COLEG Y CYMOEDD POLICY DOCUMENT ___________________________________________________________________

Internal Verification/Quality Assurance Policy Interim policy – not agreed with the trade unions

Prepared by:

Vice Principal Curriculum & Quality

Approved by:

Senior Leadership Team

Minute: 3516

09/09/2014

Academic Board

Minute:

23/10/2014

Curriculum & Quality Committee

Minute:

Impact assessed:

61

17/11/2014

09/09/14

AOS Aim 4 Implemented:

November 2014

Review Date:

September 2017 1

Contents

Page 3

Preamble to the policy

Page 4

Introduction

Page 5

College Policy for Internal Verification / Internal Quality Assurance

Page 8

Roles of designated personal within the IV structure

Page 14

Appendix 1 - Archiving policy

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Preamble to the Policy Equal Opportunities The College shall comply with all statutory duties in respect of equal opportunities in the areas of sex, race, age, disability, sexual orientation, transgender, religion, belief, pregnancy, maternity and paternity, marriage and civil partnership and the rehabilitation of offenders. The college shall also comply with the Human Rights Act 1998 and any subsequent enactments or modifications.

Sustainability

The college will comply with all statutory duties in respect of sustainable development by seeking to improve the long-term economic, social and environmental wellbeing of people and communities. This needs to be done in ways which promote social justice, equality of opportunity and which enhance the natural and cultural environment while respecting its limits.

Welsh Language

The College will comply with its Welsh Language Scheme, which is a statutory document, in all of its activities. This includes conducting Welsh Language Impact Assessments for all new and revised policies and initiatives.

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Internal Verification Policy Introduction The Internal Quality Assurance/Internal Verification (IQA/IV) process is an integral part of the quality assurance system of the college because it focuses on the quality of learner assessment.

It confirms that the assessment requirements of the

approved programme are being reviewed and that the standards of achievement match the agreed criteria of the units/modules. It also provides an opportunity for problems to be identified and remedied and for the recognition and sharing of good practice.

The aim of this policy is to ensure that: 

Internal Verification/Internal Quality Assurance (IV/IQA) is on-going, robust, valid and reliable; IV/IQA procedures are open, fair and free from bias and that assessors adhere to the Awarding Body assessment specification in the judgement of evidence;



Recording of IV/IQA decisions is accurate and detailed;



Consistency, transparency, reliability and validity of assessment processes, ensuring that standards and specifications are implemented/achieved;



Assessment is fit for purpose, consistent and meets the national standards for the particular level being assessed.

In order to do this, the College will: 

Verify an appropriately structured sample of assessor work from all programmes, sites and teams to ensure college programmes conform to national standards in line with Awarding Body guidelines and procedures;



Plan annual internal verification schedules linked to assessment plans;



Define, maintain and support effective internal verification roles;



Ensure that IV/IQA staff will maintain secure records of all IV/IQA activity in line with Awarding Body guidelines and procedures (i.e. Sampling Plans, IV/IQA of Assignment/Assessment Briefs and IV/IQA of Assessed Learner Work); 4



Brief and train staff of the requirements for current IV/IQA procedures for different Awarding Bodies;



Promote IV/IQA as a developmental process between staff;



Provide standardised IV/IQA documentation;



Use the outcome of IV/IQA to enhance future assessment practice;

College Policy for Internal Verification/Internal Quality Assurance

It is college policy that the whole course team need to be involved in IV/IQA and should internally verify and quality assure assessed work.

The aim is for course

teams to use the college IV/IQA system so that consistent, rigorous processes can be adopted. By having a team approach, good practices can be shared and the person internally verifying can gain personally from the experience.

1.

The College “Internal Assessment and Verification Procedures” will be adhered to at all times.

Compliance with the procedures will be the

responsibility of the Heads of School (HoS), monitored by the Directors of Faculty (DoFs) and endorsed by the Vice Principal (Curriculum & Quality)

2.

Cross-College Verification standardisation meetings will take place a minimum of once per term. A standardised template for recording the meetings will be used. Findings will be reported to all relevant staff including the Directors of Faculty and Heads of School. Outcomes will be reported at Course Team Meetings and Quality Boards.

3.

Meetings of Lead Internal Verifiers within each pathway will take place in line with the requirements of Awarding Organisations. Findings will be reported to the Heads of School.

4.

An IV/IQA file will be established and securely maintained up-to-date within each School programme per campus. The file will be available for inspection/audit by the relevant Awarding Body External Verifiers (EVs), 5

the Quality Assurance Manager/Vice Principal (Curriculum & Quality), and other relevant staff. The information will be used by the course team for self-assessment purposes. The information will be stored securely in line with the College Archive Policy – see Appendix 1.

5.

