Level 4 Award in the Internal Quality Assurance of Assessment Processes and Practice

[_course_progress]

About the course

This Level 4 Award in the internal quality assurance of assessment processes and practice was introduced when the old V1 internal verifier course was withdrawn in 2010. This course will enable you to become a qualified NVQ Internal Verifier or Quality Assurer. The course enables you to quality assure any courses you are occupationally competent.

What does it mean to study at Level 4?

You will be assessed at the same level as someone completing the first year of an undergraduate degree. Achievement at Level 4 reflects the ability to identify and use relevant understanding, methods and skills to complete tasks and address problems that, while well defined, have a measure of complexity. It includes taking responsibility for initiating and completing tasks and procedures as well as exercising autonomy and judgment within limited parameters. You will be expected to use references and reflect an awareness of different perspectives or approaches within your area of study or work.

Course Duration

The course duration is 12 weeks. This is the only part of the website that will automatically lock you out when your course access lapse. Please pay attention to the date and time when your access is scheduled to lapse. It is your responsibility to apply for an extension following the procedures in place should you wish to exceed the standard course duration.

Progress Indicator

The progress indicator displayed above only measures your progress generated by clicking on the resources located on the right-hand side. The counter will record any clicks even those made within seconds. Your course completion is only determined when you meet all course requirements which will involve being fully assessed, and meeting all learning outcomes and assessment criteria. You will also need to submit your completed portfolio of evidence for both internal and external quality assurance as highlighted above.

Ground Rules

You are expected to demonstrate how you have met at least 45 Guided learning Hours by the end of the course. You will be expected to participate in course activities such as and web events and tutor. You can also attend any of our face-to-face sessions which usually take place at the end and beginning of every month. You are encouraged to supplement the support by requesting tutorials.

Learners should bear in mind that the course is not just about submitting assignments. You will need to focus on both participating in course activities and completing coursework. Assessors might withhold your assessments if your course participation is below expectation. There should be evidence of learning which will also be used by our quality assurance team to cross-reference the authenticity and reliability of your work. More information regarding ground rules is located under “Getting Started”.

Induction

Prior to starting your course, you will need to attend an induction. This can either be face-to-face or online with your assessor. We also at times host group inductions. Dates and times are published under “Events”. It is your responsibility to provide dates and times when you are free for an induction. An induction is a good opportunity to ask questions, discuss your needs and any prior learning. It will also allow you to fully understand how your course is delivered, assessments, deadlines, ground rules, and how to use this site.

Fair and Healthy Assessments

We operate both fair and healthy assessment policies and procedures. Our fair assessment is based on the principles of assessments that have to be reflected when decisions are made. This involves ensuring that your evidence is sufficient, current and authentic. The assessments will need to be valid, reliable, fair and fully reflect how learning outcomes and the criteria have been met. We provide a reasonable course duration for you to work safely and demonstrate your competency. While we support learners to work fast track, this should not compromise the quality of evidence and place a burden on safe working procedures.

The assessment environment has to be conducive to ensure that the quality of assessment is not compromised by making harried decisions or assessing too much work within a short time. Our policies and procedures are framed in line with other initiatives such as the safe management of learners.

Our healthy assessment policies are underpinned by the need to ensure that assessors work in a healthy environment. There are feedback timescales that have to be adhered to to ensure that sufficient time allowance is given without putting any pressure on assessors.

You need to submit your work at least 7 working days in advance for a whole unit to be assessed in time for the next appointment. Where you seek formal feedback for a partially completed unit, your work has to be submitted at least three working days before the appointment.

There is currently a seven-working days feedback turnaround period for question 1. Another seven for question 2. Seven days is also needed to assess question 3. If you decide to submit all 3 questions at once it can take up to 21 working days to assess and provide feedback. In order to achieve formal feedback your evidence has to be provided at least three working days before your appointment. It can take up to 14 working days to assess your practical evidence.

Assessments

This course is assessed by a portfolio of evidence that must be submitted for internal and external quality assurance. You will need to complete three worksheets for Unit 1, which are assessed by short questions and recorded discussions. Each worksheet is a working document that will need to contain all versions of your coursework.

To achieve the practical unit you need to support at least two assessors and carry out some quality assurance activities. There should be evidence of planning to carry out quality assurance activities, sampling evidence, giving feedback, standardisation, and promoting professional development. You must also demonstrate how you have worked within internal and external requirements (policies, regulations, and legislation).

The assessment strategy for all course tasks is for you to have up to three attempts to meet the assessment criteria. Your assessor will ask you to highlight any additional work in Green to indicate this is a second attempt. You will be asked to highlight further additions in Blue to indicate this is your third attempt. If you have not fully addressed the assessment criteria after three attempts this might indicate you are struggling. The assessor might ask you to have another attempt, vary your assessments or refer your work to our quality assurance team.

Contact

All communication with your assessor will need to be via this portal. You will also need to use the same platform to submit your coursework. You will need to email (contact@etutor.org.uk) if you require admin or IT support. The course dedicated day for the Level 4 Award in the internal quality assurance of assessment processes and practice is Thursday where all assessments and support are usually expected to take place. Tutorials can take place on any day (including evenings) as long as you have booked at least a week in advance.