Ofqual expects it will lose staff due to the pressure created by last summer’s GCSE and A-level grading controversy and the expectation that the next year will be just as difficult, newly published documents reveal.
In minutes from a board meeting on 16 September released today, it says that “it was anticipated that there could be an increased staff turnover due the pressure of summer 2020 and the next 12-18 months would be equally challenging”.
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The minutes also suggest that the exams watchdog believed it may have to lose more staff due to funding pressure, although Ofqual says the situation has now changed.
The minutes discuss the next comprehensive spending review and state that “flat cash settlement” - a real terms spending cut - would mean losing the equivalent of six to eight full-time staff per year based on average salaries.
“This would have a material effect on our ability to deliver our priorities,” the minutes said.
The minutes said that while the Department for Education was expecting savings, Ofqual had submitted a 2 per cent pay increase request as it “had worked hard to ensure its pay was comparable to other sectors and for the recruitment and retention of a skilled workforce to deliver its priorities”.
Today an Ofqual spokesperson said: “These discussions took place in September and the risks have been mitigated by the spending review, so in fact we have now secured new funding for new posts.
“Rather than being at risk of having to reduce staff, we are working hard to recruit significant numbers of new staff to deliver our regulatory responsibilities with regard to the 2021 arrangements as well as some of the most significant reforms in vocational and technical qualifications, alongside our new responsibilities for external quality assurance of apprenticeship end-point assessments.”
