar programme covered strategic topics. We were pleased that colleagues’ evaluation of the day was overwhelmingly positive.