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Internal verificationA guide for Edexcel International Centres

Internalverification

Ag

uideforEdexcelInternationalC

entres

January 2006

Guide for International Centres

delivered locally, recognised global ly


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Edexcel Limited is one of the leading examining and awarding bodies in the UK and

throughout the world. It incorporates all the qualifications previously awarded under

the Edexcel and BTEC brands. We provide a wide range of qualifications including

general (academic), vocational, occupational and specific programmes for employers.

Through a network of UK and overseas offices, our centres receive the support they

need to help them deliver their education and training programmes to learners.

For further information please call Customer Services on +44 1908 847750

(calls may be recorded for training purposes) or visit our website at

www.edexcel-international.org

References to third-party material made in this specification are made in good faith.Edexcel does not endorse, approve or accept responsibility for the content of

materials, which may be subject to change, or any opinions expressed therein.

(Material may include textbooks, journals, magazines and other publications and

websites.)

Authorised by Michael Swan

Prepared by Richard Pemble

All the material in this publication is copyright Edexcel Limited 2005


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Some commonly used phrases/words. These words are used throughout this

document and the reader is encouraged to familiarise yourself with them before

reading the guidance.

Assessment The process by which an assessor judges whether the

evidence presented by a learner meets the requirements

of the BTEC specification.

Assessment criteria Measurements of performance that describe what a learner

must do in a unit.

Assessment plan A plan (which may be written or recorded electronically)

agreed between the learner and the assessor to achieve

one or more units of the BTEC award. The plan should set

out targets date(s) for completion, method(s) of

assessment and the assessment criteria to be covered.

Assignment The means by which an assessor will make an assessment

decision. An assignment is typically in the form of a

written brief, or assignment, provided to the learner. It is

derived from the unit specification.

Authenticity Whether or not the evidence has been produced by the

learner.

Evidence Typically, work presented by the learner to demonstrate

that they have the required skills or knowledge to meet

the BTEC standards. Evidence may be work products

(reports, memos, completed forms, artefacts etc), records

of observation of performing a task, reflective accounts,

case studies, audio records, video records, CD/DVD records

etc.

External Verifier A person appointed by Edexcel to ensure that quality

assurance requirements are met and that claims made for

certification are valid.

Grade Unit grades of Pass, Merit or Distinction are available to

learners who achieve the stated unit assessment and

grading criteria.

Grading criteria The means by which performance is defined, ie Fail, Pass,

Merit and Distinction.

Grading descriptors The means by which performance is defined within BTEC

Higher Nationals.

Internal Verifier The person appointed by a centre to ensure internal

quality standards in relation to the BTEC specifications are

met.


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Sampling The process by which the Internal and External Verifiers check

the quality and consistency of assessment in a centre and

ensure that standards are being correctly interpreted and

applied.

Specification The units that make up the BTEC qualification along with the

associated general guidelines for that qualification.

Standardisation Part of the internal quality assurance process which enables

each member of an assessment team to check their decisions

are accurate and consistent.


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Contents

1

Introduction 1

1.1 BTEC qualifications 1

2 The quality assurance system an overview 2

3 The role of the Internal Verifier 2

3.1 Interpreting standards 3

3.1.1

Structure and content 3

3.1.2 Design of assignments for BTEC programmes setting assignments

and assessment activities 4

3.2 Internal Verifier role assuring standards 8

3.2.1

Assuring standards validating assessors judgements 9

3.2.2 BTEC Firsts and Nationals 9

3.2.3 BTEC Higher Nationals 10

3.2.4 Centre-devised units and Short Course programmes 11

3.2.5

Assuring standards ensuring consistency 11

3.3 Monitoring assessment practice 14

3.4

Assuring consistency standardising assessment judgments 15

3.5 Learners needs and equality of opportunity 16

3.6 Managing assessor resources 16

3.6.1 Developing the assessment team 16

3.6.2 Managing programme delivery 17

4

Establishing the IV structure 19

4.1 Good practice 22

Appendix 1 Example Assignment Template and Feedback Form 23

Appendix 2 Example Template IV of Assignment Brief Form 25

Appendix 3 Example Template IV Feedback to Assessor Form 27

Appendix 4 Example Template IV Sampling Plan 29

Appendix 5 Example HN Internal Verification/Review Document 31


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Internal verification A guide for Edexcel International Centres Issue 1 January 2006 1

1 Introduction

The purpose of this Guide is to provide Edexcel International Centres offering BTEC

programmes an overview of internal verification; what it is and why it is needed. The

Guide provides practical tips and advice to implement an internal verification system

and is structured in sections with examples of successful approaches, illustrations andexplanations. At the end of each section is a key-point summary. The appendices

contain examples of blank forms that you may use, or adapt to the needs of your

organisation.

