Professional Development Programs

• The difference between malpractice and maladministration, with real-world examples
• Regulatory requirements and how to meet Ofqual’s expectations
• How to create and implement effective reporting procedures
• Investigation processes, evidence handling, and outcome management
• Embedding a culture of prevention through staff training and awareness.

Qualifications Malpractice and maladministration can undermine confidence in your qualifications and damage organisational credibility and reputation. This course explores how to identify, investigate, and prevent issues, while ensuring compliance with regulatory expectations including how to mitigate qualification fraud.

Responsible Offers, Quality and Compliance Managers and staff

Accessibility is not an afterthought. Building it into qualification and assessment design from the start ensures fairness for all learners, supports compliance with the Equality Act 2010, and enhances the validity of your assessments. This course explores how to embed accessibility principles into every stage of qualification and assessment development.

• The regulatory requirements for accessibility under Ofqual’s General Conditions of Recognition
• Key principles of universal design in qualifications and assessments
• How to identify and remove unnecessary barriers to assessment
• Practical design strategies to improve clarity, inclusivity, and fairness
• The link between accessibility, reasonable adjustments, and learner outcomes

Qualification Developers, Assessment Designers, Responsible Officers, Quality and Compliance Managers, and anyone responsible for inclusive delivery.

Applying for Ofqual recognition is a significant step for any organisation and a considerable challenge as well as financially. Yes it brings credibility, accountability, and the ability to award nationally recognised qualifications, but it also places ongoing responsibilities on your governance, operations, and compliance. This course takes you through what it really means to be regulated and how to prepare for the recognition process.

• The benefits and responsibilities of becoming an Ofqual-recognised awarding organisation
• An overview of the recognition application process
• Key evidence and documentation required to demonstrate readiness
• Common pitfalls and challenges in recognition applications
• Building governance, policies, and systems that will stand up to Ofqual scrutiny
• What ongoing compliance looks like once recognition is achieved

Organisations exploring Ofqual recognition, Senior Leaders preparing applications, Governance and Compliance Teams, and Responsible Officers.

Awarding and assessment organisations are expected to manage risk proactively. This course provides a practical approach to building risk strategies and maintaining risk registers that protect learners and organisational integrity.

• How to identify and categorise risks across qualification delivery and assessment
• Building and maintaining an effective risk register
• Linking risk management to governance and regulatory compliance
• Mitigation strategies and contingency planning
• Using risk analysis to inform business and assessment decisions

Senior Leaders, Governance Committees, Quality Assurance Managers.

Good governance is the foundation of a credible awarding or assessment organisation. It underpins regulatory compliance, protects learners, and safeguards organisational reputation. This course provides a practical introduction to governance principles, roles, and responsibilities, with a focus on how they apply to Ofqual-regulated organisations.

• The role of governance in awarding and assessment organisations
• Core principles of good governance: accountability, transparency, integrity, and fairness
• Ofqual’s expectations for governance and oversight 
• Roles and responsibilities of Boards, Committees, and Responsible Officers
• How governance links to risk management, quality assurance, and strategic planning
• Identifying and managing conflicts of interest and vested interests
• Embedding continuous improvement and evidence-based decision-making

Board Members, Responsible Officers, Senior Leaders, and those with oversight of quality, compliance, or risk.

The Annual Statement of Compliance is a critical requirement for Ofqual-recognised organisations. A robust self-assessment underpins the credibility of this submission and provides assurance to your Board and stakeholders. This course guides you through preparation for a clear, evidence-based self-assessment that strengthens governance and continuous improvement.

• The purpose and scope of the Annual Statement of Compliance
• How to structure your self-assessment against the General Conditions of Recognition
• Gathering, validating, and presenting evidence effectively
• Identifying and addressing areas of potential non-compliance
• Linking outcomes to risk management, governance, and improvement planning

Responsible Officers, Governance Leads, Quality and Compliance Managers, and Board Members with oversight responsibility.

Conflicts of interest can occur at every stage of qualification and assessment activity. If left unmanaged, they risk damaging credibility and compliance. This course explains how to identify, record, and manage conflicts of interest in line with Ofqual’s expectations and good governance practice.

• Types of conflict of interest in awarding and assessment organisations
• Ofqual’s requirements and best practice approaches
• How to maintain a robust conflict of interest policy and register
• Practical steps for managing conflicts in live assessment situations
• Embedding a culture of transparency and accountability

Responsible Officers, Governance Leads, Assessors, Moderators, and Quality Assurance Managers.

Awarding organisations must make sure assessments are fair and accessible to all learners. This course covers the principles and practices of reasonable adjustment, ensuring compliance with the Equality Act 2010 while protecting the validity of assessment outcomes.

