| Contents | |
| 1 | Introduction |
| 2 | Roles and Responsibilities: StudentsAssessorsInternal Verifiers/Internal Quality AssurersHeads of FacultyDirector of the programme |
| 3 | Plagiarism/Malpractice |
| 4 | Persistent failure by students to meet coursework deadlines |
| 5 | Assessment Appeals Procedure |
| 6 | Controlled Assessments |
1. Introduction
1.1 FAIR ASSESSMENT
- Fair, accurate and timely assessment of all students’ work (initial/diagnostic assessment/on-course) is a learner entitlement and must comply with the Centre’s Equal Opportunities Policy/examination board/awarding body (including JCQ) requirements/regulations.
- Students are entitled to clear information regarding their progress towards achieving the qualifications for the course/programme on which they are enrolled.
- Students are entitled to fair assessment based upon:
- internal assignment briefs, that are fit for purpose and meet the assessment criteria;
- a clear, reliable system for the recording and accrediting of achievements;
- assessment arrangements, which suit the needs of students with special needs and/or disabilities.
- Feedback, which is clear, timely and constructive, and in line with examination board/awarding body (including JCQ) requirements/regulations.
- a Centre appeals procedure, which is explained to students and which they understand.
1.2 INTERNAL ASSESSMENT, STANDARDISATION, MODERATION, VERIFICATION, INTERNAL QUALITY ASSURANCE
Internal assessment, standardisation, moderation, verification, internal quality assurance (iqa) of students’ work must be fair and accurate, and in line with examination board/awarding body requirements.
2. Roles and Responsibilities
These guidelines apply to all courses, although it is acknowledged that some qualifications will have examination body/awarding body regulations which apply. N.B. In these cases, the examination board/awarding body requirements override those set by the Centre.
- It is the Head of Faculty’s responsibility to ensure that:
- internal/external regulations are adhered to;
- the quality of work, submitted for external moderation/verification/quality assurance, has undergone internal quality checks/verification/moderation before it is submitted for external scrutiny.
2.1 Students
Students must ensure that work they submit for assessment:
- complies with the guidelines given to them by assessors, which in turn must comply with examination board/awarding body requirements;
- is submitted within the timeframes given, including timeframes which apply to ‘resubmissions’, and is submitted in the format required, i.e paper-based, electronically (e.g. ‘Turnitin’) or any other online application;
- is their own work. N.B. If learners use any material which is not their own, then this must be clearly referenced, according to guidelines given to them by assessors and must comply with examination board/awarding body requirements.
In addition, students are expected to ‘self-check’ their work, i.e. check their spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPAG – Appendix 1), prior to submitting any work to be marked by an assessor.
2.2 Assessor
The Assessor, who must comply with examination board/awarding body requirements:
- informs students:
- that all work submitted for assessment must be the student’s own;
- about the Centre’s Assessment Appeals Procedure;
- produces and shares the Assessment Year Plan with the course team and make this available for internal/external verification/internal quality assurance when required;
- produces assignments which must be internally moderated/approved before they are given to students;
- ensures that students are informed of the assessment criteria for assignments;
- ensures that students are informed of the format to be used to sumbit work e.g. paper-based, electronically (‘Turnitin’) or any other online application etc.;
- ensures that assignment submission deadlines are communicated to the learners and that these are complied with, including those which apply to referred/resubmitted work;
- assesses/marks learners’ work in line with Centre/awarding body/examination board requirements/regulations, giving constructive feedback to learners, including SPAG;
- provides the sample of assessed work required for internal/external scrutiny by deadlines set and agreed annually;
- ensures that there is up-to-date student tracking, showing which units/assignments have been completed and graded; which is available for scrutiny.
2.3 Internal Verifiers (IV)/Internal Quality Assurers (IQA)
Through thorough internal verification, Internal Verifiers must:
- ensure that assignment briefs, prior to distribution to learners, are fit-for-purpose and comply with examination board/awarding body requirements.
- sample marked work to ensure that assessment has been accurately carried out.
2.4 Head of Faculty
To comply with examination board/awarding body requirements, the Heads of Faculty are responsible for the co-ordination and management of the internal standardisation/moderation/verification of: Assessment Year Plans (AYPs); assignment briefs; and assessed student work, submitted for internal/external moderation/verification.
