Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) Requirements for Approved ILM Centres and Recognised Providers

Transcription

1 Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) Requirements for Approved ILM Centres and Recognised Providers

2 Contents Document Change History 3 Scope 4 Overview 5 Section 1 IQA Policy and Strategy 6 Section 2 Occupational Compentant Personnel 7 Section 3 IQA Sampling Activity 10 Section 4 Standardisation Meetings 13 Section 5 - Feedback and Team Development 14 Section 6 Documentation and Records 15 IQA requirements for 16 Continuous Improvement 19 Glossary 20 2 of 21

3 Document Change History As part of an ILM branding review the appearance of this policy was amended in February The content of this policy shall be subject to a three year review cycle or as necessary as outlined under continuous improvement. Changes to specific sections of the document made in May 2014 are listed below: Section 2 Page No Change 7 Amendment to state IQA sampling must (previously should) take place at various stages in the learners journey Section 3 Page No Change 11 Centres minimum sample for 00 rating changed to 10% (previously 15%) 11 New clause to advise Providers offering Development only programme will automatically be risk rated to direct claim status (00) Internal Quality Assurance Requirements for Page No Change 16 Addition of best practice and effective IQA Glossary Page No Change 20 New section created 3 of 21

4 Scope ILM is the UK s leading provider of leadership, management and coaching qualifications, and a City & Guilds Group Business. ILM offers a specialist suite of qualifications ranging from Level 2 to Level 7, which are awarded by The City and Guilds of London Institute. ILM also specialise in assessment, learning content, and the accreditation of high quality training in the fields of leadership, management and coaching. This policy provides the key principles, responsibilities and best practice requirements which ILM Approved Centres should follow to ensure effective Internal Quality Assurance (IQA). All ILM Approved Centres are responsible for the effective design, delivery, assessment, monitoring of all internal quality assurance processes and providing accurate documentation to enable certification of units of achievement for learners. Your approach to managing the quality of any of the ILM qualification or programmes that you offer is paramount in maintaining our integrity and value both yours and ours. It is central to the expectations, experience of the learner s journey and qualification achievement rates. The awarding of qualification risk rating in terms of direct claim status or sanctions. 4 of 21

5 Overview Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) forms one part of ILM s Quality Assurance Process and focuses on your responsibilities as a centre to ensure: An appropriate design of a programme to meet ILM qualification or unit specifications and rules of combination Effective delivery that meets learner s expectations of agreed learner journey The accuracy and consistency of assessment decisions between assessors Assessors are consistent in their interpretation of qualification or national occupational standards Maintenance of documentation audit trail to enable certification and distribution to learners Monitoring, review and evaluation for continuous improvement. Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) links with the External Quality Assurance Process (EQA) undertaken by ILM s External Verifier see section C2.2. Your Centre s Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) processes must follow best practice principles to ensure its rigour. Effective internal quality assurance (IQA) must be all embracing from the conception and design of your programmes, recruitment of learners and team members, to delivery, assessment and evaluation through to certification. Approved Centre therefore must have the following features in place as identified in sections of 21

6 Section 1 A written Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) Policy and Strategy You will need to have a written internal quality assurance (IQA) policy and strategy which must be implemented during your approval. The internal quality assurance (IQA) policy will show your centre s commitment to the key principles and shared values required to deliver an effective, risk managed internal quality assurance approach. The internal quality assurance (IQA) strategy will be planned, risk managed approach which provides for feedback and evaluation via a clear auditable monitoring system. The key points to be covered in the internal quality assurance (IQA) strategy will be a statement indicating a named person with the overall responsibility and accountability for your centre s internal quality assurance. The person should be employed within your centre. The strategy will state the commitment to recruit and select occupationally qualified team members and the provision for feedback, on -going support and development A communication process for providing key centre policies and information covering items such as equal opportunity policies, health & safety, special assessment arrangements and Regulatory requirements A sampling assessment risk management strategy which includes standardisation, a process for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the delivery and assessment from both learners and employers perspectives plus accurate documentation showing a clear audit trail. An example of an internal quality assurance (IQA) strategy is given in Appendix 1. 6 of 21

