Qualifications in Wales

No. You can search, download and print off results without logging in.

Logins are only used by Qualifications Wales Staff, Welsh Government and Awarding Bodies who wish to submit qualifications to QiW.

On the home page you can click on either “Search” in the top ribbon, or click on the ‘Search’ Button. This takes you to the “Basic Search” screen. Here you can enter details in to any of the 8 fields displayed to find qualifications.

If you wish to carry out a more specific search, you can click on “Advanced” and more search options will be displayed. Here you can search by qualification dates, Pre/Post 16 choice and other more refined criteria.

By clicking on “Select fields” you are able to choose the fields you wish to view in your search results. If you do not select any, the default display incudes:

• QW Approval/Designation Number
• Qualification Number
• Awarding Body
• Qualification Title
• Qualification Type
• Qualification Level
• Language
• Status

Further tutorial videos explaining how to use QiW can be found on the What is QiW? webpage.

QiW can search using truncated terms. For example, if you type “Eng” in the “Qualification Search” screen, the search results will contain qualifications with “Engineering,” “English” and “Bengali” in the title.

Yes. If you know the QW Approval/Designation numbers or Qualification Numbers of multiple qualifications you wish to compare, you can enter them into the relevant field on the search page - separated by a space. You can then select the fields you wish to view e.g Pre16 Choice. When you click on “Search” the qualifications you wished to view will be displayed along with the fields you wished to compare.

Yes. QiW is fully bilingual. Users need to take care - although you will be able to find a qualification using the Welsh search functionality, it may only be available to teach in English. You can identify the language options of the qualification by viewing the ‘Language’ field.

Yes. Once you have entered your search criteria, selected the fields you wish to view, and clicked on “Search” you can either ‘Bookmark/Favourite the page, or copy the URL. Each time you click on the saved page, or enter the URL into the browser you will be presented with the most recent information stored in QiW.

On the Search Results page you will see a list of the search criteria you entered, and a table of results. If you need to amend your search criteria, click the “Refine criteria” button, and it will direct you back to your search results.

There may be several reasons for this:

1. The qualification may not have been fully reviewed by Qualifications Wales yet.

2. The qualification may have been rejected by Qualifications Wales.

3. The qualification may have been archived, as it is no longer available for teaching.

Please contact us on approvalanddesignation@qualifications.wales quoting the qualification number and/or the full title for further assistance

Once you have completed your search and have identified the qualification records you wish to find out more about, you can click on the “view” button on the right of the record. You will then be directed to a detailed view of the qualification.

If you would like to view further information – such as unit data, you can click on the link that the Awarding Body has provided to their own website on the “View Qualification” screen.

Each qualification submitted to QiW will be allocated a ‘QW Approval/Designation Number’. If a qualification is submitted to QiW for use in Wales – but is also being offered in England it will also have a ‘Qualification Number’ (Generated by the Portal). We have included both numbers in our system to assist users in finding qualifications.

If you wish to view performance measures for a qualification you need to click on the “Performance Measures Information” button on the top right of the “View Qualification” page.

This information is managed by Welsh Government. If you have any further queries you will need to contact IMS@gov.wales directly.

If you wish to view Pre and Post 16 choice data for a qualification you need to click on the “Welsh Government Data” button on the top right of the “View Qualification” page.

This information is managed by Welsh Government. If you have any further queries you will need to contact 14-19@gov.wales directly.

If you wish to view the Curriculum Planning Category for a qualification you need to click on the “Welsh Government Data” button on the top right of the “View Qualification” page.

This information is managed by Welsh Government. If you have any further queries you will need to contact 14-19@gov.wales directly.

If a pupil takes more than one qualification with the same Discounting Code the lower graded qualification will not be counted for school performance purposes.

On the Search Results page, under the list of qualifications returned there is an “Export” button. Click on this and you will be given the option to open or save the results. Choose “Open” and the results will be shown in a .csv spreadsheet.

On the Search Results page, under the list of qualifications returned there is an “Export” button. Click on this and you will be given the option to open or save the results. Choose “Save” and you can then save the results as a spreadsheet in a file on your computer.

Awarding Bodies can log into QiW and click on “Create”. This directs them to an application form for them to create qualifications for review.

A quick guide to creating qualifications in QiW and the Approval/Designation process can be found on the What is QiW? webpage.

Provided Awarding Bodies have submitted sufficient evidence, a designation decision will be made within 15 working days of submission.

If you’d like to request a QiW username and password please get in touch.

If you lock yourself out of QiW the system will not let you re-attempt to log in for a short period of time. We recommend you wait a few minutes before attempting to log back in.

If you cannot log back in, you can request a password reset by getting in touch.

