Regulating health and care V Levels at subject level

Closes 8 Jan 2027

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Proposals at a glance

This consultation seeks views on our proposed Subject Level Conditions, requirements and guidance for the following V Level subjects: 

  • V Level in health 
  • V Level in social care 

For both subjects, we propose to introduce Subject Level Conditions that: 

  • require awarding organisations to develop qualifications that comply with the subject content set by the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofqual’s requirements and have regard to guidance on assessment objectives 

  • introduce subject-specific assessment objectives and weightings for each qualification 

  • give the greatest weighting to the application of knowledge, understanding and skills, while increasing the weighting for analysis and evaluation compared with tranche 1 V Level subjects to reflect the proposed subject content 

  • introduce subject-specific guidance to support consistent interpretation and use of the assessment objectives across awarding organisations 

  • clarify that the existing requirement limiting reward for demonstrating knowledge in isolation applies to Assessment by Examination rather than the qualification as a whole 

  • require qualifications to be assessed through a combination of: 

    • 40% Assessment by Examination 
    • 60% Non-exam Assessment 

  • require that all Assessment by Examination, which comprises 40% of overall assessment, is to be taken as terminal assessment (taken at the end of the course) 

  • require assessments to be available through a common assessment structure, including one Assessment by Examination series each academic year and specified submission windows for Non-exam Assessment 

  • retain the assessment structure and availability requirements already adopted for tranche 1 V Level subjects where we consider these remain appropriate for the health and care subjects. 

We are also seeking views on our approach to on-screen assessment, including: 

  • whether Assessment by Examination should be permitted to be delivered on-screen for these subjects 

  • whether awarding organisations should be permitted to offer both paper-based and on-screen assessments within a single specification 

  • whether awarding organisations should be allowed to use the same assessment materials across paper-based and on-screen delivery modes.