7 Section 2 Appoint Occupationally Competent Deliverers / Assessors / Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) Personnel There must be a minimum of two personnel operating in an approved centre fulfilling the roles of deliverer and assessor or internal quality assurer per learner. Occupationally Competent Role profiles are located within the qualification specifications and this should assist your selection of team members. Role of the Deliverers/tutors The role of the deliverer/tutor is to ensure that the programme design is fit for purpose and that indicative content of a unit is delivered ensuring the learner can meet all unit learning outcomes and assessment criteria. The role of the deliverer/tutor is to engage, motivate and provide key information to learners such as the assessment schedule, assessment and mark sheet and sufficiency descriptors. They will provide formative feedback on assessments. The deliverer/tutor sometimes is required to perform the role of the Assessor. Should this be the case, the roles and requirements of the assessor are also required to be met. Role of Assessors The role of the assessor is to decide whether a learner has demonstrated competence and capability. This is achieved by judging the learners assignment or evidence against all the learning outcomes and assessment criteria. The assessor must provide support and guidance concerning sufficiency of evidence and provide summative written feedback Role and Responsibilities of Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) Personnel There must be a separation of the assessor and Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) role per learner The Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) person (s) must have the authority to implement the Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) policy and strategy and report to senior personnel within your organisation to lead to continuous development. The Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) personnel s role is key and has many responsibilities. Ideally, the person must be employed within the Centre so they can implement their various responsibilities fully. Responsibilities Plan and prepare internal quality assurance activities sampling arrangements in line with your centres risk management strategy thus ensuring and demonstrating that assessment is valid and consistent through monitoring and sampling assessment decisions. Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) sampling must take place at various stages in the learners journey to gain an overall picture of the quality and delivery from induction to the learner evaluation process and at various interim stages. Further detail is provided on risk managed sampling and the CAMERA Acronym can be read in section 3 7 of 21

8 Organise standardisation activities to aid interpretation of unit specifications, provide guidance and maintain the accuracy, quality and consistency of assessment decisions. Further detail on standardisation is provided in section 4 Provide on-going answering of queries relating to assessment or verification process, special consideration or requirements, constructive feedback and advice on a delivers and/or assessor s performance to address any identified areas of improvement and maintain good practice. This entails observation, sampling and checking accuracy and completeness of documentation. Written feedback must be provided to assessors and recorded. Further detail on team development in section 5 Take a key role within the internal appeals procedure and judicator in assessment disputes or variances. The internal quality assurance (IQA) personnel assessment decision will override the assessor s decision Take a lead role by understanding the legal requirements in terms of maintaining records such as data protection, confidentiality, and secure storage of records, transparency. The internal quality assurance (IQA) personnel will maintain all assessment records meeting ILM s requirements Take a lead role in the evaluation of trends in terms of equality, diversity and where appropriate bilingualism in relation to assessment decisions, monitoring retention and achievement rates Managing communications, both with deliverers, assessors, senior management and the External Verifier. The internal quality assurance (IQA) personnel s role and associated responsibilities as indicated in the above is key to the implementation of your centre s internal quality assurance (IQA) policy and strategy and is certainly not about second marking. The internal quality assurance (IQA) role still needs to be in place and implemented if your centre decides to use The Institute of Leadership and Management Assessment (ILMA) assessment rather than centre assessment. In summary the internal quality assurance (IQA) personnel will be involved with recruiting and developing deliverers and assessors, guiding and supporting them, planning a rigorous and robust risk managed assessment and sampling strategy, organising standardisation events, ensuring ILM policies and procedures are adhered to, communication, storing and recording information to provide a clear audit trail and liaise with the ILM External Verifier(s) (ILM EV s). With respect to Scottish/National Vocational Qualifications (S/NVQ s) then in addition to having the appropriate occupational competency associated with appropriate qualification and experience, there must be at least one internal quality assurance (IQA) person who has either D34, V1 or the level 4 Award in Assessment and Quality Assurance (LLUK TAQA). The D34, V1 or level 4 Award in Assessment and Quality Assurance qualified internal quality assurance (IQA) person can then countersign the decisions of an unqualified internal quality assurance (IQA) person who is operating in the centre and working with Scottish /National Vocational Qualifications (S/NVQ s) to gain the Level 4 Award in Assessment (LLUK TAQA). Internal quality assurance (IQA) personnel with D34 or V1 must follow (Lifelong Learning UK) LLUK and City and Guilds (C&G) guidance and must have up-to-date working knowledge and experience of best practice in assessment and quality 8 of 21