Whilst this Guide focuses on what Edexcel considers to be best practice, it is

important to point out that the information in the guide is not prescriptive. It is

important that centres develop systems that suit their context and provide the

quality assurance that Edexcel require.

BTEC qualifications delivered in International Centres are part of the BTEC family and

have the same standing and level as the equivalent UK BTEC qualification.

International Centres use the same specifications as the UK, but delivering as anInternational version brings many advantages to International Centres that would not

be possible otherwise. These include:

ability to adapt content and grading criteria to meet local need

more supportive and developmental external verification

removal of the need to conform to UK academic timetables

teaching and assessment may be in a language other than English.

1.1 BTEC qualificationsThis Guide covers the following BTEC qualifications:

BTEC First Diplomas and Certificates

BTEC National Awards, Certificates and Diplomas

BTEC Higher National Certificates and Diplomas

BTEC Short Courses.

BTEC qualifications are vocational awards. They are designed both for employed

learners and for those in full time study and are specifically aimed at vocationally

based training. BTEC awards include units that focus on the technical content andskills of the occupational area and those that are more generic and thus transferable.

There are no national examinations for BTEC Short, First, National and Higher

National awards. It is the responsibility of centre assessors and Internal Verifiers to

make sure that the qualification requirements are achieved and demonstrated clearly

through learner evidence assessed against the criteria in the published specifications

This guide will take the reader through an overview of quality assurance systems, the

responsibilities of the role, the necessary processes for carrying out the role and

establishing the internal verification structure.


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Internal verification A guide for Edexcel International Centres Issue 1 January 20062

2 The quality assurance system an overview

BTEC qualifications are used and recognised in many countries around the world.

They are respected and valued both by employers and by UK higher education

providers. Two key processes that have helped BTECs to gain this reputation are

externaland internal verification.

Edexcel employs External Verifiers(EVs)to provide external quality assurance of all

its qualifications. External Verifiers have two main roles, to ensure the conditions

required for programme approval have been maintained and that all claims for

certification are valid.

The External Verifier visits a centre twice a year and will audit a sample of all

learner evidence. BTEC centres must have systems in place that make sure the

requirements of the qualification are being met and that all learner work meets the

standard set out by the awarding body. There are many and varied references to the

documentation that an External Verifier needs to see on a visit. It is important to

note that they may not wish to see each and every piece of evidence on every visit,but it is important that the documentation is continually updated.

As part of our approval agreement with each centre, the programme team(s) and

senior management give an undertaking that certain internal quality assurance

procedures will be in place and maintained. Within the centre, learners work is

reviewed and judged by assessors. To quality assure the assessors decisions, each

centre must appoint an Internal Verifier (IV)who will usually be a member of their

own staff. The Internal Verifiers role is crucial to ensuring that all assessment

decisions are accurate and fair and that they continue to be so throughout the year.

Within the Senior Management Team, we expect there to be a member of that team

with responsibilities for managing quality. Throughout this document we have

referred to that person as the Quality Manager.

3 The role of the Internal Verifier

Internal verification is a process integral to any BTEC qualification. Whilst we expect

there to be members of a team with the responsibility for organising and carrying out

the process, it is essential that every member of the team is integral to the process

and plays their full part. For example, making work available to the IV at the planned

time, acting on IV identified actions in a timely fashion or taking responsibility foridentified professional development.

Initially, it would be useful to consider who might make a suitable Internal Verifier.

The skills and personal qualities needed might include:

experienced teacher and assessor

supportive and authoritative manner

professional

familiarity with BTEC methodology.


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There are three main strands to internal verification:

1 interpreting standards

2 assuring standards

3 managing assessor resources.

Each strand is explained in more detail below.

Once an IV structure is established (see Section 4 Establishing the IV structure) this is

the next stage of the process.

