Whether you are a school, college, work-based learning provider, or any other type of learning provider in Wales, we’re here to support you to deliver the examinations and assessments your learners need to progress in life, further learning and work.

Qualifications available in Wales

Qualifications for 14 to 16-year-olds

National Qualifications are being introduced for 14 to 16-year-olds between September 2025 and September 2027. National Qualifications comprise: 

There will be a small number of designated qualifications available to 14 to 16-year-olds which sit outside the approved National  Qualifications offer. 

Centres can find all the information they need to implement the National Qualifications in our dedicated centre guide. Centres can find information and support relating to: 

  • digital assessment and preparing to deliver digital-only exams
  • non-examination assessment and managing learner workload
  • timelines and details regarding the development of the new VCSE, Foundation and Skills Suite qualifications
  • a timeline to support centres with their preparation for the Wave 2 qualifications coming in September 2026
Qualifications for post-16 learners
QIW database

Our Qualifications in Wales database (QiW) contains details of all qualifications that are approved or designated for teaching in Wales for learners under the age of 19 - excluding higher education.

Information held on QiW includes qualification titles, numbers, start and end dates, awarding body details and further information - such as performance measures and whether the qualification counts as a choice for 14 to 19 learning pathways.

Approved and designated qualifications

There are two types of qualifications available to learners under the age of 19 in Wales: approved qualifications and designated qualifications. 

Approved qualifications must follow specific rules to make sure they meet the needs of learners in Wales. Designated qualifications are those which have not necessarily been developed to meet the specific needs of learners in Wales, and have often been made available across other nations and different qualifications systems in the UK. 

See our Designation Handbook for more information on our process for designating qualifications.

Delivering examinations and assessments

Exams and assessments in 2025-2026

In this dedicated exams and assessments 2025-2026 section, you will find everything you need to know about the arrangements for exams and assessments this academic year. 

Summer 2025 results

For all information relating to last year’s exam results, visit our dedicated summer 2025 results section.

Exam invigilation and security

Schools and colleges play a key role in maintaining the security of exam papers and it is important that your staff follow the rules set out by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) for the security of papers and conducting exams. Individual awarding bodies also provide guidance and support. 

Access JCQ’s instructions for conducting exams.

Centres must also provide the right training for their invigilators. We have created a series of invigilation guide videos to support exam officers to use as part of their training sessions to invigilators.

Contingency planning

It is important to have contingency plans in place to enable you to run the exams smoothly, whatever the challenges. 

You will need to make sure you are aware of your specific responsibilities, prepare for the possibility of exam disruption and to be aware of advice from relevant public bodies.   

Read our guidance for contingency planning.

Support for centres

Exams 360: the exam system explained

We’re often asked questions - and we're sure that you are - about the exam system and how it works. Things like, who writes an exam paper and how are exam grades set?

Exams 360 is where you’ll find the answers to those and other common exam related queries that may be asked by your learners or practitioners.

Our strategic engagement team

Our strategic engagement team maintains close relationships with examination officers, teachers, lecturers and senior leaders in every school and college in Wales. The team is here to support centres’ understanding and knowledge of qualifications and the examination system.

They have a key role supporting exams officers to ensure accurate, efficient and secure administration of externally marked examinations and assessments.

The team carry out regular centre visits - in-person and virtually - and are responsible for providing clear and concise information and practical face-to-face guidance and advice.

You can contact the team directly via SETeam@qualifications.wales.

Events and webinars

You will regularly be able to meet and speak to members of our team at various educational events throughout the year, including the Urdd and National Eisteddfods, Skills Cymru, ColegauCymru and other partner conferences and events, and more. 

We also deliver our own events and webinars for educators and centre staff, including an annual Exam Officers Conference held every September and regular exam officers sessions, among other webinars delivered on specific topics throughout the year.  

You can find all our upcoming events and details on how to register for these events on our events page. 

Correspondence

All recent letters sent to Responsible Officers, Heads of Centres and other stakeholders can be found on our correspondence page. 

Get involved

We want practitioners from across Welsh education to help ensure that we are creating a qualifications system that is truly fit for the 21st century.

Jobs and opportunities

From time to time, we recruit individuals to help us with that work - please keep an eye on our jobs and opportunities section if you're interested and make sure that your staff and governors sign up to our monthly newsletters.

Have Your Say

We also run regular consultations, surveys, and involvement sessions. Please see our Have Your Say site for more details on how your centre can get involved.

Exams Officers Hub

If you are an exams officer at a school or college in Wales, then you can become part of our exams officer community. You can request access to our Wales Exams Officer Hub by emailing SETeam@qualifications.wales.