All Awarding Body curriculum area EV reports will be reviewed by the Quality Assurance Manager who will communicate the findings of the report to the Vice Principal (Curriculum & Quality), Directors of Faculty Heads of School a for discussion with the course teams. The Quality Manager will liaise with the Directors of Faculty to produce an action plan where required. Where significant actions are identified, the Vice Principal (Curriculum & Quality) will be informed.

The Curriculum & Quality Coordinator will record the actions on the central database and upload a copy of the to the Quality section of the Intranet. The Faculty will formulate a Quality Improvement Plan and forward to the Quality Assurance Manager for approval. The Faculty will be responsible for ensuring that that the actions have been completed by the agreed deadline (with the exception of the actions being dealt with by the Quality Assurance Manager). The Faculty will provide

the Quality

Assurance Manager with confirmation that the actions have been addressed within the agreed deadlines.

6.

Sampling of learner work will be undertaken in accordance with the Awarding Body Quality Guidelines/Quality Handbooks.

The sampling

records should include details of: 

All assessors (highlighting where assessors are experienced or inexperienced)



Candidates from all groups (this may vary according to circumstances in line with Awarding Body regulations for sample size)



All units 6



All assessment methods (including observation of assessment)



Planned IV/IQA and Actual IV/IQA dates

Where this procedure is not appropriate, alternative guidelines are to be established.

7.

Both the College “Policy for Internal Verification” and “Internal Assessment and Verification Procedures” including the supporting structure will be reviewed and evaluated on an on-going basis by the Vice Principal (Curriculum & Quality) and the Quality Assurance Manager.

8.

IV/IQA will be subject to cross college internal audits via Quality Probes.

9.

Staff Development will be managed by Human Resources with direct involvement from the Quality Assurance Manager.

Roles of Designated Personnel within the IV Structure

Assessors will: 

Identify and design suitable assessment activities ensuring coverage of performance criteria and learning outcomes/principal objectives set out in the unit/module specifications;



Advise and support candidates to identify prior achievement where applicable;



Agree and review assessment plans with candidates;



Assess assignments or other evidence that allows the Candidate, the Assessor and the Internal and External Verifiers to cross-reference and locate evidence;



Attend team and standardisation meetings on a regular basis to ensure that assessment is being undertaken according to national standards;

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

Record assessment activities and candidate achievements and copy to Internal Verifier/Internal Quality Assurer before each visit of the External Verifier;



Ensure that suitable arrangements are made for external tests, where appropriate;



Follow the college procedure in the event of any candidate appeal (Assessment and Appeals Policy);



Ensure that individual awarding body requirements regarding assessments are adhered to;



Ensure that assessor candidates have their assessment decisions signed by a qualified assessor;



Ensure procedures are in place for candidates with Special Assessment Needs, (SAN).

Course Teams will:

Meet twice per term 

Ensure candidates are registered on the appropriate awarding body programme of study.



Prepare an assessment plan for each programme to show unit specification coverage;



Adapt assessment plans to suit individual needs as required;



Discuss assessment plans and decisions;



Compare evidence presented;



Gain mutual understanding of appropriate evidence;



Record achievement of candidates;



Update on procedures, processes and awarding bodies amendments;



Modifications and practises.

Directors of Faculty will meet with the Heads of School once per term to discuss the previous year’s data, review IV/IQA planning for the new academic year, to monitor IV/IQA progress against the plan and to identify predicted grades. 8

Internal Verifiers/Internal Quality Assurers will:

Advise, guide and support assessors to: 

Monitor samples of Assessor performance to ensure that assessments are being conducted properly and that national standards are being interpreted accurately;



Identify issues arising out of assessments decisions and take appropriate action;



Ensure that the verification process is conducted in a supportive manner;



Meet at twice per term with other Internal Verifiers/Internal Quality Assurers in the same area to ensure consistency of approach to assessment.

Maintain and monitor arrangements for processing assessment information to: 

Keep records of the verification process in a secure place in line with the Archive Policy (see Appendix 1);



Liaise with the Lead IVs/Awarding Body/External Verifiers/Quality Assurance Manger to ensure that individual awarding body requirements regarding internal verification are adhered to;



Ensure that the results of monitoring are communicated to the Assessment Team, the Directors of Faculty and the Awarding Bodies.

Verify assessment practice, where appropriate, to ensure: 

All assignments briefs are internally verified/internally quality assured prior to being issued to learners (without exception);



Assessment practice is of consistent quality, is sufficient but does not demand more of candidates than specified, and meets national standards;



Awarding Body re-submission and rework rules are adhered to, with clear records of learner re-submission and re-takes for scrutiny by External Verifiers;



All Summative decisions are made by qualified assessors; 9



All IV/IQA candidates have their IV/IQA decisions signed by a qualified Internal Verifier/Quality Assurer;



Identify staff training needs and report to their Co-ordinating Internal Verifier/Quality Assurer as required.

