Pearson Blue



Overview of the Conduct of Controlled Assessment and Quality Assurance

Pearson Edexcel Entry Level Functional Skills

This document focuses on the main changes in assessment of Functional Skills Mathematics, English and ICT at Entry 1, 2 and 3 for centres moving from the EDI to Edexcel offering.

The major difference between the two offerings is the assessment model. Edexcel Entry Level Functional Skills qualifications are internally assessed and internally verified. Following a successful internal assessment and internal verification, centres will receive a visit from a Pearson Standards Verifier.

The assessments are graded as either ‘pass’ or ‘fail’, however, centres must refer to the Guidance for Assessors and accompanying mark schemes when marking controlled assessments and for the set pass mark.

Assessors must have access to the Guidance for Assessors corresponding to each assessment in advance of each assessment to allow particular arrangements for each assessment to be accommodated in time. Guidance for Assessors is available together with all assessment materials.

The Entry Level Functional Skills secure zip files are organised in two folders: Learner folder includes the test paper and, in the case of Entry Level FS ICT, the datafiles. Assessor folder includes the secure mark scheme, Guidance for the Assessors and the Assessment Record and Authentication Sheet. Please note, the Assessment Record Sheet is the only document which is not secure and can be emailed/printed at any time.

Standards Verifiers are allocated as soon as registrations are made and a notification is sent out. Any correspondence relating to the assessments should be addressed directly to your allocated Standards Verifier unless otherwise instructed by Pearson.

Safe custody of assessment papers and other materials

Live assessment materials include: controlled assessment tests, corresponding mark schemes, Guidance to Assessors and Entry Level FS ICT data files. These materials must be checked carefully once printed, and Pearson notified immediately if there are any problems or if the assessments cannot be accessed.

Please note: Controlled assessment queries, i.e. the content of the assessment materials, must not be emailed as the content is secure and emailing any part of it is considered a breach of security – if you have a query about the content of a controlled assessment test, please email us stating your name and contact details, and request for one of the team to contact you directly via phone to discuss your queries.

It is the responsibility of the Examinations Officer/Quality Nominee to ensure that the assessment papers are locked away in a place of high security after they have been printed. Centres are not allowed to download and store any live assessments on their computers. All assessment materials are considered ‘live’ until Pearson has given written confirmation of the release of the set as practice papers.

For Entry Level FS, assessments can be printed no earlier than 2 weeks before the live assessment is due to take place to allow time for contextualisation. Assessors need to access to the Guidance to Assessors and the controlled assessment tests to decide whether contextualisation is needed.

The Examinations Officer/Quality Nominee is the designated person within a centre who is responsible for the safe storage, access and delivery of secure assessments.

The Examinations Officer/Quality Nominee should:

● download assessment materials and keep a record of when and who accesses them

● keep them safe and secure prior to administration

● make them available to assessors and learners at the appropriate time

● manage the assessment day, ensuring that learner identity is checked and verified, learners receive no help during the assessment period and assessments last for the designated time as stated on the assessment paper

● manage the security and secure disposal of assessment papers following completion of the assessment

● direct completed assessments securely and as appropriate following completion of the assessment.

Pearson must be informed immediately if the security of the assessment papers has been put at risk by fire, theft, loss, damage, unauthorised disclosure or any other circumstances.

Once the assessment has been sat, all assessment papers and scripts must be collected before the learners leave the room to ensure that no controlled assessment tests are accidentally removed.

Conditions for storing assessment materials

It is the responsibility of the Examinations Officer/Quality Nominee to ensure that the assessments are locked away in a place of high security and to set out the appropriate terms of authorisation for members of staff.

Assessment materials must be stored in a safe or a cabinet in a securely locked room conforming to the secure storage requirements below.

|Requirement |Recommendation |

|Strong safe or security cabinet or metal cabinet with locking bar, | |

|bolted to wall or floor | |

|2 or 3 key holders only | |

|Secure room in a fixed building, i.e. not a Portakabin or similar |Preferably on an upper floor with no windows. |

|Walls, ceiling and floor of strong, solid construction | |

|Solid door |A hollow door would require reinforcement. |

|Strong, secure hinges | |

|Security lock, e.g. 5 lever mortise lock | |

|2 or 3 key holders only | |

Centres must have a tracking system for recording when assessment materials are taken from secure storage and when they are returned to ensure that the assessment materials remain confidential.

Please note: Centres are reminded that completed learner assessments should be kept securely both before and after they have been verified by the Standards Verifier. Learner assessments must NOT be handed back to learners at any stage as the assessments stay live until Pearson release the set as practice papers.