3.1 Interpreting standards

This section of the guidance deals with the role of the IV in quality assuring

appropriate assignments for the programme team to deliver the BTEC qualification.

To be able to advise assessors on the design of assignments, the IV must acquire

detailed knowledge of both the structure and content of the qualification. It is also

crucial that the Internal Verifier understands the vocational context and, therefore,the standards of the particular BTEC qualification. If the Internal Verifier has any

queries about assessment criteria or understanding the vocational standards

themselves, the External Verifier should be asked for advice.

3.1.1 Structure and content

The majority of BTEC First, National and Higher National programmes from

September 2000 have been accredited as part of the UK National Qualifications

Framework (NQF). All NQF BTEC programmes conform to a set structure agreed with

the UK regulator The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). International

BTEC programmes use the same unit structure that exists in the UK, although contentand grading may be varied to meet local need.


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BTEC programme: Engineering Higher National Diploma Year: 2005-6

Unit: Business Management Techniques

Assessor(s): First Assessor

Assignment Reference and CoverageUnit Outcomes and

Grade Descriptors

Assign. Ref.A Assign. Ref B Assign. Ref.

Outcome 1

Outcome 2

Outcome 3

Outcome 4

M1

M2

M3

D1

D2

D3

Twoassignmentsonly

The Internal Verifier should review all assignments, including practical tests using the

following questions.

Are the assignment/test title and aims relevant to the unit and outcome(s)?

Is the context relevant to the unit and outcome(s)?

Do required tasks relate to the same active verbs as stated in the unit

specification?

Are tasks clear and easily understood by learners?

Are timescales realistic?

Will it be possible to confirm authenticity of learner work ?

Are assessment requirements clear?

An example pro-forma to use when the IV is evaluating assignment briefs is given in

Appendix 2.

If the proposed assignments and activities do not fully meet these requirements, the

IV should ensure that corrective action is undertaken before they are cleared for

issue to learners.


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A good assignment should provide the learner with guidance on what they need to do

in order to meet the requirements of the unit. An assignment may cover the whole or

part of a unit, or even more than one unit. In planning assessment, therefore, the

assessor should look for opportunities for the learner to demonstrate achievement of

outcomes across several units. This may be built up incrementally.For example, at

the beginning of a new programme the assessor may choose to provide the learners

with small activities/tasks as part of a larger assignment in order to build theirconfidence and to familiarise them with the format and style of assessment.

However, as confidence is developed larger assignments may be used which more

accurately reflect the everyday working requirements of the chosen sector. In some

cases, the Internal Verifier may need to consider splitting large assignments into

manageable tasks within the main assignment with specific review dates for each

task.

A typical structure for an assignment brief would be:

title

outcome statement(s)

purpose or aims

context or scenario

tasks and criteria coverage

assessment information

feedback to learner.

An exemplar Assignment Brief template can be found in Appendix 1.

Each of the above is explained in more detail below.

Title

The title of the assignment may simply reflect that of the unit under study or may

take on one that is relevant to the activity in question that is linked to the

context being used, eg

Develop a marketing plan for the local graphics centre.

Titles that reflect the nature of the work to be undertaken help to give the

assignment an identity which helps learners engage with the tasks.

Outcome statement

The assignment should be directly linked to the published specification. It is

therefore useful, especially to the learner to have the outcome clearly stated at

the beginning of the assignment. This is also helpful for the External Verifier

enabling them to see quickly which outcomes are being assessed in each

assignment.

Purpose or aims

This should be short and to the point and highlight to the learner the key reasons

or potential benefits of successfully completing the assignment. This section

might, for example, also indicate important skills to be developed.


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Context or scenario

BTEC programmes by their very nature are vocational and work related so the

tasks set for learners, whether for learning or assessment, should reflect the

everyday needs of the sector. To do this, the assessor may choose to use a typical

work setting, in which case the setting will need to be introduced to the learner

as will their role(s). The learners should also be told whether the work is to be

carried out on an individual or group basis.

Tasks and criteria coverage

There will typically be a number of tasks within any one assignment. The

structure of each task will be strongly influenced by the assessment and grading

criteria (or descriptors for Higher Nationals).