Lead Internal Verifiers (where applicable) will:-

Verify assessment and verification practices that:

Oversee the internal verification/quality assurance activity in their Subject Area and ensure that it is consistently applied;



Ensure all claims for certification are validated by a qualified Internal Verifier/Quality Assurer;



Support assessment and internal verification/quality assurance within the College.

Within each Learning Area Programme, as appropriate, develop and maintain an up-to-date secure Lead IV file, containing relevant documentation pertinent to the IV/IQA process e.g.: 

College structure for Internal Verification/Quality Assurance;



Roles of personnel within Internal Verification/Quality Assurance structure and systems;



Names and relevant qualifications of assessors/verifiers with appropriate subject expertise;



Programme policy(s) for Internal Verification/Quality Assurance;



Programme policy to cater for candidates with SAN;



Minutes of meetings (including standardisation meetings);



An appeals procedure for learners if they are not satisfied with assessment judgements;



All relevant standardised IV/IQA documentation;



IV/IQA records (planning, IV/IQA of assignment/assessment brief and assessment decisions). 10

School Campus Coordinators will: 

Coordinate IV, Internal Moderation and standardisation meetings for Welsh Baccalaureate, curriculum area and essential skills awards delivered within the department at the specific campus



Provide Head of School with relevant monitoring information as per reporting schedule as indicated in the College Quality Handbook



In consultation with the Head of School respond to the monitoring information through corrective action



Liaise with the Head of School WBQ & Skills and relevant Campus Coordinators to analyse and respond to feedback from the awarding body specific to the programmes delivered within the School



In liaison with the Head of School and Quality Manager, analyse and respond to feedback from awarding bodies specific to the programmes at the campus

Heads of School will: 

Share expertise across the whole college;



Consider issues and requirements of Lead Bodies;



Discuss and agree requirements for staff training programmes;



Feedback information to Assessment Teams;



Provide support for Assessor/IVs/Lead IVs;



Lead and undertake Quality Probes at Director of Faculty request;



Meet with the relevant IV(s)/IQA(s)/Lead IVs on a regular basis to: 

Sample assignments from each School/Programme



Ensure the internal verification process is being carried out effectively



Ensure consistency of standards throughout the College



Ensure consistency with national standards



Identify areas of possible weakness and suggest possible training strategies.

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Directors of Faculty will: 

Lead the strategic management of Internal Verification/Quality Assurance within the Faculty.

Quality Assurance Manager will: 

Review and update the College IV/IQA standardised paperwork;



Review and update the College IV/IQA Policy;



Promote good practice at the College;



Support staff to ensure that Internal Verification/Internal Quality Assurance is effective on all programmes;



Ensure that there is a registered Lead Internal Verifier in place for each BTEC Principal Subject Area;



Undertake IV/IQA Quality Probes.

Vice Principal Curriculum & Quality will: 

Chair termly Quality Board meetings and deal with matters arising on a crosscollege basis with regard to: 

Formulate strategic policy statements



Report findings of cross-college verification procedure to Internal Verifier/Quality Assurance Co-ordinators, Directors of Faculty and Senior Leadership Team.



Receive and disseminate reports from the External Verifier(s) and ensure action on any recommendations made via IVs/IQAs, Lead IVs, HoS and DoFs.



Assume overall responsibility for the IV/IQA process 12



Report on and promote the college Internal Verification/Internal Quality Assurance structure and system to the Senior Leadership Team.

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Appendix 1:

Archiving Policy It is a requirement of Pearson that the College has an archiving policy in place to ensure the secure storage of the following for 3 years: 

Assessment briefs with Internal Verification/Internal Quality Assurance records;



Internal Verification/Internal Quality Assurance records of learner work (but not the learner work);



Learner tracking for each unit which show achievement on a criterion basis;



SRF information which shows the final award for each unit and the overall grade awarded for the programme.

Lead Internal Verifiers to meet with the course team(s) to discuss BTEC Quality Assurance requirements, key dates and archiving arrangements.

Lead Internal Verifiers to identify appropriate secure storage facilities for their Principal Subject Areas within their Faculty/School e.g. lockable cupboard, storage on Sharepoint* (scanned documents).

Access to the secure storage facilities is to be restricted.

Lead Internal Verifiers are responsible for collating the information from course tutors during the academic year.

Lead Internal Verifiers to keep a tracking record of information collated to ensure information is kept securely for 3 years (to be made available to the Edexcel Quality Reviewer during the Annual Quality Review).

*Sharepoint – documents to be accessed as read only. Access to SharePoint documentation can be restricted.

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