Examination fees

Thursday, 29 July 2010 16:03

Background

Ofqual aims to ensure that fees charged for regulated qualifications are value for money and published in a timely manner.

This section of the website outlines

• The work that we have already completed on examination fees to ensure that they are fair
• Information on what examination fees are spent on
• Practical guidance on how centres can spend less on exam fees

Completed work

We aim to ensure that examination fees are fair, transparent and proportionate. As part of our work we commissioned a study on A level and GCSE fees and produced a report on awarding organisation fees for the revised A levels. A commissioned study also reported on the reasonableness of fees for other widely used qualifications in 2009. As well as reviewing the work we are doing the reports outline the key areas that awarding organisations spend examination fees on.

In June 2009 we published a study on fees for widely used qualification other than A level or GCSEs including vocational qualifications, which had been commissioned by us.

Following the , we investigated the impact on the NVQ fees being charged by awarding organisations – producing a report to improve understanding and provide general information about the change.

Current work

Ofqual is currently undertaking a programme of work that includes:

• Increasing the transparency of fees
• Costs and benefits of requiring fees to be published in advance

Following discussions with Ofqual, all awarding organisations that provide A level and GCSEs have agreed to publish these fees one year in advance of them coming into effect. Ofqual welcomes the early publication of these fees as it enables centres to budget more accurately and make informed decisions about the qualifications they offer.

The costs of A levels and GCSEs

Our investigations showed that there are a number of key areas that awarding bodies spend examination fees on, for example:

• Setting, marking and examining: one of the most significant costs involved in producing and marking examination papers is the cost of employing examiners. It is vital that awarding bodies are able to recruit sufficient high-quality examiners to set and mark the exams each year.
  
• Question paper production and results: awarding bodies also need to spend a significant amount of money to ensure that examination papers are produced and distributed, results and certificates are issued on time, and a pre and post results service is available to centres.
  
• Staff: in addition to examiners, awarding bodies employ permanent staff to ensure that the examination process runs smoothly, that new qualifications can be developed, that centres receive appropriate support and comply with regulatory requirements.
  
• IT and development: awarding bodies develop materials for teachers and centres to assist them in the delivery of qualifications. Also awarding bodies invest considerable resources in IT to support the administration of their qualifications.
  

Breakdown of an A level

The following pie chart shows the typical costs incurred by awarding bodies:

There are a number of elements that affect the long term fees for A levels and GCSEs:

• Examiner fees: in order to recruit and retain high quality examiners awarding bodies must offer rates of pay which are in line with market rates. 
• Increase in assessment opportunities: many qualifications are now unitised which offer students the flexibility of taking their examinations at different times of the year, for example in January and June. This requires the production of additional examination papers to cover the range of assessment opportunities.
• Development of new qualifications: awarding bodies need to develop new qualifications such as the revised A level specifications that will be taught from 2008 and the new Diploma qualifications. Awarding bodies need to fund the development of these qualifications and arrangements to support them.
• Changes to assessment structure: changes in how a qualification is assessed can affect its fees. For example, an increase in the amount of external assessment may make the examination more expensive to deliver.
• IT and development: the amount awarding bodies spend on IT and development is expected to increase as awarding bodies continue to invest in e-assessment and modernising the way examinations are delivered and administered. For example, awarding bodies have begun developing on-screen tests for some exam components and an increasing number of exams are now being marked on-screen. It may take a number of years for these costs to be recouped.

How to reduce examination bills

Schools and colleges have expressed concern about the amount of money their institution has to spend on examination fees. There are some simple steps that schools and colleges can consider to help manage the amount of money that is spent on examination fees:

• Reduce late and very late entries and ensure that entries are submitted accurately for A levels and GCSEs.  Entries made after the awarding body deadline will incur a penalty fee, sometimes up to double the cost of the original entry, so it can make a difference to your overall exam bill if you do not get entries in on time. Awarding bodies charge these higher fees to discourage centres from submitting their examination registrations late and to cover the additional processing costs.
• The QCDA has several tools that can help with this including: the Exam Fees Estimator (opens in new window), the key dates calendar (opens in new window) and a team of field support officers (opens in new window) who are available to provide guidance to exam officers around the country.
• When choosing which awarding body to use, consider and compare the fees involved in addition to the specification and centre support provided. Awarding bodies include different service offerings and levels of support in their fees; so it is worth checking what is included in the examination fee. Also check the fees for late and very late entries as awarding bodies do not all charge the same.
  
• Ensure that candidates are only entered for resits when it is appropriate. 
  

Last Updated on Friday, 30 July 2010 10:39 Tags: Ofqual, education, examination regulation, qualifications, assessments