9 assurance and show current evidence of continuing professional development in assessment and quality assurance For further information on the Level 4 Award in Assessment and Internal Quality Assurance ( TAQA) then it is useful to look at the qualification offered by City & Guilds (C&G) 9 of 21

10 Section 3 Internal Quality Assurance Sampling Strategy Sampling across all qualifications whether Scottish/National Vocational Qualifications (S/NVQ s) or Vocationally Related Qualifications (VRQ s) should be managed in line with the following principles: Sampling is representative of all activities, is based on the CAMERA rationale, takes account of The Awarding Organisation qualification tariff percentages and provides evidence of both interim and summative sampling. The sampling must be planned however should be flexible to take account of changes in risk. There should be a clear rationale indication in your records as to how your centre decided upon the internal quality assurance (IQA) sampling plan. The sampling plan will be requested and must be forwarded to the External Verifier (EV) when the Centre completes the form Centre Activity Form (CA2). For both Scottish/National Vocational Qualification s (S/NVQ s) and Vocationally Related Qualifications (VRQ s) the sampling strategy covers the following approach: CAMERA is an acronym for the sampling strategy C - Candidates or learners sampling must cover ethnicity, gender, and employed full or part time and special arrangements, all referrals. A - Assessors sampling will cover all assessors taking into account a higher risk of new assessors or feedback from External Verifier (EV) reports, across all assessment sites, occupational and qualification, experience, evidence of countersigning of unqualified Scottish/National Vocational Qualification (S/NVQ) Assessors. M - Methods of assessment- sampling will cover all Vocationally Related Qualifications (VRQ s) and National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) units assessments, a higher percentage if the method of assessment has been adjusted in terms of agreed flexible assessment method, questioning, observation, product evidence or evidence of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). E - Evidence types- written confirmation that Vocationally Related Qualification (VRQ) assignments and Scottish/National Vocational Qualification (S/NVQ) evidence is valid, authentic, current, sufficient, plus a focus on any special requirements and identified problem units. R - Records all documents relating to assessments and assessor feedback to learners. A - Assessment locations- across different assessment locations, main centre location and satellite centres Interim sampling must be built into the plan and will occur at both the early and middle stages of your qualification assessment. Interim sampling enables you to check formative assessment or part of a unit (Scottish/National Vocational Qualification (S/NVQ)) and identify consistency or issues at an early stage for corrective action 10 of 21

11 Summative sampling will occur at the end of the qualification assessment. Appendix 2, 3 and 4 provides an example of a sampling strategy, sampling plan and sampling rationale form. The Qualification Risk Rating (QQR) will determine the degree of Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) sampling or the recommended percentage sampling across a group of learners for a qualification over time. Quality rating Certificate status Centre's minimum sample 00 Direct claims (DCS) 10% 5% 01 Direct claims (DCS), with an action plan 02 External Verifier (EV) sign-off 3a/3b External Verifier (EV) sign-off 15% 10% 20% 15% 30% 20% EV minimum sample For new centres the risk rating is usually 02. Once the External Verifier (EV) is confident that the qualification or programme is operating successfully and the centre is carrying out their assessments to the right standard consistently, then your ILM Quality and Compliance Manager (QCM) can agree with your Centre s External Verifier s (EV) recommendations and change your risk rating to direct claims status (DCS 01 or 00). This can happen at any point and is dependent upon External Quality Assurance (EQA) judgement. For new Providers offering just the Development Programmes these will automatically be risk rated to direct claims status (DCS 01 or 00) as there is no assessment involved with these programmes. That judgement is based upon risk within the centre and is not dependent upon length of time the centre has offered the qualification nor how many candidates have been processed. The External Verifier (EV) will base the decision upon risk. Listed below are some possible factors that may influence that decision: How stable is the assessor/internal quality assurance (IQA) resource within the centre? Are the assessment decisions in line with national standards? Is the internal quality assurance (IQA) person clearly checking the audit trail and documentation records What experience of relevant assessments does the team have? 11 of 21