For BTEC Firsts and Nationals it is important that the active verbs used relate to

the criteria so that the sense of the unit is not changed. To enhance or clarify

meaning and target setting, an illustration may be given of the type of evidence

that could be produced by the learner. It is also helpful to indicate in the task the

key items of evidence to be generated and their main features. These should bederived from the Content section of the unit. At the end of each task the grading

criteria targeted should be added using a reference. P1, P2 and M1 would indicate

the first two grading criteria under the Pass heading and the first grading criteria

under the Merit heading.

For BTEC Higher Nationals the outcome statements take on a higher level of

importance and learner achievement should be tracked and recorded at outcome

level. For a Higher National unit there will be a number of facets to be covered

for each criterion. These may be covered via separate assignments or tasks within

an extended assignment. If this is the case then the achievement of the learning

outcome can only be acknowledged once all facets have been achieved.

Assessment information

This can take many formats but there must be a clear link between the criteria

targeted for assessment and the assessors judgement. It is much easier from the

learners, Internal and External Verifiers perspectives if these components are

side by side to ensure ease of cross-reference. This is shown in the Assignment

template (Appendix 1).

Feedback

The learner will need feedback on the work presented against the target criteria

of the assignment. Feedback will need to be positive and supportive, highlighting

key strengths and areas for development to achieve higher grades and improvethe skills used in the tasks. It may also be necessary to ask for further work to be

completed in order to meet the minimum standard.

Finally, the document template should also include the following information:

an authenticity statement from the learner

the signature of the assessor

the signature of the Internal Verifier.


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These are explained below.

Authenticity Statement

All learner work presented for assessment must contain a learner declaration to

confirm that it is their work. This must also be dated. If learners are submitting

work that is not theirs then they are committing fraud. Clearly if the centre is

endorsing the work through assessment and verification then the staff concernedwould also potentially be party to fraud.

Signature of the assessor

This is needed to confirm that the assessor has judged the task to be completed

and to meet the standards required.

Signature of the Internal Verifier

Whilst it is not necessary to internally verify every single piece of learner work,

it is useful to make space available in the design of the brief template for the IV

to sign to confirm

their agreement with the assessment decision made. This will also add clarity tothe system, demonstrating to the learners that there is quality assurance on their

programme.

3.2 Internal Verifier role assuring standards

This part of the Internal Verifiers role includes:

validating assessors judgements (including grading decisions) against the

standards

ensuring consistent judgements across all the assessment team

ensuring that learners have equality of opportunity.

From Edexcels perspective this is probably the most important aspect of internal

verification because upon it rests the validity of every BTEC certificate issued. Each

part of this strand is further explained below.

Key points 1

The Internal Verifier must ensure that assignments are fit for

purpose by working to the key indicators provided in the

example checklists (Appendix 2).

Teams should work to a common assignment template.

Links between the assignment and the BTEC specification must

be transparent. Authenticity of learner work must be confirmed.

Feedback should be given to learners.

Feedback should be given to assessors.


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3.2.1 Assuring standards validating assessors judgements

Once the assessment activities and assignments have been agreed then the IV should

ensure that allthe team are briefed on the requirements and that they are clear

about the grading criteria. This task will be significantly easier for the IV if the

assignments have been well structured and clearly defined see Section3.1.2 so

that there should be a transparent link between the work produced by the learnerand the BTEC specification. Unit grades, if applicable, can be applied only once the

learner has completed all work to be assessed on the unit.

Feedback also needs to be given to the assessor from the IV. This should contain both

the strengths of the assessor that the IV perceives from the sample of work seen and

the areas for development. The IV should also feed back to the assessor that they

agree that the grades have been awarded consistently and appropriately and that the

feedback given to the learners by the assessor is relevant, supportive and highlights

areas for improvement. Any details of corrective action that may be needed should

also be fed back to the assessor so that this can be carried out before the work and

grades are fed back to the learners. An example template for this appears in

Appendix 3.

3.2.2 BTEC Firsts and Nationals

Learners work must be tracked and recorded against assessment criteria and

referenced to the learning outcome(s). All Pass criteria must be met in order for a

learner to gain a Pass grade.There is no averaging out within a unit.

For the learner to achieve this grade they need to meet all of the Merit grading

criteria in additionto all of the criteria for a Pass grade.

For the learner to achieve a Distinction grade they must achieve all of the Distinction

grading criteria in additionto all of the criteria for Pass and Merit grades.

