The English Examining Boards: Their route from independence to government outsourcing agencies

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‘grade inflation’ resulted, they were held responsible. This I maintain is clear
evidence of their loss of professional control over the qualifications they administer.

At the same time, the consequences of these external pressures generated internal
pressures that destabilised them as organisations and raised questions about the
comparability, the reliability and the validity of the qualifications they offer. Evidence
of their instability was a series of damaging incidents that revealed for the first time
weaknesses in their ability to deliver accurate results on time. I suggest that these
episodes are a direct result of the Boards’ loss of their ability to implement change at
their own pace and to reach assessment decisions based on their professional
expertise.

Above all, the pressures they have undergone have had serious financial
consequences. I believe that these pressures may well be a major factor in determining
their future.

4 The three English awarding bodies: centrally controlled but still extant

All the evidence leads me to conclude that the English examining boards by the end of
2002 can no longer be deemed to be independent in the sense that they were for most
of their history. Their regulatory body is not advisory but statutory. Their
organisational structure has to conform to a centrally-devised pattern, providing both
academic and vocational qualifications if they are to be accredited as providers within
the English state system. The qualifications they provide are designed centrally and
the specifications they draw up are vetted in detail by a government agency before
being accepted. Their administrative procedures must conform to a national pattern

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