Re-sit rules

Entry Level FS Maths, Entry Level FS ICT, Entry Level FS English Reading and Writing

Learners who do not pass the assessment the first time and wish to sit it again, must re-sit the whole assessment from one of the other sets no earlier than 14 days from taking the original assessment.

If the learner should fail the assessment again, they will have to wait at least 14 days before sitting the assessment from another set. The tests should be rotated until the controlled assessment is passed. Centres are required to keep a log of controlled assessment tests for each specific learner taking this course.

Entry Level FS English Speaking, Listening & Communication

Learners who do not pass the assessment the first time and wish to sit it again, can re-sit no earlier than 14 days from taking the original assessment. No controlled assessment tests are produced for this component. For further details, please refer to the Quality Assurance Handbook for Entry Level FS, available on our homepage: elfs

Guidelines for Assessors prior to assessments

It is essential that Assessors are clear about the contents of the assessments and the Guidance for Assessors before administering any of the assessments. Copies of the Guidance for Assessors can be found together with other assessment materials on Campus. The Exams Officer should allow Assessors to access those documents before assessments take place. Centres should ensure that the Guidance for Assessors document for the specific assessment is reviewed as further guidance is provided which relates to the specific controlled assessment test, e.g. particular resources, pass mark, allowance for reading time and guidance on contextualisation.

There is no requirement to audio or visually record the Entry Level FS Speaking, Listening and Communication assessments.

Additional guidance – Entry Level FS Maths controlled assessments

Centres may decide on the level of mediation required for their learners. Please note: Centres are not permitted to create their own assessment workbooks but are allowed to contextualise Pearson workbooks.

Additional guidance – Entry Level FS ICT controlled assessments

The Entry Level FS ICT controlled assessments require learners to complete a number of activities using a personal computer.

The Entry Level FS ICT assessments are task-based and internally assessed. Each learner must have access to an individual workstation (stand-alone or networked) connected to a printer within the same room or at least in a location where the learner can access their work without leaving a supervised environment.

The Examinations Officer/Quality Nominee is responsible for ensuring that any equipment and software used is fit for purpose and in working order, in particular:

● all hardware and software must be checked by a competent person before use.

● learners must not be able to access another learner’s work, for example anybody who has taken the same controlled assessment during an earlier sitting; particular care should be taken where networked workstations are used to prevent work being accessible via shared folders

● learners should only save a document if specifically directed by the activity instructions

● learners should not be able to access email or the internet whilst a controlled assessment is in progress – unless specified in the assessment

● it is advisable that Invigilators have a reasonable level of IT competence, since they need to ensure learners submit only their own work and need to be assured that learners are not colluding in any way

● all printouts must be collected once the learner has finished the controlled assessment

● some of the Entry Level FS ICT assessed activities may require the use of other technological items.

Please note: The ICT data files, which can be found in same folder as the Guidance for Assessors on the secure website, do not need to be downloaded onto a memory stick by the learner. Centres are permitted to download the files onto a secure drive but this has to be done before each batch of learners take the controlled assessment to ensure the latest versions are used. If learners are required to show knowledge of how to use input and output devices (for example by using a memory stick), this evidence can be submitted in the form of a witness statement.

Starting the assessment

Before learners are permitted to start work, the Invigilator must:

● ensure that learners are seated in accordance with the seating arrangements

● inform the learners they are now under supervised conditions

● advise learners that any unauthorised material must be handed in (including MP3 players, pagers, mobile phones and other products with text facilities)

o Please note: Entry Level FS ICT may require the use of mobile phones and other technological based items

● check that learners have all the necessary materials to enable them to complete the assessment as set out in the Guidance for Assessors document for each assessment

● arrange for controlled assessment tests to be handed out immediately before the start of the assessment

● if necessary, report to the Examinations officer/quality nominee any grounds for suspicion about the security of the controlled assessment tests and, where appropriate, the Examinations officer/quality nominee must immediately notify Pearson

● draw the learners’ attention to the front of the controlled assessment test to check that they have been given the correct subject and level for the assessment; centres are allowed to read instructions to the learners and to display them in the room where the assessment is taking place

● ensure that details of any erratum notices are brought to the attention of learners

● instruct learners to record their personal details according to the requirements

● remind learners that they must follow the instructions on how to record and submit their work

● remind learners that they must not communicate in any way with, seek assistance from or give assistance to another learner during the assessment; they should not communicate in any way with any other learner(s) except where this is a requirement of a particular assessment

● announce clearly to the learners when they may begin the assessment.