2.5 Overall Quality Management
- The Director of the programme , will ensure, as far as possible, that internal assessment, standardisation, moderation and verification is in line with examination board/awarding body specifications.
3. Plagiarism/Malpractice
N.B. If awarding body regulations are in place, they must be fully complied with. They over-ride the Centre system outlined below:
If there is evidence that the work a student has submitted for assessment is not the student’s own, then:
- the work will not be graded by the assessor;
- the work will be returned to the student, stating in writing why a grade has not awarded;
- If there are no awarding body regulations in place, at the discretion of the assessor, the student may be allowed to resubmit the assessment within a given timeframe to be decided by the assessor and in conjunction with their Head of faculty. In such cases, the assessor may only award resubmitted work at a ‘pass’ grade despite the fact that the standard of any resubmitted work may be higher than this grade.
- In cases of plagiarism, the Centre Student Disciplinary Code may be invoked and, if identified at external verification/moderation, may result in the student failing the assessment/their qualification.
4. Persistent failure by students to meet coursework deadlines
Persistent failure by a student to meet coursework deadlines is deemed as misconduct under the Centre’s Student Disciplinary Code and may lead to eventual exclusion on academic grounds.
5. Assessment Appeals Procedure
The Centre Appeals Procedure enables a learner, who is not satisfied with the decision of an assessor, to refer the matter.
The process, outlined below, is communicated to learners at the beginning of their course/programme by the assessor(s):
Stage 1
Assessment Appeals Procedure
The Centre Appeals Procedure enables a learner, who is not satisfied with the decision of an assessor, to refer the matter.
The process, outlined below, is communicated to learners at the beginning of their course/programme by the assessor(s):
Stage 1
Where an assessment decision has been made and the learner does not agree with the decision, he/she should:
- ensure he/she has understood the assessment criteria;
- meet his/her personal tutor/assessor concerned to resolve the matter.
Stage 2
If the matter is not resolved:
- the learner must submit the marked work, together with any supporting evidence, to the assessor, who will give the work to the relevant Head of Faculty .
- the Head of Faculty will make a judgement on the work and report their findings in writing to the learner within ten working days of receiving the work from the assessor.
Stage 3
If the matter is still not resolved:
- the learner should be told by the Head of Faculty to send a letter of appeal, together with the marked work, to, either the Director of the programme.
- The work will be scrutinised by the Director of the programme within 10 working days of receiving the letter of appeal, they will advise the learner of outcome in writing. N.B. In some cases the Director of the programme may need to consult with subject specialist collegues, or the matter may be raised with the examination board/awardingbody.
Stage 4
- If the student is still not satisfied with the response from theDirector of the programme , the student can complain as outlined in the centre’s Complaints Policy.
This procedure has been established to ensure that all learners have access to open and fair assessment.
Issues/appeals concerning external moderation/verification/IQA/marking should be raised with the Director of the Programme in the first instance.
6. Controlled Assessments
- Controlled Assessments, administered by the Centre, are to be conducted under the same strict internal controls and processes which:
- are in place for all external examinations taken by students;
- comply with awarding body and JCQ regulations;
- are reviewed annually.
- To comply with these controls and processes, all invigilators must undergo internal invigilator training by members of the Exams Team before they are allowed to invigilate an external examination/controlled assessment
APPENDIX 1
Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar Marking Codes for Students
These SPaG marking codes will be used by your teachers to help you identify errors which need correcting in your work by indicating the type of mistake.
If you find one of these codes repeatedly appearing all over your work, you’ll know exactly what area to focus on improving! The more practice you get at correcting the types of errors you normally make, the less likely you are to continue making them
| Symbol | Meaning | Error Example & Correction |
| Sp | Spelling | All errors must be corrected. Look them up and make a list. |
| P | Punctuation | Its great! X It’s great! ✓ |
| G | Grammar | He study sports at high school X He studies sports at high school ✓ |
| ^ | Missing word | A word or phrase is missing and needs to be inserted in the correct place. |
| V | Vocabulary | The word or phrase you have chosen may be incorrect and/or you need to widen your vocabulary. |
