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It argues that issues in policy development and implementation can spread through the system, creating risks for accurate administration and assessment. 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and implementation interacts with risks  \nto high stakes qualifications  \nStuart Cadwallader and Kate Tremain  \nAbstract  \nThe challenges associated with the formation and implementation of national qualifications policy are well documented (e.g. Baird & Lee-Kelley, 2009; Oates, 2008; Richardson, 2007) . This paper elaborates on the literature by drawing on interviews with twenty-three key stakeholders from across the qualifications system. The analysis suggests that the stakeholders’ major concerns centre on ensuring that new or reformed qualifications are developed to a sufficiently high quality in the context of pressurised timescales and a challenging policy environment. Issues associated with policy development and implementation have the potential to permeate the qualifications system and introduce risks to accurate administration and assessment. These risks are discussed with reference to the existing research literature and in the context of the current reforms.  \nKeywords: risk, national qualifications policy, qualification reform.  \nIntroduction  \nRichardson (2007) describes education in liberal democracies as “pregnant with values” and“inherently controversial” (p. 149), arguing that it is salient in the public consciousness because it is , or has been, a part of the everyday experience of almost the entire populace. For this reason it could be argued that education policy is highly malleable – policy makers can aim it towards any number of social objectives, all of which may inspire the support of different cross sections of the electorate at different times. Given this political centrality there are frequent changes to national qualifications policy in England , both minor and sweeping, as the government attempts to influence education through qualifications 1 . It is necessary for the qualifications system to be adaptive if it is to successfully realise policy objectives and provide effective qualifications with efficient and reliable assessment.  \nBaird & Lee-Kelley (2009) describe the mechanisms through which national qualifications policy is translated in to practice, using the specific example of how new qualifications are developed. Essentially there are three broad stages. Firstly, the government formulate a policy at a high level and send a remit letter to the regulators who inform the awarding bodies of the intended change. Next, the regulators develop qualification and subject criteria, essentially providing the rules to which new qualifications (developed by the awarding bodies) must adhere in order for the policy to be successfully realised. Finally, with these rules in place, awarding bodies develop new subject specific syllabuses (specifications) in consultation with various qualification users (e.g. teachers, employers and higher education institutions), submitting their proposal to the regulator for approval. Baird & Lee-Kelley (2009) place the key actors in the process on a  \n1 See Tattersall (2003) for a discussion of how policy makers have become increasingly involved with qualifications and examinations in England since the 1970s.  \n[www.cerp.org.uk](www.cerp.org.uk)  \nCopyright © 2013 AQA Education and its licensors. All rights reserved.  \nAQA Education (AQA) is a registered charity (number 1073334) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (number 3644723) . Our registered address is AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX.  \ncontinuum which ranges between ‘policy’ and ‘practice’. Government is at the ‘policy’ end of the continuum , followed by the regulators , the awarding bodies, and finally schools , teachers and students are at the ‘practice’ end of the continuum (see Figure 1) .  \nFigure 1: Key stakeholders in the qualification system on a ‘Policy to Practice’ continuum  \nAwarding Organisations  \nSchools  \nPupils  \nPolicy Practice  \nEven presented in this distilled and simplified form , it is clear tha","cbCaioqWBQgso1ka","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaioqWBQgso1ka","pdf",370302,17,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# Policy to Practice: translating policy into practice\n# Latent errors and systemic examination failures\n# Stakeholders and risk implications","[{\"question\":\"What source material does the paper use to analyze national qualifications policy formation and implementation?\",\"answer\":\"It elaborates on existing literature and draws on interviews with twenty-three key stakeholders across the qualifications system.\"},{\"question\":\"What main concerns do stakeholders have regarding new or reformed qualifications?\",\"answer\":\"Stakeholders focus on achieving sufficiently high-quality development under pressurised timescales and a challenging policy environment.\"},{\"question\":\"How can problems in policy development and implementation affect the qualifications system?\",\"answer\":\"The paper argues that issues can permeate the system, introducing risks to accurate administration and assessment, and that underlying flaws can be harder to mitigate with wide ramifications.\"}]","How policy formation and implementation interacts with risks to high stakes qualifications - Paper | PDF",1792464971,43]