The Invigilator must not give any information to learners about suspected errors in the controlled assessment tests unless an erratum notice has been issued to the centre by Pearson.

During the assessment

The assessment must take place under supervised conditions. This means that:

● learners must be continually supervised by a reliable person the whole time the assessment is in progress; this person must give complete attention to this duty at all times

● all necessary facilities must be available to learners.

The Invigilator must complete an attendance list (or similar).

Centres are entitled to appeal should any decision made by the Standards Verifier be construed as an unfair disadvantage to a learner. All appeals should be sent in writing to the Pearson Appeals Office, 190 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7BH.

Ending the assessment

Learners must be given their full time allowance even if they have arrived later than their scheduled start time.

The Invigilator should check that learners have identified their work as instructed.

All assessment materials must be collected before the learners leave the room to ensure that none are accidentally removed.

After collation, the learners’ work and assessment materials should be handed to the Examinations Officer or other authorised person(s).

Assessors who mark assessment papers should ensure that the papers are kept in a secure place until marking is complete and then kept securely until they are requested for verification by the Standards Verifier.

If selected for postal sampling, learners’ work should be despatched securely to the Standards Verifier who will verify the assessments. Learners’ work should also be stored securely after it is returned to your centre and must not be handed back to learners. Assessments will stay live until they are released as practice papers by Pearson.

Quality assurance responsibilities for centres

Roles and responsibilities

Assessor

Assessors are responsible and accountable for:

● planning when learners are ready to take the live assessments, making the assessments available to learners and marking the assessments

● implementing assessments following the Instructions for the Conduct of Controlled Assessment document

● contextualising the controlled assessments tests, if applicable

● ensuring that the correct and latest mark schemes are used and applied fairly and consistently

● maintaining accurate and verifiable learner assessment and achievement records.

Internal Verifier

The Internal Verifier is a centre/team based role. It is good practice to develop these skills across the team as Internal Verifiers cannot internally verify their own assessment decisions. The appropriate size of the internal verification team depends on the number of learners assessed in your centre. The absolute minimum number of staff involved in assessment and internal verification is two, as no person can internally verify their own assessment decisions.

Internal Verifiers are at the heart of quality assurance. The role ensures that assessments across the centre consistently meet national standards, thus Internal Verifiers must be competent in the assessment of the qualification offered.

Internal Verifiers are responsible and accountable for:

● regularly sampling assessment decisions made by all Assessors across all components, levels and sites; we advise that a minimum of 25% of assessments are sampled across all Assessors and sites

● establishing procedures to develop a common interpretation of the assessment requirements between Assessors, e.g. standardisation meetings/activities

● monitoring and supporting the work of Assessors within your centre

● maintaining up-to-date records of internal verification and sampling activity and ensuring that these are available for standards verification, to monitor and ensure consistency in the interpretation and application of standards

● facilitating appropriate staff development and training for Assessors

● ensuring that the ratio of Assessors to learners is appropriate; we recommend a maximum ratio of one Assessor to 15 learners.

Lead Internal Verifier

A Lead Internal Verifier is the person designated by the centre to act as the point of sign-off for the assessment and internal verification of the qualification.

The Lead Internal Verifier should be: 

● someone with the authority to oversee assessment outcomes; ideally this is the Programme Leader, as this would normally be a key part of the role

● directly involved in the assessment and delivery of the programme

● able to co-ordinate across Assessors and Internal Verifiers.

For standards verification, the Lead Internal Verifier:

● ensures that records of assessment and tests are being retained

● liaises with the Standards Verifier to ensure appropriate sampling.

Lead Internal Verifiers must ensure that their centres have a robust system of internal verification to check that all assessments are secure. When the programme delivery is being planned, internal verification should be included. Internal verification should be carried out in a timely manner throughout the year. Effective internal verification guides and supports Assessors and feedback from the Lead Internal Verifier aids their skills development.

The Lead Internal Verifier is responsible for:

● liaising with the Standards Verifier

● arranging feedback to the assessment team following sampling

● regularly sampling assessment decisions made by all Internal Verifiers across all components, levels and sites; we advise that a minimum of 10% of all assessments are sampled

● ensuring that all centre sub-sites follow the internal verification procedures set by your centre

● facilitating appropriate standardisation, staff development and training for Internal Verifiers to ensure national standards are maintained

● ensuring that all teaching and assessment staff and those undertaking internal verification have access to:

o the full programme specification

o relevant information from this handbook, centre procedures and other guides and policy documents issued by us.

