In the spirit of personal development, this session explores adaptive leadership in the AO sector. We will discuss the current reform programme to identify opportunities for innovation and personal development. Learn how to transform the challenge of systemic change into a catalyst for excellence, ensuring your leadership remains effective in a rapidly shifting landscape.
As Managing Director of one of the leading AOs, Rob May will discuss how he manages strategic direction, ensuring the delivery of high-quality qualifications and apprenticeship assessments, financial stability and full regulatory compliance.

Dean will provide an update from Qualifications Wales covering the latest initiatives and discussing how AOs can utilise these to deliver vocational awards in Welsh centres.
As a key figure in Qualifications Wales' Reform team, he will discuss the current qualifications reform picture and also the latest developments on digital assessment - a hugely important piece of the education framework across all four nations.

Sam will discuss the challenges of running an AO in these difficult times. The UK regulatory landscape is more rigorous than ever resulting in a significant compliance burden for all AOs. With the rise of AI and sophisticated cheating methods, AOs face an uphill battle ensuring the integrity of assessments while keeping them accessible.
Additionally, Sam will look at the operational challenges for organisations: managing a national network of End-Point Assessors (EPAs) or examiners is a logistical feat, and ensuring every single assessor marks to the same standard is a constant quality-control headache. Sam will discuss how VetSkill meets these demands and addresses other key operational strategies.

We are extremely pleased to welcome the Scottish Qualifications Authority to the AO-Forum. Donna will provide an update from SQA discussing recent programs and looking at how AOs can benefit.
As Chief Examining Officer and Director of Qualifications Development, Donna is well placed to take us through the latest developments in SQA's qualification framework.

Ofqual is stewarding the exams and assessment system through a significant period of transition, with the ongoing reform of post-16 qualifications and the implementation of a new regulatory framework for apprenticeship assessments in collaboration with Skills England. This comes against a backdrop of challenges and opportunities around cyber security, qualification fraud and malpractice, Artificial Intelligence and on-screen assessment of high-stakes exams.
Lucy will take us through the latest developments and discuss what this means for those of us working at the coal face. This session will be followed by a short Q&A which will lead into a discussion panel.

This is a Q&A session with the regulators and provides you with an opportunity to ask questions related to your business or raise issues relevant to your sector. The session will be chaired by Ben Smith, who will employ Paxman-like tenacity to solicit solid answers to your questions! Either raise a question on the day or submit your question in advance.

Ofqual have highlighted a "technological arms race" between exam integrity and high-tech malpractice. While the shift to mobile or on-screen assessments offers accessibility, it also opens the door to James Bond-style cheating devices that are becoming smaller, cheaper, and harder to detect, such as cameras in pens, glasses with text hidden in the lenses and bluetooth earpieces.
What can the humble AO do to counter-act these measures? Ben will consider the options, both technological and process-oriented, and assess their efficacy.