QCA, QCDA and Ofqual: Design and Technology

This collection of science resources is from the evolving Government agencies that have maintained and developed the National Curriculum and associated assessments, tests and examinations, advising the Secretary of State for Education on these matters.

Context

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) was set up by the Government to regulate all external qualifications in England. The National Assessment Agency took over the specific role of the delivery and administration of National Curriculum assessments from QCA in 2004.

By 2007, the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA), which was an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Education, carried out similar roles to QCA although regulatory functions regarding examination and assessment boards were transferred to Ofqual in 2007, as an independent regulator of exams and tests in England. The remaining work of the QCA was transferred to the QCDA.

The QCA was formally dissolved in 2010 when the QCDA and Ofqual gained statutory status. In 2010, the Secretary of State announced his intention to promote legislation that would abolish QCDA which then closed in 2012 and has been replaced in function by the new Standards and Testing Agency since 2011.

Education and qualifications in Scotland and Wales are the responsibility of the Scottish Government and Welsh Government and their agencies.