In very small centres, it is acceptable to have only one Internal Verifier who is also the Lead Internal Verifier. Please note: the Lead Internal Verifier and Internal Verifiers cannot verify their own work.

Marking assessment papers

Assessors must mark all scripts in line with the relevant mark scheme. Marking must not be done in a public place.

Internal assessment and verification

Controlled assessment

For each programme, your centre should have a schedule, which includes:

● internal standardisation

● internal monitoring

● internal verification.

Internal standardisation

Standardisation must be carried out when there is more than one Assessor delivering and marking the same programme. This should happen before any marking or internal verification takes place.

The standardisation process is designed to make sure that all Assessors mark learner work consistently and accurately. It establishes a common standard of marking, which should ensure the quality of marking across the assessment team. Assessors should reach a consensus after marking and discussing a sample of assessments. Once agreement has been reached, Assessors can individually mark learner work.

Internal monitoring

Monitoring marking includes the Internal Verifiers sampling Assessors. It also includes reviewing the internal verification records completed for each Assessor and evaluating all aspects of their performance when conducting marking.

The Internal Verifiers should record their judgements and give feedback, rather than just tick boxes. Internal Verifiers should give actions on improvements that can be made to the marking process.

Internal verification

Internal verification is based on sampling of completed controlled assessments. It should cover a wide range of achievement.

It is recommended that the Internal Verifier verifies a minimum of 25% of the total number of completed controlled assessments per component and per level. You are required to put in place an internal verification plan to ensure all Assessors are sampled appropriately.

Internal Verifiers should take into account:

● the experience of each Assessor with the qualification

● the size of the cohort

● issues identified in previous samples, if applicable

● various centre sub-sites, if applicable.

Internal verification should take place soon after the assessment is completed and before the results are handed back to the learners, so that any remedial action can be implemented.

We recommend that the Lead Internal Verifier verifies a minimum of 10% of the total number of completed controlled assessments per component and per level. If your centre schedules assessments throughout the academic year, the Lead Internal Verifier should sample a minimum of 10% of the assessments taken in each particular session.

Standards verification

Standards verification is the quality assurance method that we use to ensure that our centres are assessing to the national standards. Standards verification is carried out during a centre visit. In certain cases, a follow-up postal sample may be required.

Standards Verifiers are allocated to those centres that have approval for Entry Level FS and also have registered learners on these programmes.

You need to liaise with your allocated Standards Verifier to discuss the planned standards verification needed for the year and agree a suitable date for the centre visit. Where possible, you should make available a wide range of components and levels during the centre visit to minimise the administration in the centre and also that of the Standards Verifier.

The primary focus and role of the Standards Verifier is to ensure that centre staff involved in the planning, delivery, assessment and internal verification of qualifications:

● maintain the national standards of qualifications awarded by us

● assess learner performance in accordance with national standards

● maintain a robust process for internal verification

● have a clear understanding of the verification procedures.

The key tasks of the Standards Verifier are to:

● verify marking practice and procedures, including assessment delivery, to ensure that national standards are applied consistently

● provide information, advice and support to centres

● maintain accurate records and provide feedback to us and centres

● promote and improve the quality of qualification assessment

● take action to deal with identified problems.

If you have a query regarding the allocation of a Standards Verifier or enquiring who your Standards Verifier is, please contact the Deployment team at: vqdeployment@

Standards verification process

Centre visit

There are two key purposes to the centre visit:

● to check that national standards are being correctly applied in the marking and internal verification of assessments

● to check that the administration of tests and associated record-keeping demonstrate that there are effective security and test procedures in place.

The Standards Verifier agrees a schedule for the visit with the Lead Internal Verifier, including:

● a visit date to coincide with a test, if possible

● components and levels to be sampled and the evidence of learner work expected on the day (please refer to the Sampling Report Form section above for further information)

● assessment records to be made available on the day, including evidence of internal verification

● quality assurance policies to be reviewed

● information on learner recruitment, induction and tracking

● review of testing facilities and test delivery

● time to feedback to the Lead Internal Verifier.

The schedule should allow for discussions with key team members, review of facilities and sampling of marked tests. For the latter, the Standards Verifier will require a quiet room. The specific requirements for sampling are detailed below.

Please note: all assessments that have passed internal verification before the centre visit should be available on the day of the visit in case the Standards Verifier needs more samples to make a decision on whether to release or block certification for the centre.

