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15 April 2026

Tag: Ofqual

Exams 2022: What you need to know about plans for GCSEs and A-levels

The government has published its long-awaiting consultation on changes to GCSE and A-level exams in 2022. Many of the proposals put forward are similar to those proposed for exams in 2021 before they were cancelled. Here’s what you need to know.   1. Choice of topics for some GCSEs As was proposed for 2021 exams […]

DfE and Ofqual launch exams 2022 consultation

The government has set out draft plans for GCSEs and A-level exams next year, including a choice of topics for some GCSE subjects and advance information about the focus of exams in others. But schools will have to wait until the autumn to hear the government’s final decisions on adaptations, and their decision relating to […]

Education MPs endorse Saxton as new Ofqual boss

The education select committee has endorsed the appointment of Dr Jo Saxton as chief regulator of Ofqual. Saxton, a former academy trust boss and policy adviser to Gavin Williamson, was quizzed by the committee on Tuesday. The MPs’ report states the five-year role has a salary of up to £135,000. Five people applied for the […]

‘Policy not politics’: New Ofqual boss attempts to play down independence fears

Dr Jo Saxton has said she would “absolutely speak out” as Ofqual boss if she felt any government decisions were going to “undermine the interests” of students after being quizzed over her independence by MPs today. Education secretary Gavin Williamson named Saxton, his policy adviser and a former academy trust boss, as his preferred candidate […]

Independence questions as Williamson ally put forward for Ofqual job

Gavin Williamson has put forward his own policy adviser to be the next chief regulator of Ofqual, prompting warnings over the body’s supposed independence. The Department for Education announced last week that Dr Jo Saxton, who founded and ran the Turner Schools academy trust before moving to her current job, was the education secretary’s preferred […]

The Interview: Roger Taylor

Roger Taylor, the former chair of Ofqual, has spent much of his life thinking and writing about transparency and data. Here he says why no algorithm would have worked – and why Ofqual didn’t share it “An unsolvable problem.” That is how Roger Taylor, former chair of Ofqual, describes what the regulator was tasked with […]

Exams regulator calls in Test and Trace firm Sitel to manage public enquiry phone lines

Exams regulator Ofqual is paying £225,000 to an outsourcing company used in the government’s much-criticised Test and Trace system to answer calls from students, parents and teachers. The regulator outsourced its public enquiries lines to Sitel to meet an expected rise in calls. Last year Ofsted staff were deployed to help in the height of […]

Williamson’s policy adviser set to be new Ofqual boss

A former academy trust boss and policy adviser to Gavin Williamson has been put forward to be the new chief regulator of Ofqual. The government has named Dr Jo Saxton as its preferred candidate for the role, following approval by the prime minister. Simon Lebus has been in post in the top job on an […]