The exam watchdog’s executive director of standards, research and analysis is set to make a move to the Pearson exam board after thousands of results were affected by delays in 2022.
It comes after a review by Ofqual found that almost 21,000 Btec and Cambridge Technical (Ctec) results were missing or incorrect on results days in August last summer.
Now Cath Jadhav, Ofqual’s executive director of standards research and analysis and acting executive director of general qualifications, will join Pearson in what Tes understands is an attempt by the exam board to avoid a repeat of last year’s delays.
Ms Jadhav leaves after 14 years at the regulator, having joined in 2009 and previously worked as an acting director for strategy, risk and research and director of standards and comparability.
She is set to join Pearson at the start of July but left Ofqual at the end of last week to spend her notice period on gardening leave as she is moving to a role with a “conflict of interest”, according to an Ofqual statement published after the news of her move broke this morning.
Before joining Ofqual she was principal manager for business and social science subjects for the exam board AQA.
After the delays to results last summer, Ofqual launched a review and an investigation into the systems and processes used by two of the awarding organisations, Pearson and OCR, and introduced a “new results deadline” for organisations to issue vocational qualifications results.
A senior sector figure with knowledge of the appointment told Tes that Pearson did not want to have “another bloody nose this summer for failing to get results out the door”.
They added it was “a clear sign they are taking the issue seriously and sorting themselves out”.
Ofqual’s chief regulator Dr Jo Saxton said: “Cath’s contribution to Ofqual’s work is significant and I know that she will continue to act in the interests of students at Pearson.”
Last December, Pearson published a review into the delays in issuing Btec results in summer 2022.
Btecs are described as career-focused qualifications with a focus on skills-based learning. They are modular qualifications and can be completed in up to five years.
The review found that pandemic adaptations and higher numbers of colleges introducing Btecs with external assessments for the first time, alongside problems with Pearson IT systems and a lack of clear communications with schools and colleges, were just some of the contributing factors to the delays to results.
The awarding body also set out changes to be made for the current academic year in order to improve its services to schools and colleges.
This included a revision of Pearson’s calendar of key dates with additional checkpoints to allow more reviews to ensure that results are on track, as well as improving communication.
Ofqual has also implemented a 2023 vocational and technical qualification results taskforce, with both Pearson and OCR represented.
In October last year, the former chair of the Commons Education Select Committee, Robert Halfon, said issues that saw thousands of Btec pupils not receive their grades on results day left them “feeling like second-class citizens”.
Mr Halfon criticised exam boards OCR and Pearson after thousands of pupils did not receive their results in August, describing the process as “shambolic”.
