Apprenticeships in the news again
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42092171
Jul
Data Protection and Conditions of Recognition A1, A5, C3, D4 and B3
Wherever you look you cannot get away from data protection. Condition A1 doesn’t mince its words on how an AO can render itself unsuitable by breaching Data Protection Law, or B3 that notification to Ofqual would be expected if the AO was named, investigated or...
Jun
Getting to grips with A6 Identification and management of risks
It’s interesting to see and hear about AO’s different responses to A6. There are two things I always look for on A6: a risk management policy and how risk is managed in practice; and the contingency plan. For me understanding and practices vary widely in...
Jun
Welsh Statement of Compliance
My recent slide set on tackling and communicating self-evaluation and the annual statement of compliance (SoC) for regulators (part of my recent newsletter) emphasised the need for ‘objectively and critically’ evaluating levels of compliance. ...
May
Qualification lifecycle and AO processes
A while back I published some ideas about the processes that should be in place to support the qualification lifecycle and recently I was brought back to it. I’ve just updated it and thought it would be worth sharing again. In my work I see gaps...
May
Statutory Guidance for Condition G4 on Confidentiality of Assessment Materials and Conduct of Specified Training Events – Recent Ofqual Consultation
If you had the opportunity to review and respond to the recent consultation on confidentiality of assessment materials and conduct of specified training events there were a few nuances that could be troubling. Firstly, it seemed that Ofqual were possibly looking to...
Apr
Quality for apprenticeships
The response to the consultation on the Institute for Apprenticeships Operational Plan is now published. The choice to include the word quality in the title of the response paper is interesting. Among the lead off objectives in the introduction this is explained more...
Apr
Important and Urgent
I’m on both of these missions right now as I’m on new puppy watch and working. When I go into different AOs the thing I most often see is individuals working only on the urgent stuff. Things like dealing with customer needs, issues and generally the day...
Mar
Regulatory strategy
At the recent Ofqual conference Sally Collier shared a little of Ofqual’s regulatory approach: o Some more housekeeping – to remove more qualifications from the Register where appropriate o Oversight on AO risks, looking at: ...
Mar
Ofqual conference reflections
There were some good sessions at the conference earlier this week. Sally Collier’s opening emphasised Ofqual’s commitments to pursuing validity in qualifications, making evidence based judgements and being transparent. She emphasiseD the importance of...
Feb
Controls and the control environment for Awarding Organisations
Writing this I reflect on a productive Governing Body meeting with a client where we talked a lot about the controls that were in place to support compliance without using the ‘control’ word. So, what are controls and are they important? Condition...