Centre Quality Assurance Procedure

All internal quality assurance activities at EDGEWORKS will follow this procedure. The purpose of this procedure is to ensure that all assessment and internal quality assurance activities are undertaken in a way which meets the requirements of the Awarding Organisation and National Occupational Standards. Internal verifiers must not verify their own work and the system will not allow this to occur.

The Centre Manager is responsible for ensuring all Internal Verifiers are trained, competent and qualified, maintaining, monitoring and reviewing arrangements for processing internal quality assurance information and providing confirmation to Awarding organisations that internal quality assurance practices are to national occupational standards.

  • EDGEWORKS recognises the role and responsibility for the Internal Verifier and allows sufficient time and resources for the activities to be undertaken effectively.
  • A nominated person has been nominated by EDGEWORKS to be responsible for operating, monitoring, reviewing and adapting Centre systems and internal quality assurance. This person has obtained a nationally recognised internal quality assurance award, works consistently with the national occupational standards and supports other internal verifiers to meet qualification standards.
  • Each internal verifier must maintain a sampling plan detailing dates when sampling will take place.
  • Each qualification should be verified at least twice during the programme, including summative quality assurance and the sampling plan updated appropriately.
  • Decisions of trainee and newly qualified assessors will be 100% verified until the internal verifier is confident that work meets the national standards. 50% will be sampled following agreement with external verifier.
  • Where concerns on assessment decisions are identified by the internal verifier additional quality assurance and support will take place until confident the assessment decisions made by the assessor meet national standards.
  • This procedure will be reviewed every three months by the Centre Manager.

Assessment staff

The Centre Manager and Internal Verifier will:

  • Ensure all assessors have sufficient relevant and current occupational competence, understand the national standards and hold or are working towards a nationally recognised Assessor qualification. All trainee assessors must have appropriate and time sensitive target dates for completion of the Assessor Award and must have all decisions agreed and counter-signed by an appropriately qualified and experienced assessor and have the level of support and mentoring required to enable them to complete the award and make assessment decisions in a way which meet national standards.
  • Ensure that any training and development needs identified through the counter-signatory process will be recorded and reported to the Centre Manager.
  • Ensure all assessors have access to, and understand, copies of centre and Awarding organisation paperwork, policies and procedures, along with full and up-to-date Awarding Body information and scheme books.
  • Ensure all assessment and quality assurance staff attend and participate in standardisation exercises as a means of making consistent quality decisions.

Standardisation sessions and exercises

The Internal Verifiers will:

  • Plan and record dates of standardisation and other meetings and activities to cover at least the next six months of assessment and internal quality assurance cycles.
  • Co-ordinate and ensure participation of regular standardisation exercises by each assessor.
  • Record and monitor feedback and action planning with assessor when training and development needs are identified.