You can request a password reset by getting in touch.

https://qualifications.wales/media/jc2pcamg/20210825-regulatory-welsh-medium-qualifications-policy-english.pdf

Welsh-medium qualifications are those where any assessment to be completed by a learner must be made available to them in Welsh. This means every part of the assessment, such as units or components, and in whichever format, whether paper or digital.

We recognise that some awarding bodies offer partial Welsh-medium provision as part of their journey to increasing their offer. Where one or more units/ components of a qualification are available to be completed by the learner in Welsh but not all, these qualifications are not defined as Welsh medium and must not be labelled as such. These qualifications can be described as ‘partially’ Welsh-medium on QiW and in awarding body marketing materials as partially available in Welsh.

Qualifications labelled on the QiW database as Welsh-medium mean that all units or components are available to be completed in Welsh by the learner. For a qualification to be Welsh-medium, the following is the minimum that must be made available in Welsh:

1. All assessment materials whether exam or other form of paper, onscreen, or digital questions to be completed by the learner;
2. The specification for the qualification, including any relevant terminology required for the qualification;
3. Sample Assessment Materials (SAMs), where applicable; and
4. Any other materials that are made mandatory by the awarding body for the learner to have the opportunity to obtain the qualification.

Where a qualification is Welsh-medium, this does not preclude the qualification from also being available in English. Where qualifications are made available by awarding bodies in both Welsh and in English, learners may choose to complete some or all components of the qualification in either Welsh or English.

There are centres that teach bilingually – in Welsh and in English – and learners may choose to complete their assessments bilingually i.e. some components of the qualification in Welsh and others in English. This is learner choice/ language preference and is distinct from the awarding body making all their assessments available in Welsh from which the learner can choose.

The Designation/Approval Start Date is the start of the designation or approval period and the first date that a learner can start a course leading to a qualification that is eligible for use on publicly funded programmes of learning for learners under the age of 19.

The Typical Designation/Approval Final Start Date replaces the Operational End Date (OED) and is the final date that a learner can start a course leading to a qualification that is eligible for use on publicly funded programmes of learning for learners under the age of 19, based on a typical delivery model.

The Designation/Approval Certification End Date replaces the Certification End Date (CED) and is the end of the designation or approval period. It is also the final date a learner can be certificated for a qualification that is eligible for use on publicly funded programmes of learning for learners under 19; this includes resits.

The Designation/Approval Period is the time between the Designation/Approval Start Date and the Designation/Approval Certification End Date when the qualification is designated or approved by Qualifications Wales.

The Regulation End Date is the final date Qualifications Wales will regulate the qualification.

No. Centres do not require a QiW log in to be able to use QiW. Anyone can access QiW online to view and export qualification information.

Whilst Qualifications Wales is responsible for managing QiW and its’ content, it is the responsibility of awarding bodies to upload and maintain their qualification data in QiW. If you have learners wishing to take a qualification which has passed its Operational or Certification End Date and/or you have concerns that qualification details on Ofqual’s register are not consistent in QiW, please contact the relevant awarding body with your query.

A directory of our Awarding Bodies can be found here

If qualification details differ on the Ofqual register and QiW, please contact the relevant awarding body with your query.

A directory of our Awarding Bodies can be found here

You can find a list of awarding body contacts via: here

QiW Users can set up a Favourites page on QiW. Information on how to use the favourites function can be found here

You can find performance information by accessing the relevant qualification and then clicking on the ‘Curriculum and Performance Information’ button in the top right-hand corner.

Please note that information about performance measures, equivalences, discount codes and capped points is set and maintained by Welsh Government.

If you have a query regarding this information, please contact Welsh Government via: IMS@gov.wales

Other Regulated qualifications are all other qualifications offered by recognised awarding bodies to learners in Wales that have not been opted out of our scope of recognition. Other Regulated qualifications are regulated qualifications however, they are not eligible for use on publicly funded programmes of learning for learners under the age of 19 and do not attract Welsh Government Performance Points.

Where a qualification has previously been designated and the eligibility for use on publicly funded programmes of learning for leaners under the age of 19 has ended (the Certification End Date (CED) is met), these qualifications will become Other Regulated. Where applicable, historical Performance and Curriculum Information will still be available for these qualifications through the red Welsh Government Performance and Curriculum Information button on QiW.

The Homepage will allow users to access a full list of current qualifications that are eligible for use on publicly funded programmes of learning for leaners under the age of 19. This can be achieved using the search function and selecting criteria through an advanced search or using the export buttons. The export buttons will allow for CSV files to be downloaded. Filters can then be applied to meet your specific search requirements.

From 30th October 2020, all users of QiW database will be able to view, search and export all qualifications that we regulate. This will be accessible from the Homepage of QiW where users will be able to select their criteria and opt to search for Designated, Approved and/or Other Regulated Qualifications.