Internal Quality Assurance Policy

for

Trinity School, College, Gateway and Training Centre This Policy should be read to be read in conjunction with the following polices:

Equality and Diversity

Inclusion

Confidentiality

Data Protection

Keeping Records

Examinations Equal Opportunities The School and 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. The college shall also comply with the Human Rights Act 1998 and any subsequent enactments or modifications. Sustainability Trinity 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.

Trinity Quality Statement

Trinity School and College provides educational and training opportunities for

students of all ages and is committed to ensuring a standardised approach to

internal quality assurance practice, under a single quality assurance system that is

well documented and systematically reviewed regularly.

The internal quality assurance procedure for all provision must be open, fair and free

from bias and have accurate and detailed recording of internal quality assurance

decisions.

Trinity is committed to ongoing training and development of all members of the IQA

Panel and have senior leadership involvement within the team.

The internal quality assurance process will monitor and maintain the quality,

transparency and integrity of assessment in line with the requirements of our

awarding organisations.

Elizabeth Baines

Executive Headteacher

Staff with responsibility within this Policy

Head of Centre and Centre Coordinator

Elizabeth Baines, Executive Headteacher

Internal Quality Assurance Panel

Cheryl Roberts, Senior Internal Quality Assurance Elizabeth Baines, Senior Internal Quality Assurance and Senior Assessor

Lauren Benson, Internal Quality Assurance Trudi Lewing, Internal Quality Assurance

Janice Phillips, Arts Award Internal Quality Assurance

Assessors (Teachers, Instructors and Curriculum Leaders)

Christine Aburn Natalie Atkin

Charys Beswick Andy Briggs

Emily Fawcett Hayley May

Michaela Perkins

Angela Fowler Janice Kearns

Rebecca Kennedy Beth Lanning Kieren Martin

Georgina Moorcroft Thomas Furnell

Name and Role Training Qualifications Experience in past three years

Elizabeth Baines Executive Headteacher

ASDAN EQA, IQA AQA IQA OCR IQA NCFE Assessor and IQA AQA Unit Awards IQA

NPQH, MA, BA(Hons), BEd, PGDipEd(SEN) A3

Educational Courses Level 2 – 5 Assessor and IQA National and Vocational Curriculum ELC – Level 2

Cheryl Roberts Head of School and College

ASDAN EQA, IQA OCR EQA NCFE Assessor and IQA

NPQH BEd

National and Vocational Curriculum (including Education) OCR EQA, IQA

Lauren Benson Examinations Manager

ASDAN EQA, IQA

Working on Level 4 IQA Certificate

ASDAN IQA

Trudi Lewing Assistant Examinations Officer

ASDAN EQA, IQA AQA Unit Awards IQA

Level 3 – 5 Educational Qualifications

ASDAN IQA AQA IQA

Janice Phillips ARTS AWARD Assessor and IQA

BA, Arts Award Coordinator, Assessor and IQA

ARTS AWARD IQA

Assessment, Internal Quality Assurance Policy and Procedure

In the absence of a procedure that is imposed by the validating Examination Board, then

the procedure detailed below will apply.

1. Introduction and Aim Internal marking, moderation/verification seeks to ensure that all learners have access to fair and accurate assessment and that assessment practices are consistent, transparent, valid and reliable and meet the requirements and standards of awarding bodies. This strategy aims to provide clear guidance and a framework to enable greater consistency of assessment practice and standards within Trinity School and College, irrespective of subject discipline. The strategy is concerned with both assessment materials and assessment decisions. Assessors (Teachers and Tutors), Internal Quality Assurance Panel will have the appropriate qualifications, experience and knowledge relevant to the assessment and certification of qualifications. The Examination Manager will ensure that there is a schedule of internal quality assurance with identified IQAs. The Examination Manager will ensure that all programme specifications and particularly assessment procedures are known by teachers, tutors or assessors as required. Both the Examinations Manager and Data Manager will ensure availability for the release of results and certificates from examination boards as and when required.

The Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) process is an integral part of the quality assurance system of Trinity 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 Quality Assurance (IQA) is on-going, robust, valid and reliable;

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 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, Trinity 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 quality assurance schedules linked to assessment plans;

Define, maintain and support effective internal verification roles;

Ensure that IQA staff will maintain secure records of all IQA activity in line with Awarding Body guidelines and procedures;

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

Promote IQA as a developmental process between staff;

Provide standardised IQA documentation;

Use the outcome of IQA to enhance future assessment practice. Trinity Policy for Internal Quality Assurance The Assessor Team and the IQA Panel need to be involved in IQA process. The Assessor Team are responsible for providing the evidence and the IQA Panel should internally verify and quality assured assessed work. The aim is for Assessor Teams to work with the 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. Trinity “Internal Assessment and Verification Procedures” will be adhered to at all times. Compliance with the procedures will be the responsibility of the Executive Headteacher and monitored by the Head of School and College, the Senior IQA Panel member. Standardisation Meetings Verification standardisation meetings will take place each term. Minutes and training packs and work provided by Assessor will be made available in order to improve standards. Outcomes will be reported at Assessor Team Meetings and emailed to all Assessors. Meetings of Internal Quality Assurance for each curriculum pathway will take place in line with the requirements of Awarding Organisations. Findings will be reported to the Executive Headteacher. IQA file will be established and securely maintained up-to-date within the Examination Office. The file will be available for inspection/audit by the relevant Awarding Body External Verifiers (EVs), the Quality Assurance Panel and other relevant staff. The information will

be used by the Assessor Team for self-assessment purposes. The information will be stored securely in line with the Trinity Keeping Records Policy. The External Verifier Reports All Awarding Body curriculum area EV reports will be reviewed by the Quality Assurance Team who will communicate the findings of the report to the Executive Headteacher and within the Assessor Teams. The Senior IQA will liaise with the Executive Headteacher and the IQA team to produce an action plan where required where significant actions are identified. The Trinity School Development Plan will identify any areas of development for the IQA process. The Assessor 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 Senior Internal Quality Assurance Member and the Team). This policy will be reviewed and evaluated on an on-going basis by the Executive Headteacher and the Senior IQA. Staff Development will be managed by the Executive Headteacher and the Senior IQA. Roles 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;

Ensure that suitable arrangements are made for external tests, where

appropriate;

Follow the Trinity procedure in the event of any candidate appeal set out within the Awarding Body Appeals Procedure.

