Ofqual opened a consultation on 5 November 2026 on how awarding organisations in England should be recognised to deliver new V Level, Foundation Certificate and Occupational Certificate qualifications from the second tranche onwards.UK Government consultation1
The consultation matters because Ofqual’s recognition criteria are designed to support the “safe introduction” of these national qualifications and to ensure that awarding organisations seeking recognition have “the capacity, capability and governance required” to deliver the first tranche.Ofqual Citizen Space2
In its description of the exercise, Ofqual says it introduced new Criteria for Recognition for V Level, Foundation Certificate and Occupational Certificate qualifications in June 2026.UK Government consultation1 Those criteria apply to awarding organisations that want to offer the new qualifications and are intended to govern their recognition for the initial rollout.Ofqual Citizen Space2
According to the Ofqual Citizen Space foreword by Chief Regulator Sir Ian Bauckham CBE, V Levels let students “explore a sector before deciding where to specialise”, offering a different option to more occupationally focused T Levels and, alongside A Levels, giving “every student a credible path to higher study, higher technical training or a higher apprenticeship”.Ofqual Citizen Space2 At level 2, Foundation Certificates and Occupational Certificates are described as opening “further routes, towards level 3 study or into employment”.Ofqual Citizen Space2
Bauckham’s foreword states that Ofqual earlier consulted on the recognition criteria awarding organisations would need to meet to offer these qualifications and “said we would revisit our approach once the detailed regulatory conditions for V Levels, Foundation Certificates and Occupational Certificates had been published”.Ofqual Citizen Space2 Those conditions “are now in place”, and the new consultation “sets out our proposals for recognition going forward”, aiming to keep “the bar” high enough to protect trust in the qualifications while avoiding “unnecessary restrictions on the market for awarding organisations capable of delivering them well”.Ofqual Citizen Space2
According to the “proposals at a glance” summary, Ofqual is seeking views on two main recognition proposals.UK Government consultation1 For V Levels, Ofqual proposes to “retain the Criteria for Recognition for V Levels, at least until first award of the new qualifications”.Ofqual Citizen Space2
For Foundation Certificates and Occupational Certificates, Ofqual proposes to “revert to using the original Criteria for Recognition for the second tranche of the new qualifications onwards”, which the consultation description notes will be “first taught in September 2028”.UK Government consultation1 If adopted, that change would apply to awarding organisations seeking recognition to offer those level 2 qualifications from the second tranche onwards.
The consultation is open to anyone wishing to respond but is described by Ofqual as likely to be of most interest to awarding organisations intending to offer the qualifications and their representative bodies, schools and colleges, students and their representative bodies, further and higher education institutions and their representative bodies, and employers and their representative bodies.UK Government consultation1
Ofqual says responses should be submitted through its online consultation platform.UK Government consultation1 The consultation opened at 9:30am on 5 November 2026 and is scheduled to close at 11:59pm on 17 December 2026.UK Government consultation1
This report is based on Ofqual’s consultation description on GOV.UK and the summary and foreword published on Ofqual’s Citizen Space platform, not the full proposals or impact assessment documents.