The purpose of the centre visit is for the Standards Verifier to make a decision on whether or not to allow certification. A sample of five scripts per component and level make up the annual sample for each centre. Wherever possible, these scripts should be sampled during the centre visit. Within the centre, it is the Lead Internal Verifier’s responsibility to provide evidence to demonstrate that all criteria are being met.

Your Standards Verifier reserves the right to request additional samples or increase the sample size at any time.

During the visit, the Standards Verifier might request to see further internal documents, including:

● controlled assessment reports (please see explanation below)

● internal verification plans

● internal verification records, including feedback to Assessors and/or Internal Verifiers

● records of monitoring assessment practice, including feedback to Assessors and Internal Verifiers.

Where possible, the Standards Verifier should also meet with the assessment and verification team to discuss and advise on assessment issues and practices, and to check the learner suitability criteria. A crucial part of the Standards Verifiers’ role is to advise and support you in relation to assessment and quality assurance issues.

The findings of the visit are discussed with the Lead Internal Verifier at the end of the visit. Both the Lead Internal Verifier and the Standards Verifier should allow sufficient time for this as actions for improvement are identified during the discussion. It is important that any actions and target dates agreed are clear and realistic. Lead Internal Verifiers should ensure that they understand any required action(s) so they can follow up with the assessment team in the centre.

The Standards Verifier completes Standards Verifier Report Form. This will be forwarded to Pearson and to the centre within 10 working days of the centre visit.

Standards verification and disposing of materials

The requested learners’ work must be made available to the Standards Verifier when they visit your centre or sent to the Standards Verifier using the secure post facility Pearson provides, if requested. Instructions on how to do this are available on the Pearson website under the relevant qualification. If this involves keeping work for a period of time, the Examinations Officer must ensure it is stored securely.

Please note: Only original learner assessments are accepted by the Standards Verifier. Photocopied assessments will not be accepted.

All assessment materials will continue to be ‘live’ until written confirmation is given by Pearson, confirming the release of the set as practice papers. Until such time, centres must continue to store all learner work securely once this is received back from the Standards Verifier.

The following documents need to be retained for a minimum of three years, for all learners whose assessments have been through standards verification:

● any documents detailing internal verification feedback to Assessors related to the particular sample

● records of internal verification meetings

● internal verification feedback forms

● Standards Verification Reports

● assessments submitted to the Standards Verifier.

Completed controlled assessment tests must not be given back to learners after the assessment is sat. If a learner has failed the assessment, formative feedback should be given. Assessors should ensure that they are aware of which questions the learner did not pass and the criteria covered by those questions. The learner can then be given information on which skills need more work before another controlled assessment test is taken.

Claiming certificates

For information on claiming certificates, please refer to the Campus User Guide, available on the following link: Campus User Guide

Pearson contact list

Centres should contact the following individuals/teams for queries:

Functional Skills Assessment team

fsassessment@ - for issues with the content of test paper questions, mark schemes and general assessment queries, emergencies or incidents during assessments and general assessment queries.

Please note: The content of the controlled assessment tests is secure and emailing any part if it is considered a breach of security – if you have a query about the content of a test or the allocation of marks for a particular question/task, email us stating your name and contact details, and request for one of the team to contact you directly via phone.

Approvals team

UKVQapproval@ - for gaining approval and approval queries

Business Improvement and Regulation team

pqsmalpractice@ - for reporting cases of suspected malpractice or a breach of test paper security

Exams Officers Support team

examsofficers@ - for registrations and certifications issues, reporting of grades, amendments to names, grades entered incorrectly, reprinting of certificates or if your centre is experiencing problems downloading live assessments from the secure Edexcel website

Vocational Deployment team

vqdeployment@ - to find out your Standards Verifier details, to have a Standards Verifier allocated to your centre, to report difficulty contacting Standards Verifiers and to submit queries including the logging of reports and release/block of qualifications

Standards Verifier

Contact details can be provided by the Deployment team vqdeployment@. The Standards Verifier can assist with assessment issues; provide information, advice and support, sampling size, mark schemes, specification queries, and guidance for Instructions for the Conduct of Examinations.

Special Requirements team

special.requirements@ – for issues relating to access arrangements and all special consideration requests.

Quality Standards team

vocationalqualitystandards@ - for special requirements, quality issues and appeals against qualification and certification blocks

Regional Quality Managers

All centres have a dedicated Regional Quality Manager available to advise on quality assurance, including internal and standards verification: btec.co.uk/support

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download