England’s Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) fined Innovate Awarding Limited £185,000 over its oversight of a training center after 847 of 851 certificates issued to learners registered through Centre A were revoked.
Ofqual said the certificate withdrawals were completed in August 2026. The Level 3 Diploma in Business Administration was an occupational qualification intended to develop workplace skills; Innovate no longer offers it.
The penalty decision is dated Oct. 2, and Ofqual published it Oct. 27. Innovate accepted breaches in an agreement dated Sept. 25. It agreed to pay the £185,000 penalty plus £15,000 toward Ofqual’s costs, bringing the total obligation to £200,000.
Centre A was allowed to claim certificates about 30 working days after provisional approval. Innovate’s rules called for at least 12 months of monitoring and review of at least 10 completed learner portfolios. By then, only four had been sampled.
A Jan. 18, 2024, registration event saw 130 learners certified within 24 hours, although the qualification carried 580 hours of total qualification time. A February review found that evidence from six learners did not meet the qualification requirements, despite their certificates already being issued.
An external review in April 2024 flagged all 80 portfolios in its sample. Ofqual cited supporting material that could not be authenticated, inaccurate learner names and evidence that appeared several years old. The regulator also said the qualification’s use as evidence of English-language competence added to the fraud risk.
“The value of qualifications depends on public confidence that they are awarded fairly and earned legitimately,” said Amanda Swann, Ofqual’s executive director for delivery.
Innovate agreed to provide information to Ofqual quarterly for 12 months. It must submit a review and an externally certified statement of assurance by Sept. 30, 2027. Ofqual expects to be in a position to plan routine monitoring by October 2027.
