Assessment and Quality Assurance Essay Example

and qualifications for trainers and tutors will be launched. The qualifications consist of a mix of units - some competence-based and some knowledge-based units. The knowledge-only units (which are titled 'Understanding the principles and practices of... ) allow anyone who is interested in or needs to know about assessment and quality assurance - but is not a practitioner - to acquire knowledge and information about the roles. Successful achievers will understand the principles of assessment and internal quality assurance and have the knowledge to develop and improve systems at their center. These qualifications will eventually be part of a full framework of qualifications for trainers, assessors, and quality assurance personnel. Existing Qualifications Ofqual stated in 2010 that there is no mandatory requirement to re-qualify, re-train or upskill to the TAQA units.

However, all centers must ensure that all their assessors and internal quality assurance staff (IQAs - previously known as IVs) - irrespective of sector - are working in line with the March 2010 National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Learning & Development, including those for assessment and IQA. The NOS can be found on the LSIS website on the following link: www. LSIS. org. uk Centres can confirm that their staff are in compliance with the NOS by monitoring staff performance against the standards using routine methods such as observations of assessment practice, quality monitoring, sampling, etc.

City & Guilds recommends that centers carry out a Training Needs Analysis for all assessors and IQA staff against the relevant NOS Standards and then plan to meet any CPD needs identified in that process. CPD events are underway to assist center staff to benchmark between the A units and

the TAQA qualifications. These are being delivered across the UK on a monthly basis throughout 2011. What are the main differences between A1 and V1 and the TAQA qualifications?

The TAQA qualifications have been written for QCF so are credit rated, written on the QCF template, and have QCF levels - which differ from NVQ levels and are available as awards and certificates There are mandatory knowledge-only units in each of the qualifications They are open to anyone who is carrying out assessment and quality assurance roles - not just for those working with NVQs They have been developed for those working in accredited learning, nonaccredited learning, the NQF and the QCF and can be used by people who do not assess qualifications but who assess competence in the workplace There is a unit specifically designed for assessors who do not assess competence in the workplace There is also a qualification for quality assurance staff who manage or coordinate the work of teams of internal quality assurers.

Assessment guidance from LLUK All learning outcomes in the units must be assessed using methods appropriate to their content. See the specific assessment guidance that accompanies the units for further details. There must be valid, authentic and sufficient evidence for all the assessment criteria. However, there is no requirement for each unit to be assessed separately. It is recommended that holistic approaches to assessment are used. Wherever possible, one activity can be used as evidence for learning outcomes and assessment criteria for other units. For example, a discussion for 'Assess occupational competence in the work environment' might provide some evidence for 'Understanding the principles and practices of assessment'.

However, it is

essential that evidence for the assessment criteria in each unit is also identified individually. Assessment methods Different units will include different assessment requirements and methods - all of which will be familiar to existing assessors and quality assurance staff. For the units where competence is being assessed, methods will include:  observation of performance in the work environment examining products of work questioning the learner discussions with the learner use of others (witness testimony) looking at learner statements recognizing prior learning. For the units where vocational skills, knowledge and understanding are being assessed, methods will include: and written questions assignments projects case studies recognizing prior learning Qualification structure.