Consultation on National 14-16 Qualifications recognition criteria
Qualifications Wales has launched a consultation for awarding bodies and other stakeholders to share views on draft recognition criteria to award a range of new National 14-16 Qualifications.
As the independent regulator, Qualifications Wales sets out the rules and regulations that all awarding bodies must meet when offering qualifications.
A new suite of National Qualifications has been developed to sit alongside Made-for-Wales GCSEs. Collectively, by 2027, these will replace the majority of existing qualifications eligible for public funding for 14–16-year-old learners.
These new qualifications support the aims and purposes of the Curriculum for Wales, and include:
- VCSEs (Vocational Certificates of Secondary Education)
- Foundation qualifications
- Skills for Work and Skills for Life qualifications
- Project qualifications
All recognised awarding bodies must meet certain conditions, but Qualifications Wales can set additional criteria for organisations delivering specific qualifications.
Qualification specific recognition criteria are already in place for GCSE, AS and A level qualifications. As Qualifications Wales prepares for the introduction of the full National Qualifications offer, it has developed qualification specific recognition criteria for awarding bodies offering VCSEs, Foundation, Skills and Project qualifications.
The purpose of the draft criteria is to ensure that awarding bodies offering the qualifications have the necessary resources and procedures in place to do so. More information about Qualifications Wales’ regulatory work can be found here.
The consultation allows stakeholders to offer views on the draft recognition criteria, as well as the suggested evidence that awarding bodies would need to provide to meet the criteria.
The consultation is open until 22 November 2024, and you can have your say here.