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 access arrangements

Assessor Teams will meet twice per term and attend all internal and external training identified to support the assessment process:

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. The Directors will meet with the Executive Headteacher once per term to discuss reports received and information on IQA within the centre. 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;

To attend IQA training at least once a term to support the IQA process; 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;

Liaise with the Internal Quality Assurance Panel members;

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 curriculum areas will have frameworks for the academic year which are internally quality assured prior to being issued to learners;

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;

All IQA candidates have their IQA decisions signed by a qualified Internal Quality Assurance Panel Member;

Identify staff training needs.

Senior Internal Quality Assurance Personnel will: Verify assessment and verification practices that:

Oversee the quality assurance activity in each curriculum area and ensure that it is consistently applied;

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

Support assessment and internal verification/quality assurance within Trinity; The IQA folder holds information about the

1. The centres statement of assurance 2. Diversity & Equality, Reasonable Adjustments, Special Considerations, Data

Protection, Health and Safety Policy 3. Assessment and Internal Quality Assurance 4. Information Book 5. Job descriptions for members of staff involved in the IQA Team 6. Minutes and Agendas for IQA Meetings, Standardisation 7. Access Arrangements 8. Staff signatures 9. Risk Assessments for assessment

The Executive Headteacher and Senior IQA will:

Share expertise across the whole college;

Consider issues and requirements of Examination Bodies;

Discuss and agree requirements for staff training programmes;

Feedback information to Assessment Teams;

Provide support for IQAs; Meet with the relevant IQA(s) on a regular basis to:

Sample work from each Programme and from each Assessor;

Ensure the internal verification process is being carried out effectively

Ensure consistency of standards throughout the School and College

Ensure consistency with national standards

Identify areas of possible weakness and suggest possible training strategies. Sampling Strategy for the Internal Verifier and Lead Verifier

A representative sample of learners’ assessed work should be selected taking into account, as appropriate. :

25% of Assessor/teacher/tutor marked work to be drawn each of the units and modules forming part of the programme of study/specification. The sample called must have a cross section which reflects differences in age, gender and ethnicity.

10% of Assessor/teacher/tutor marked work which has been verified by the IQA to be drawn each of the units and modules forming part of the programme of study/specification to be verified by a SIQA. The sample called must have a cross section which reflects differences in age, gender and ethnicity.

Should a internal quality assurance sample fail, then 100% of the sample will be called for internal quality assurance with training provided for the Assessor. The Executive Headteacher will:

Review and update the Trinity IQA standardised paperwork;

Review and update the Trinty IQA Policy;

Promote good practice at all Trinity Educational and Training Provisions;

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

Formulate strategic policy statements

Report findings from external and internal verification procedure to IQA, Directors and the Senior Leadership Team.

Receive and disseminate reports from the External Verifier(s) and ensure action on any recommendations made via IQAs

Assume overall responsibility for the IQA process

Report on and promote Trinity Internal Quality Assurance structure and system to the Directors.

Elizabeth Baines Cheryl Roberts Trudi Lewing Lauren Benson

Reviewed : November 2015

To be Reviewed : September 2016

Internal Quality Assurance Feedback Report

NCFE 8465647 OCR/AQA/EDEXCEL 62114 ASDAN 16605

Centre Name Trinity School and College Learner Name

Awarding Body Assessor Name

Qualification Name IQA Name

Module Title

Units and References

Interim/Final

Percentage IQA Date

Yes/No Internal Quality Assurer’s comments

Has appropriate and sufficient assessment planning taken place?

Project, worksheets, Observation Witness Statements, Research, Discussion, Presentation, WWO, PS, IOLP, Photographs, Self Assessment, Peer Assessment, Photographs

Is the assessment method appropriate? (note types of evidence)

Has prior learning/achievement been identified and used where possible?

Does the evidence address all of the assessment criteria?

Is there adequate coverage of the learning outcomes /assessment criteria?

Has the knowledge requirement been evidenced and assessed?

Has the evidence been clearly cross-referenced and gathered over a sufficient period of time?

Do you agree with the assessment decision? Is it valid, reliable, sufficient, current, authentic?

Was ongoing feedback to the learner constructive?

Should final feedback be issued?

Was the amount of evidence indicative of efficient assessment?

Correct documentation used and fully completed? a. Tracking document b. PDR c. PR d. Unit Descriptor e. Summary Sheet

a b c d e

Reassessment required?

Yes/No:

Please see next page for feedback and action planning

Internal Quality Assurance Report

Feedback to Assessor:

Action to be taken:

Resubmit on with completed action points:

Internal Quality Assurer’s signature:

Date:

Final IQA Report:

Internal Quality Assurer’s signature:

Date:

Senior Internal Quality Assurer’s signature

Date:

Assessor’s signature:

Date:

Trinity IQA Record and Report Academic Year : Month:

Awarding Body Qualification Module Units Teacher Assessor

Part / Final * Submission

Feedback Action Points

Re-submit Deadline

Resubmission

IQA [25%]

SIQA [10%]

Yes/No Yes/No Date Met IQA SIQA

* Please Note P for Partial and F for full with IQA initials