• Legal and regulatory requirements for reasonable adjustment
• When and how to apply reasonable adjustments fairly
• Balancing accessibility with assessment validity and comparability
• Record-keeping and audit trails for decision-making
• Embedding inclusive practice across assessment design and delivery

Assessors, Quality Assurance Teams, Administrators, Senior Leaders, and anyone responsible for learner support.

Sometimes learners face unexpected circumstances that affect their performance. Special consideration ensures fairness without compromising assessment standards. This course explores policy, process, and regulatory expectations for handling special consideration requests.

• The difference between reasonable adjustments and special consideration
• Ofqual’s requirements and sector good practice
• Processes for reviewing, evidencing, and deciding on requests
• How to ensure consistency and fairness in decision-making
• Communicating outcomes to learners and centres

Assessors, Moderators, Responsible Officers, and Quality Managers.

The Responsible Officer (RO) plays a critical role in every Ofqual-recognised awarding organisation. They provide assurance to the regulator, oversee compliance, and ensure that learners and stakeholders can have full confidence in qualifications. This course explores the statutory responsibilities of an RO, the personal qualities required, and how the role interacts with governance and operational delivery.

• The regulatory expectations for a Responsible Officer under Ofqual’s General Conditions of Recognition
• Key responsibilities: compliance oversight, governance reporting, and assurance to the Board
• How to balance accountability with operational delegation
• The importance of independence, integrity, and professional challenge
• Developing the leadership qualities needed to be effective in the role

Current and aspiring Responsible Officers, Board Members, Senior Leaders, and Governance Professionals.

An effective appeals process protects learner confidence and organisational credibility. This course examines how to design and manage appeals processes that are fair, transparent, and compliant with regulatory requirements.

• The purpose and scope of an appeals process
• The importance of a two stage process
• Things that can be appealed
• Regulatory requirements and best practice models
• Stages of an appeal: informal resolution through to formal review
• Roles, responsibilities, and independence in appeals handling
• How to document, report, and use appeals data for continuous improvement

Governance Leads, Responsible Officers, Quality Managers, and Appeals Administrators

Regular review is essential to ensure qualifications remain valid, reliable, and fit for purpose. This course explores best practice approaches to reviewing qualifications, drawing on regulatory requirements and sector expectations whilst maintaining currency and meeting learner expectations.

• How to plan and structure a qualification review cycle
• Gathering and analysing evidence, including learner, employer, and assessor feedback
• Using data to assess validity, reliability, comparability, and manageability
• Embedding continuous improvement into qualification design and delivery
• Linking review outcomes to governance, risk, and Ofqual compliance

Responsible Officers,  Quality and Compliance Managers, Qualification Developers, Product Managers, Curriculum Leads.

Strong qualification design underpins valid, reliable, and fair assessment. This course guides you through best practice design principles, with examples of metods to evidence requirements. 

• The qualification lifecycle: from needs analysis to review
• Mapping learning outcomes to assessment criteria
• Ensuring validity, reliability, comparability, and manageability
• Designing qualifications that meet both learner and employer needs
• How to integrate feedback, pilot results, and evaluation into the review cycle

Responsible Officers,  Quality and Compliance Managers, Qualification Developers, Product Managers, Curriculum Leads.

Question banks form the backbone of reliable assessment. This course provides the knowledge and tools needed to design, manage, and quality assure assessment items in line with regulatory and organisational standards.

• Building and maintaining question banks for different assessment types
• Item analysis and how to use statistical data for improvement
• Managing security and version control across assessment banks
• Evidence trails and efficient audit and retrieval
• Maintaining confidentiality of live assessment banks

Assessment Developers, Responsible Officers, Quality Assurance or Assessment Managers.

CASS is your evidence-based framework for ensuring rigour, transparency, and compliance in centre-assessed components. This concise, practical workshop guides you through designing, delivering, and evidencing an end-to-end sampling, moderation, and escalation approach aligned to risk and regulatory expectations without over-burdening your operations.

• How to define and scope your CASS approach—what it covers, key interfaces, and alignment with Ofqual/GCR frameworks.
• Structuring moderation and verification: dual marking, standardisation cycles, variance tolerance, rework loops.
• Building a risk-based model: centre, component, and assessor risk scoring; setting RAG thresholds and triggers.
• Developing dynamic sampling strategies.
• Structuring moderation and verification: dual marking, standardisation cycles, variance tolerance, rework loops.

Quality, Compliance & Assessment Leads; IQA/EQA Team — particularly those managing centre-assessed or internally controlled assessment.