Commentary on Sections Part 7: Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation Recognised bodies: monitoring and enforcement Section 150: Investigation of complaints
447.Ofqual may investigate complaints in respect of the award or authentication of a regulated qualification, or arrange for an independent party to do so.
448.Ofqual’s complaint mechanisms will replace those that are currently in place through the Examinations Appeals Board (in relation to GCSEs and A-levels for example) and the QCA (in relation to vocational qualifications).
449.Ofqual will be free to work jointly with its counterparts in other parts of the UK in relation to the investigation of complaints should it and they so wish.
450.Ofqual’s powers of redress in the event of its upholding a complaint are those that it has generally. Where the complaint led to a finding that the recognised body had acted in breach of a condition of recognition it would be for Ofqual to consider what action to take to ensure compliance with the condition. As under the existing arrangements of the Examinations Appeals Board, the Government would expect any complaints that are upheld about, for example, the marking of an exam, to be referred in the first instance back to the awarding body concerned for review.