Cymraeg

Regulating

Introduction

First and foremost, we are a regulator, established through legislation. Our core purpose is ‘ensuring that qualifications, and the qualification system, are effective for meeting the reasonable needs of learners in Wales', alongside 'promoting public confidence in qualifications and the Welsh qualification system'.

We are the regulator of awarding bodies that we have recognised. We also regulate qualifications that are developed and delivered by the awarding bodies that we recognise and that are offered to learners in Wales. When recognised, an awarding body must comply with the rules that we set.

Our purpose is met when qualifications taken in Wales are trusted and valued by learners, employers and education providers and are recognised throughout the UK and internationally.

Regulatory Framework

Our Regulatory Framework is an interactive toolkit designed for regulated awarding bodies and wider stakeholders. It sets out the rules that Qualifications Wales applies when regulating awarding bodies and the qualifications they develop, deliver, and award to learners in Wales.  

The framework is designed to reflect the varied regulatory requirements across a range of Approved, Designated, and Other Regulated qualifications. 

This interactive toolkit is a hybrid of our previously published ‘Regulatory Framework and Approach’ and ‘Regulatory Documents List’ 

The framework is structured to facilitate ease of navigation and includes links to relevant information and regulatory documents, making it easier for users to access the information and rules they need. 

Our overarching and interactive Regulatory Framework contains: 

  • our Regulatory Documents in one place 

  • 3 distinct parts: 

  • Awarding Body Recognition and Regulation 

  • Approved Qualifications 

  • Designated and Other Regulated qualifications 

  • groups rules by specific qualifications  

  • links to a useful Manual containing our Policy documents that sits outside of our Framewor 

 

Our Regulatory Glossary of Terms explains commonly used terms in our regulatory and supporting documents. 

Regulatory Strategy and Approach 

We are in the process of developing a regulatory strategy which will incorporate our regulatory approach. Our regulatory approach is guided by the five principles of good regulation: 

Transparency 

  • our regulation should be simple and user-friendly, and by being as open as possible about our processes and with our records, we should ensure that people understand the decisions we have made and why 

Accountability 

  • we should be able to justify all of our decisions and explain them under public scrutiny 

  • we operate at arm’s length from Welsh Government and our work is scrutinised by Senedd Cymru on behalf of the people of Wales 

  • we also produce an annual report, which details how we have fulfilled our functions, and how we plan to carry them out in the future 

Proportionality 

  • we only intervene when necessary. Any remedies that we propose should be appropriate to the risk posed 

  • we should identify any costs resulting from our decisions and keep these to a minimum 

Consistency 

  • we make sure that our rules and conditions are joined up and implemented fairly, so that we give stability and certainty to the organisations that we regulate 

Targeting 

  • by making sure that our regulatory activities focus on addressing the problem, and by setting clear, unambiguous targets, we minimise any unintended consequences 

  • we have open communication channels with other qualifications regulators across the UK and work collaboratively where appropriate to do so 

  • good working relationships help us to manage potential regulatory burden and avoid unnecessary duplication