Procurement

68.Responsible bodies should inform Ofqual of any procurement activities relating to the development or delivery of assessments and systems, and ensure that Ofqual is informed of progress throughout the procurement process.

69.Responsible bodies should demonstrate that:

• they are following their published procurement procedures
• these procedures meet legal requirements
• the procedures are transparent and efficiently carried out within the published time frame
• the procurement criteria are rigorous, robust and appropriate
• they are managing the risks associated with the procurement activity and are actively updating their risk register
• they have carried out an equality impact assessment on the procurement activity and also on the outcomes.

70.Responsible bodies should confirm that they, their preferred and potential suppliers:

• have the necessary knowledge, capacity, experience and track record to deliver its function
• can meet the regulatory framework
• have policies to meet the legal requirements of employment and equalities legislation applicable to them
• promote the delivery and monitoring of equal opportunities as set out in legislation.

71.Responsible bodies should monitor the performance of all new suppliers more closely than existing suppliers and report any issues arising to Ofqual.

72.Ofqual will include the performance of a new supplier in its monitoring programme.

Changes to the assessments

73.From time to time, it may be necessary to amend the national assessment arrangements. This may be required for a variety of reasons, for example:

1. policy changes requested by ministers or Department for Education
2. curriculum developments¹⁰ recommended by a responsible body
3. recommendations from Ofqual as the outcome of monitoring activities
4. continuous improvement through a responsible body’s self-assessment
5. modernisation programmes.

74.Any change to the assessments will have an effect on the comparability of standards and delivery of the assessments.

• The relevant responsible body must have in place arrangements to manage and justify changes in the system.
• Ofqual will provide advice on the extent to which these changes support the fitness for purpose of each assessment
• Ofqual will take into account the impact of these changes on standards and provide advice on how standards may be carried forward

75.Where changes are proposed to content, structure or processes, responsible bodies must, if requested, provide Ofqual with an impact analysis (see Glossary) of the proposed changes. This analysis should be evaluated against the appropriate common criteria (identified in Section 3).

76.Ofqual will review the impact analysis to ensure that the expected benefits and risks are justified in the content of the change and minimised.

77.Based on the scale of the changes proposed, the responsible body and Ofqual will agree on the appropriate level of change management and the involvement of the responsible body’s chief executive, the responsible body’s board, Department for Education and ministers according to the nature and impact of the proposed changes.

78.The following principles apply when implementing change:

1. The responsible body should explain the changes to Ofqual.
2. Where appropriate, the responsible body should obtain written consent from the Department for Education.
3. Where change to the system is proposed, the responsible body and its suppliers should each identify and monitor the risks associated with implementing the change.
4. An equality impact assessment should be conducted on the proposed changes.
5. Ofqual will incorporate relevant changes into the regulatory framework’s common criteria.
6. Ofqual will keep under review any amendments to the assessment criteria proposed by the responsible body.

79.Depending on the scale of the proposed changes to the content, format or methods of assessment, Ofqual will provide advice on a timescale for implementation. The responsible body should ensure that adequate notice is given to schools or settings to implement the change so that the integrity of the assessments is maintained and the interests of children and pupils are protected.

Piloting changes

80.Where changes are introduced responsible bodies should provide Ofqual with an evaluation of any proposed:

• changes to assessments or assessment arrangements
• changes to assessments where Ofqual or the Department for Education deem that a pilot is required
• changes to systems to ensure that they are sufficiently robust to cope with a national roll-out.

81.In the light of these evaluations Ofqual will provide advice as to whether the proposed change should be piloted.

82.Ofqual will require the responsible body whose remit is to develop and implement the pilot to provide data as detailed in Ofqual’s regulatory handbook – the Monitoring framework for (year).

83.Ofqual will keep account of the pilot arrangements, evaluate the pilot process and report any issues where the proposed changes do not meet the common criteria to the relevant responsible body, Department for Education and, where appropriate, the Secretary of State.

84.Decisions on whether to implement any piloted activities for accountability purposes should be agreed with Ofqual before implementation.