Ofqual has today (8 October 2019) published a consultation on proposals to update its policy for Taking Regulatory Action against awarding organisations who breach its rules. The changes are intended to better reflect our regulatory strategy and current practice, and include a recommendation to change the name of the policy to ‘Supporting Compliance and Taking Regulatory Action.’
The proposals include:
- introducing new measures to manage some instances of non-compliance, including issuing rebukes and imposing fixed penalties
- an explanation of developments in our approach to supporting awarding organisations to remain in compliance, including how we might notify awarding organisations where we have concerns about a training provider, school or college
- an explanation of our approach to making requirements under our conditions
- the removal of the £10,000 lower threshold on recovering our costs where we take regulatory action
Sally Collier, Chief Regulator, said:
Our rules are designed to make sure that those who take or use the qualifications we regulate can be confident they are a reliable and valid assessment of the skills and knowledge acquired. Where awarding organisations breach our rules, we take appropriate and proportionate action to put things right and to deter others from making the same mistakes.
The sector we regulate continues to change and we are proposing changes to how we use our regulatory powers. We welcome contributions from awarding organisations, schools and colleges, and other users of regulated qualifications.
The consultation is open until 2 December 2019.
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