Regulating awarding organisations

Summary

10.1There are four main aspects to the way we will regulate an awarding organisation. These are dealt with in more detail in the subsequent sections.

10.2First, an organisation must apply to be recognised to award particular qualifications or descriptions of qualifications. We will judge its application against the published recognition criteria for the qualification(s) it wants to award. The criteria should not prevent new organisations entering the qualifications market. The recognition process will make sure that the only organisations that will be able to offer regulated qualification will be those that are committed and have the capacity to develop, offer and assess qualifications in a way that will protect learners and standards. We will judge an organisation's capacity to offer the range of qualifications for which it is seeking recognition and limit the scope of the recognition appropriately. If an organisation wishes to seek recognition to offer other qualifications, it will need to demonstrate that is has the capacity and capability to do so.

10.3Second, once recognised, an organisation will be bound to comply with  recognition conditions, both general and other. We consult below on a draft set of general conditions. We propose that the general conditions should require an awarding organisation to build into its own quality assurance arrangements provision to monitor its compliance with these conditions. We propose that an awarding organisation should ensure its qualifications meet the needs of learners, employers and others, that the quality of the service it provides is acceptable and that the standards of its qualifications are secure and comparable with others.

10.4Third, we will monitor an awarding organisation’s compliance with the conditions, including its approach to safeguarding standards, and require it to take action if there is evidence of non-compliance. We will be able to give directions to an awarding organisation if it fails to comply with conditions and if that failure would prejudice the proper award of a qualification or learners. We will be able to withdraw recognition in the event of a serious risk to learners or standards that the organisation fails to address.

10.5Finally, where appropriate, we may limit an awarding organisation’s ability to offer regulated qualifications. We will be able to do this through the application of conditions specific to the awarding organisation (other conditions) and the use of an accreditation requirement.

10.6We are seeking views on our proposed approach to recognition, to recognition conditions, to monitoring and enforcement and to the limitations that should be placed on an organisation’s freedom to offer qualifications.