Every year, millions of students across England take regulated qualifications – GCSEs, A Levels, T Levels, assessments for apprenticeships and many more.
Behind each qualification are rules that exist for one fundamental purpose: to make sure every student's result is valid and trustworthy.
Qualifications only have value if people can trust them; that trust depends on awarding organisations following the rules.
When they do not, we act.
Today, we have issued the first Chief Regulator's Rebuke – a new enforcement tool I introduced last October as part of a significant update to Ofqual's Supporting compliance and taking regulatory action policy. The rebuke has been issued to WJEC-CBAC Ltd (WJEC), following serious failings involving 4 of its Eduqas GCSE, AS and A level qualifications between 2019 and 2025.
I want to take this opportunity to explain the rebuke – a public censure – and why it matters for students.
Why we updated our approach
Good regulation should be proportionate, flexible and effective. Our updated policy reflects our experience of using our enforcement powers over years, and our ambition to be a modern, agile regulator.
We want awarding organisations to get things right in the first place. The vast majority of the time, they do. Where concerns arise, we expect them to resolve issues early. But when things go seriously wrong, we need the right tools to respond appropriately.
What the Chief Regulator's Rebuke is for
Our formal enforcement options include financial penalties, special conditions and, in serious cases, withdrawal of recognition. These remain important tools. But there was a gap: cases serious enough to warrant a public outcome, but where the circumstances did not merit a fine.
The Chief Regulator's Rebuke fills that gap. It is a non-statutory instrument that allows me to hold an awarding organisation publicly to account for serious failings, in a transparent and proportionate way.
This non-statutory option reflects our commitment to working collaboratively with awarding organisations – something they told us mattered to them during our consultation process.
The WJEC case
WJEC admitted failing to collect and monitor the declaration forms required to demonstrate that schools and colleges had complied with subject content requirements for its Eduqas GCSE drama, GCE drama and theatre, GCSE geography and GCSE computer science qualifications. These are not trivial requirements – they exist to protect the integrity of qualifications and give students, schools and employers confidence in the results.
There is no evidence of direct adverse effects on students, and I am grateful that WJEC co-operated fully and openly and accepted the rebuke. But the failings were serious, spanning multiple subjects and years. They had the potential to undermine public confidence in regulated qualifications. That is why a public outcome was right.
Protecting students: the bigger picture
Whether we are issuing a rebuke, imposing a fine or working informally with an awarding organisation to resolve a concern, everything we do is ultimately to serve students, with qualifications that people can value and trust.
Sir Ian Bauckham CBE, Chief Regulator
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