Ofqual fines WJEC £350k after thousands of exam paper errors

Ofqual has fined WJEC £350k after it was found that exactly 1,527 GCSE students were given incorrect results due to an error by the awarding body. 

The exam regulator revealed that pupils who sat WJEC’s Eduqas GCSE food preparation and nutrition in summer 2024 received the wrong grade on results day after teachers’ coursework marks were not properly moderated. Coursework accounted for half of the qualification. 

Out of the 1,527 students, 847 received lower grades than they should have and 680 higher. The lower grades were corrected in October 2024, but those who had been awarded higher marks were allowed to keep them. 

As a result, WJEC will pay a £175k fine for the error after Ofqual said the mistake arose from “an error in WJEC’s external moderation of teachers’ marking”.

In a separate breach, WJEC admitted that between 2017 and 2023 it had allowed some 3,926 exam papers to be reviewed by the same assessors who had originally marked them, out of more than 120,000 marking reviews across 38 qualifications. This is despite regulations requiring reviews to be independent.

One student’s grade was later raised following a new review in 2024. WJEC provided schools and colleges with credit notes worth just over £219k as compensation. Ofqual fined the board a further £175k for the breach.

Amanda Swann, executive director for general qualifications at Ofqual, said: “Students must be able to trust that their results accurately reflect their performance, and what they know, understand and can do.

“These proposed fines reflect the serious nature of WJEC’s failures and our commitment to protecting the interests of students and maintaining the integrity of our qualifications system.”

Ofqual said its enforcement panel considered mitigating factors, including WJEC’s admission of responsibility, co‑operation with the regulator and steps taken to prevent further errors.

Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at the National Association of Heat Teachers (NAHT), added: “It’s vital that students and school staff have trust in the qualification system and mistakes like this risk undermining that, as well as creating worry and stress for everyone concerned. Schools are charged a lot by exam boards and have in many cases seen increases in entry fees that are above‑inflation and above increases in per‑pupil funding – so the least they should expect is a dependable service.

“For all these reasons it is absolutely right that exam boards should be held accountable when they get things wrong, but more important still is that lessons are learned so that future student cohorts are not impacted by similar errors.”