12 Direct claims status (DCS) is awarded on an individual qualification basis, so you might have direct claims status for one qualification but not another so the internal sampling will vary. 00 or None low risk rating No External Verifier (EV) sign off required: Direct Claims Status (DCS) - no action plan sampling retrospectively 01 low risk rating No External Verifier (EV) sign off required: Direct Claims Status (DCS) - with action plan sampling retrospectively 02 medium risk External Verifier (EV) sampling required before release of results action plan in place 3a high risk Suspend registrations action plan in place 3b high risk Suspend certification- action plan in place. When can Qualification Risk Rating (QQR) - Tariff be changed? The rating may change at any point as a result of further External Verifier (EV) activity; centre visits, remote monitoring or the annual customer review. The decision to amend any ratings would be that of the External Verifier (EV) and be confirmed by the Quality and Compliance Manager (QCM). It is ILM s aim that a centre s or a recognised provider s programme should move to having direct claim status (DCS) by implementing rigorous and robust internal quality processes as indicated in sub sections 1 to 6. Direct claim status (DCS) the centre or recognised provider to claim certificates prior to an External Verifier (EV) intervention. 12 of 21

13 Section 4 Standardisation Meetings Standardisation meetings must be planned and occur at regular intervals in line with your internal quality assurance (IQA) strategy. There must be evidence of these meetings through minutes and your External Verifier (EV) will ask to view these and actions required. The internal quality assurance (IQA) personnel must ensure all assessors attend including associates and that an agenda is set which covers standardisation of judgements, external quality assurance (EQA) reports and assessor feedback plus other pertinent issues such as ILM qualification updates You may wish to use the standardisation agenda Appendix 5 13 of 21

14 Section 5 Appointment of a qualified occupationally competent team, on-going feedback and team development The appointment of occupationally competent and qualified staff is vital. You must retain team member Curriculum Vitae s (CV s) plus Continuous Professional Development (CPD) records on file. These can either be electronic or paper based. The External Verifier (EV) may request to see these during their activities with the centre. Updating knowledge of qualifications and procedures must be on going so Curriculum Vitae (CV) and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) records must be updated to capture this. Your centre must maintain a staff list of staff delivering and assessing or internal quality assurance (IQA) against each qualification. You must update ILM of changes at your centre by completing the Centre Update Form (CUF) available via the online Forms tab within Walled garden. All new team members must have induction to cover your centre policies on internal appeals, Health and Safety (H&S), special requirements. Team members must receive feedback on the consistency of assessment judgements and/ or delivery observations. The internal quality assurance (IQA) person must also use learner, employer feedback plus External Verifier (EV) reports as a basis for feedback. 14 of 21

15 Section 6 Documentation and Records You will need to have the following as a minimum to ensure clarity of the audit trail Registration list Induction and enrolment records Tutorial records Vocationally Related Qualification (VRQ) or Individual Learning Plan (ILP) records (Scottish/National Vocational Qualifications S/NVQ s) Sampling plan Assessment tracking record Assessment feedback sheets Internal quality assurance (IQA) feedback documentation Standardisation meetings calendar, agenda and minutes from the meetings Assessment Appeal records. 15 of 21

16 Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) requirements for The purpose of this section is to provide a framework explaining the key principles and responsibilities required, for internal quality assurance (IQA) for Recognised Providers. Providers are responsible for the effective design, delivery, assessment (endorsed programmes only), monitoring of all internal quality assurance processes plus accurate documentation to enable certification of learner programme achievement and development. Overview Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) forms one part of ILM s Quality Assurance Process and focuses on your responsibilities as a provider to ensure An appropriate design of a programme Effective delivery that meets learner s expectations of agreed learner journey The accuracy and consistency of assessment decisions between assessors (endorsed programme only) Maintenance of documentation audit trail to enable certification and distribution to learners Monitoring, review and evaluation for continuous improvement. Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) links with the External Quality Assurance (EQA) Process undertaken by ILM s External Verifier (EV) see section C2.2. Your Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) processes must follow best practice principles to ensure its rigour. Effective internal quality assurance (IQA) must be all embracing from the conception and design of your programmes, recruitment of learners and team members, to delivery, assessment, and evaluation through to certification. 16 of 21

