Today, 3 August 2017, we are announcing our intention to withdraw
our Criteria for Key Skills
Qualifications.
The criteria were originally developed by the Qualifications and
Curriculum Authority in 2000, and set out rules and regulations
for Key Skills qualifications.
From 2012, the government introduced Functional Skills
qualifications, which largely replaced Key Skills. There are
currently just 9 Key Skills
qualifications available to new learners in England, all
offered by a single awarding organisation.
We have reviewed the criteria in detail, and set out our analysis
in the table below.
Our view is that none of these rules are needed, and we can
continue to regulate the remaining Key Skills qualifications
effectively using our General Conditions of
Recognition.
As a result, we think retaining the criteria would impose an
unnecessary regulatory burden. We intend to formally withdraw
them on 31 August 2017.
Detailed analysis of current criteria
|
Current rule
|
Our view
|
Qualifications that use any of the following terms in their
titles must be based on the specifications developed by the
regulators:
• Key Skills
• Key Skills qualifications
• application of number
• communication
• information technology
• improving own learning and performance
• problem solving
• working with others
|
Rule not needed
Developing qualification specifications is outside Ofqual’s
remit. We do not think it is appropriate to require
awarding organisations to continue using a specification
developed by a predecessor organisation many years ago.
|
|
Qualifications in Key Skills must use the assessment model
specified by the regulators.
|
Rule not needed
Our General Conditions of Recognition already require
qualifications to use the most appropriate assessment
methods (Condition D1), and assessments to be fit for
purpose (Condition E4.2).
|
|
If the assessment method includes tests, awarding
organisations must use the agreed national tests and allow
candidates to take the tests as many times as they want. If
the tests do not have pre-set pass marks, the awarding
organisations must agree the pass marks at meetings that
include all of the awarding organisations involved in the
relevant assessment series.
|
Rule not needed
This requirement is redundant because it could conflict
with, for example, General Conditions D1 and G1 – and
awarding organisations must comply with the Conditions
where they conflict with the criteria.
In addition, it is not currently possible to comply with
this rule, because it there is no longer a bank of “agreed
national tests”.
|
Awarding organisations must:
• participate in cross-awarding organisation moderation
activities for internal assessment
• carry out random checks, after the final date of
completion, where nearly completed portfolios were included
in the Moderation process
|
Rule not needed
Our General Conditions of Recognition already require
awarding organisations to carry out effective moderation
(Condition H2)
|
