Fair access of assessment

EdgeWorks™ uses an online assessment tool for the delivery and management of assignments. This ensures assignment tasks are consistent for all candidates. The system is web-based and as such:

Requires no specialist/licensed software to be installed on a PC.
Will integrate with all standard Windows Accessibility features, including screen readers, voice synthesisers and text sizing.
Will be available 24/7 for anyone with an Internet Connection – meaning night-shift workers are not discriminated.
Can be used outside of the workplace.

This document further details our assessment centre methodology for the fair access of assessment.

Policy statement

This document contains a statement of EdgeWorks™ policy for:

Access to equality of opportunity in the assessment process.
Candidates with special needs.
Fairness in assessment and verification.

This is held on file in the Centre Approval File and is available to all candidates upon request in writing to the Centre Manager.

Access to assessment and equality of opportunity

EdgeWorks™ will seek to ensure that candidates have access to assessment for qualifications regardless of their sex, marital status, age, religion, colour, race, nationality, ethnic origin or disability.

The assessment process must be free from any barriers which unnecessarily restrict access. In particular the Centre will ensure that.

There are no upper or lower age limits (unless this is a legal requirement of the employment role/care setting).
Assessment is independent of a specified period of time to be spent in education, training or work,
- except where legal/statutory constraints make this necessary.
Any candidates with additional/special support needs are given the opportunity to discuss ways of;
- providing solutions to problems they feel are related to access and other issues and have the potential to impede their demonstration of competence. Wherever possible the necessary resources are made available to facilitate the assessment of these candidates.
- configuring the online system to suit their individual access requirements.
Assessment decisions are free from discrimination on any grounds other than competence.

Wherever possible, assignments should be completed in normal working time. Managers should ensure suitable learning and development time is given for this. Issues in this area should be highlighted in writing to the Centre Manager.

AI (artificial intelligence) and fair access

AI tools must only be used in ways that uphold fairness, equality of opportunity and the integrity of the qualification. Where AI is used to support marking or feedback, assessors remain fully accountable for all decisions and must review all learner work in full.

Learners must not be disadvantaged by the use of AI. Any AI-generated feedback must be accessible, inclusive, and appropriate for learners with additional needs.

Learner data must not be uploaded into public AI systems that may store or reuse the information. All processing of learner work must comply with UK GDPR and EdgeWorks’ data protection policies.

Use of AI to support assessment decisions

Where AI tools are used to support marking, feedback or internal quality assurance, they must only be used as an aid to professional judgement. AI must not be used to make autonomous assessment decisions.

Assessors remain fully responsible and accountable for all assessment decisions, including marks, outcomes and feedback issued to learners. All AI-generated outputs must be reviewed in full, checked against the assessment criteria and learner evidence, and amended where required before being shared with learners.

AI-generated suggestions of Pass or Not Passed outcomes must not be accepted without independent assessor judgement. Final decisions must always be made by a qualified assessor.

Any material changes to the use of AI will be communicated to awarding bodies where required.

Quality, bias and consistency

EdgeWorks™ will monitor the use of AI-supported marking and feedback to ensure accuracy, consistency and fairness. This includes periodic review of AI outputs to identify errors, bias or inconsistencies that could disadvantage learners.

Internal Quality Assurers (IQAs) will sample AI-assisted assessments as part of normal quality assurance activity and will confirm that assessor judgement, rather than AI output, has determined the final outcome.

Candidates with special needs

The Internal Quality Assurer (IQA) must ensure that access to the assessment of VRQs is available to all candidates, and the assessment system must allow them to demonstrate their competence in the most appropriate way.

To enable access to assessment, there needs to be a reasonable amount of flexibility in considering alternative methods of assignment satisfaction.

There may be candidates with particular special needs, such as those with a visual, hearing or mobility impairment, or learning difficulty, who need to use alternative means of providing evidence. In these cases, there is a need to adopt different approaches to assessing particular elements of competence at all times, however, the proposed assessment methods must be genuine alternatives ensuring that the evidence collected is of equal quality and rigour to that required of other candidates. The requirements of the standards cannot be compromised.

Where AI-generated feedback or support is used, EdgeWorks™ must ensure that the format and language remain accessible to learners with additional requirements. AI must not replace assessor understanding of a learner’s individual needs.

EdgeWorks™ will gather feedback from learners with additional needs to identify if AI-assisted marking or feedback has any negative impact on their experience.

Any aids can be used in the assessment that could reasonably be employed in the job, such as.

A word processor for candidates with writing or learning difficulties.

If there are any concerns about the use of alternative assessment methods the Centre Manager must be consulted and, if need be, the matter will be referred to the External Verifier.

Learner choice and transparency in the use of AI

Where artificial intelligence (AI) tools are used to support marking, feedback or internal quality assurance, EdgeWorks™ will communicate this clearly to learners and, where appropriate, carers.

Learners will be informed about:
how AI is used to support assessors
the role of assessor judgement in all assessment decisions
how fairness, accuracy and accessibility are maintained
how concerns or complaints relating to the use of AI can be raised

AI tools are used to support assessors, and final assessment decisions are always made by a qualified assessor.

Where reasonably practicable, learners may request that their work is assessed without AI assistance. Any such request will be considered fairly and will not disadvantage the learner. Records of such requests will be maintained to support consistency of delivery.

EdgeWorks™ will ensure that AI-generated feedback is accessible, inclusive and appropriate for learners with additional needs, and that the use of AI does not negatively affect learner–assessor relationships.

Fairness in assessment and verification

The Internal Quality Assurer (IQA) will ensure that the principles of open access and fair assessment are central to VRQs. Part of the IQA’s role is to guide and support assessors to ensure judgments relating to assessments are fair, consistent and free from any bias.

Fairness is making sure that:

The system has not asked the candidate to do things which are not required by the qualification.
Candidates are carrying out tasks of equal difficulty in relation to the same unit.
The methods of assessment used for each candidate offer equal rigour while providing valid and reliable assessment.
Each candidate has covered all the requirements of the qualification.
Assessment opportunities do not discriminate against individuals or groups of candidates.

To ensure the fairness and consistency of assessment decisions:

IQAs meet regularly with allocated assessors to make sure that there is a common expectation of what is required from the candidates this meeting is to be recorded on the relevant form.
Assessments selected for sampling are randomly selected and assigned to IQAs based on assessor rag ratings to ensure consistency and freedom from bias.
IQAs sample assessor assignment marking to check fairness, evidence and consistency of assessment.
IQAs provide guidance in sharing best practice with assessors to ensure consistency and freedom from bias.
IQAs monitor the progress of achievement trends and identify any remedial actions that may be required.
Ensure that any AI-supported marking or feedback is checked for accuracy, quality and potential bias.
Ensure that assessor and IQA training includes safe and responsible use of AI tools.
Ensure that AI does not replace genuine assessor–learner interaction or understanding of learner progress.

Data protection and AI use

AI systems used within EdgeWorks™ assessment processes must comply with UK GDPR and organisational data protection requirements. Learner work must not be used to train AI models, nor processed by systems that store or reuse data, without explicit permission and appropriate safeguards.

Any data breach or suspected misuse involving AI systems must be reported immediately in line with EdgeWorks™ data protection and incident reporting procedures.

Reviews

The Board will monitor the effectiveness and review the implementation of this policy, regularly considering its suitability, adequacy and effectiveness. Any improvements identified will be made as soon as possible.