Regulating post-16 VTQs at L2 and L3

Ofqual regulates qualifications taken by students in England that are offered by regulated awarding organisations. Ofqual performs this regulation in a range of ways:

• controlling entry of awarding organisations into the market
• reviewing the quality of qualifications and assessments
• creating general, qualification and subject-specific rules and guidance
• monitoring the application of those rules, supporting compliance and where necessary taking regulatory action
• engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to promote understanding

Ofqual has statutory duties not to impose or maintain unnecessary regulatory burden and to have regard to the desirability of facilitating innovation.

We explain in this section the ways in which we propose to regulate V Levels, Foundation Certificates and Occupational Certificates.

Recognition of awarding organisations

Recognition is the process through which awarding organisations become regulated. It requires an awarding organisation to demonstrate to Ofqual that it has the necessary expertise, systems, processes and resources to deliver qualifications.  Awarding organisations offering qualifications that are publicly funded by DfE must be recognised by Ofqual to offer regulated qualifications, and this will be the case for V Levels, Foundation Certificates and Occupational Certificates. Recognition provides confidence to qualification users that an awarding organisation has the capacity and competence to develop and offer high-quality qualifications and has demonstrated its ability to do this to Ofqual.

Ofqual has recently consulted on the criteria for recognition it proposes to apply to awarding organisations seeking to offer V Levels, Foundation Certificates and Occupational Certificates in the first tranche of qualifications. This consultation set out our intention to require awarding organisations to apply to include each of V Levels, Foundation Certificates and Occupational Certificates within their scope of recognition. We expect to publish our decisions in relation to our recognition consultation in June 2026.

Setting Conditions, requirements and guidance

For the qualifications we regulate, we set general, qualification and subject-specific rules and guidance. Awarding organisations must comply with our rules on an ongoing basis and have regard to the guidance we publish.

General Conditions of Recognition

Ofqual’s General Conditions apply to all regulated awarding organisations and all regulated qualifications. They include 6 principles that awarding organisations must always demonstrate, and Conditions relating to the awarding organisation and its qualifications. In relation to the awarding organisation, they cover its governance, its interactions with Ofqual, and the arrangements it has in place with schools and colleges. In relation to an awarding organisation’s qualifications, they cover:

• general requirements such as fitness for purpose, accessibility and complaints handling
• design and development of qualifications, including the size and level of a qualification and the need to publish a qualification specification
• providing information about qualification fees to purchasers
• setting and delivering assessments, including requirements relating to registering students, reasonable adjustments, and the conditions for taking assessments
• marking and issuing results and oversight of centre-marking
• qualification certificates and arrangements for appealing against awarding organisation decisions

Further information about the General Conditions is available here.

In line with other qualifications we regulate, awarding organisations offering V Levels, Foundation Certificates and Occupational Certificates will need to comply with the General Conditions.

Qualification Level Conditions

For some qualifications, we set additional qualification specific Conditions, requirements and guidance known as Qualification Level Conditions, requirements and guidance. We do this for qualifications including GCSEs, AS and A Levels and Technical Qualifications within T Levels.

Qualification Level Conditions set more specific expectations than those in the General Conditions. They may for example include requirements relating to the methods of assessment used, or the number of assessment series each year. They can be used to ensure consistency between different awarding organisations offering the same qualification. They can also help ensure that approaches taken by awarding organisations lead to sufficiently valid assessments, and help mitigate risks, such as malpractice, which could exist due to the nature of the qualification or way it is used.

This consultation proposes to set Qualification Level Conditions, requirements and guidance for each of V Levels, Foundation Certificates and Occupational Certificates.

Subject Level Conditions

Ofqual may also set Conditions, requirements and guidance for individual subjects within a qualification type, known as Subject Level Conditions, requirements and guidance. We set Subject Level Conditions for subjects in GCSEs, AS and A Levels and Functional Skills qualifications. We use Subject Level Conditions to manage risks relating to a particular subject and to ensure consistent approaches between awarding organisations. This could be, for example, by requiring awarding organisations to comply with published subject content or setting assessment objectives which awarding organisations must design their qualifications to meet.

We propose to put Subject Level Conditions, requirements and guidance in place for V Levels.