17 Section B Providers (Endorsed programmes only) Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) Requirements This section provides the key principles, responsibilities and best practice requirements which ILM must follow to ensure effective Internal Quality Assurance (IQA). As a provider, you are responsible for the effective design, delivery, assessment, monitoring of all internal quality assurance (IQA) processes and providing accurate documentation of your programmes. Your approach to managing the quality of the programmes that you offer is paramount in maintaining our integrity and value - both yours and ours. Effective Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) is central to the expectations, experience of the learner s journey and achievement rates. The awarding of qualification risk rating (QQR) in terms of direct claim status (DCS) or sanctions. You will need to have: 1) A written internal quality assurance (IQA) policy and strategy You will need to have a written internal quality assurance (IQA) policy and strategy which must be implemented during your approval. The internal quality assurance (IQA) policy will show your centre s commitment to the key principles and shared values required to deliver an effective, risk managed internal quality assurance approach. The internal quality assurance (IQA) strategy must be planned, risk managed, provide for feedback and evaluation via a clear auditable monitoring system. Internal quality assurance (IQA) sampling must take place at various stages in the learner s journey to gain an overall picture of the quality and delivery from induction to the learner evaluation process and at various interim stages. The key points to be covered in the internal quality assurance (IQA) strategy will be a statement indicating a named person with the overall responsibility and accountability for your centre s internal quality assurance. The strategy will state the commitment to recruit and select occupationally qualified team members and the provision for feedback, on -going support and development. A communication process for providing key information A sampling assessment risk management strategy, a process for monitoring, reviewing and the evaluation of delivery and assessment from both learners and employers perspectives plus accurate documentation showing a clear audit trail. The context will determine the complexity of the sampling and sampling percentage. As a provider though you will decide this percentage and share this with the ILM External Verifier (EV). 17 of 21

18 2) Provider programme risk rating A newly recognised provider or a new recognised programme is normally given a provider risk rating of Medium 02. This means that the External Verifier (EV) will need to sample the assessments and records associated with the programme, however, if they feel confident that assessments are consistent with the outlined assessment details and records are clear then a low risk rating of 00 or 01 status will be given. 00 status means there is no action plan and the learners can be certificated without External Verifier (EV) sign off. 01 status means that there is a minor action plan however you can still claim for certificates without External Verifier (EV) Sign off. The External Verifier (EV) will check that the quality benchmarks are being followed during their annual visit and will sample retrospectively for 00 or 01 programmes. This applies only to Endorsed Programmes as there is no assessment for the Development Programmes. Risk ratings can be increased for a number of reasons, such as the use of ILM logo incorrectly would lead to risk rating being increased. 18 of 21

19 Continuous Improvement The ILM Quality and Regulatory Group monitor this policy and any associated feedback and ensure that the ILM Standard is maintained to ensure our qualifications and programmes are accessible to all whilst maintaining quality in implementation. This policy shall be the subject of a three year review cycle or as necessary. 19 of 21

20 Glossary CA2 C & G CPD CUF CV DCS EQA EV H&S ILMA ILP IQA LLUK QCM QQR RPL S/NVQ s TAQA VRQ Centre Activity Form City & Guilds Continuous Professional Development Centre Update Form Curriculum Vita Direct Claims Status External Quality Assurance External Verifier Health and Safety ILM Assessment Individual Learning Programme Internal Quality Assurance Lifelong Learning United Kingdom Quality and Compliance Manager Qualification Risk Rating Recognition of Prior Learning Scottish/National Vocational Qualifications Training, Assessment and Quality Assurance Vocationally Related Qualification 20 of 21

21 Copyright ILM is a City & Guilds Group business. This content in this document is copyright The City and Guilds of London Institute [2016]. The content in this document, may not be copied, reproduced or distributed without the prior written consent of The City and Guilds of London Institute, except that: 1. candidates studying for an ILM or City & Guilds qualification may photocopy this document free of charge, for the purposes of personal study, when working towards an ILM or City & Guilds qualification 2. approved City & Guilds and/or ILM centres and providers may include a PDF version of this document on their internal intranets, provided that centre staff may only make copies of the document for the purpose of teaching candidates working towards an ILM branded or City & Guilds qualification The Standard Copying Conditions also apply and can be found on The City and Guilds of London Institute website ILM 1 Giltspur Street London EC1A 9DD T +44 (0) customer@i-l-m.com 21 of 21