When reviewing assessment decisions, the Internal Verifier should ensure that:

unit grading decisions have been accurately made using the above principles

the content required by the standards is fully covered.

To do this, the Internal Verifier must consider carefully the wording of the standards.

All assessment criteria start with an active verb, for example: describe, produce,

list, carry out. Verbs for Merit and Distinction are more demanding, for example:

evaluate, analyse, critically reviewand so on. An evaluative statement always

follows the verb.


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An example of this is shown below with the verbs in bold.

The BTEC National Diploma in Business, Unit 1: Introduction to Business (Issue 1,

June 2003) has the following criteria:

Under Pass

P1 Identifyand describeways in which the business activities of contrasting

organisations meet stated business purposes

Under Merit

M1 Explainthe contributions of contrasting organisations business activities

towards the achievement of stated business purposes

Under Distinction

D1 Evaluatethe effectiveness of contrasting organisations business activities to

the achievement of strategic aims and objectives

The importance of the evaluative statement is that it links directly to the Content

section of the unit. The Content section is also broken down into paragraphs starting

with text in italic type. Each of these sections must be covered but the depth of each

may vary depending upon your local focus. Egs in the Content section are provided as

examples, in which case there is choice of focus.

The relevant section of Content in this Business Unit 1 is:

1 Business activity

Business activity:what is a business? Examples of local, national and global

business activity including public, private, not-for-profit/voluntary sector

providers, illustrated by business websites, annual reports, promotions, news

reports, government statistics eg social trends, market intelligence reports

eg Mintel, Dunn & Bradstreet, Datastream

Business purposes: reasons why businesses exist, how products and services may

be supplied for profit, at cost and below cost by local, national and global

business organisations, how businesses supply products and services to

consumers, other businesses, and central and local government agencies in

response to demand.

Therefore the unit, especially the Assessment guidance and Content sections, will

always be the main starting point for the Internal Verifier, as this will control what is

taught and assessed.

3.2.3 BTEC Higher Nationals

The Content section of the BTEC Higher National units takes the same format as that

for BTEC Firsts and Nationals. BTEC Higher Nationals utilise genericgrade descriptors

rather than contextualised grading criteria for each unit.

For example:

1 Business work activities

Engineering business functions:organisational, management and operational

structures in general engineering settings (eg business planning, product service

development, design and production delivery, quality assurance and control in

relevant manufacturing, production, service or telecommunication industriesetc).


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To achieve a Pass grade for the unit all of the learning outcomes must be achieved

and therefore all of the assessment criteria for Pass must have been satisfied.

The grade descriptors are specified for each programme and centres must follow the

descriptors for their approved programme.

To achieve a Merit grade for a unit all three Merit descriptors must be met in

addition to the outcomes.To achieve the Distinction grade allthree Distinction descriptors must be met in

addition to those for Merit and the outcome statements.

As with the BTEC First and National qualifications there is no averaging out with

units.

3.2.4 Centre-devised units and Short Course programmes

Some UK and International Centres design Short Courses comprising a small number of

units, for example, in order to provide professional updating. In this case, the units

may be defined at Pass grade only. However, all of the above general points in terms

of meeting assessment criteria will apply.

Key points 2

Internal Verifiers must have a thorough understanding of:

unit content and assessment requirements

the influence of unit structure on the design of assignments

and documentation to record learner achievement

grading principles.

3.2.5 Assuring standards ensuring consistency

Maintaining consistency throughout the year against qualification specifications

means that the IV needs to establish clear systems and processes for checking

assessors decisions. These procedures need to be efficient and effective.

There are three ways in which the IV assures accuracy and consistency of assessment

within the programme team:

sampling assessment decisions

monitoring assessment practice

standardising assessment judgements.

Setting up a sampling system/plan

Sampling assessment decisions is a fundamental part of IV duties. In doing so, the IV

aims to confirm that the decisions made on learner work by the assessor are accurate

and valid. The primary objective of any quality assurance sampling system should be

to provide a sound base to have confidence in all assessment decisions. It is neither

possible nor effective for an Internal Verifier to sample 100% of assessments.This is

not quality assurance.


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Sampling assessments should involve reviewing the quality of assessors judgements

at both formative and summative stages. It is important that the Internal Verifier

dips into the assessment process undertaken with learners at different stages in

that process. This includes reviewing some learners work perhaps (a) before

decisions have been made on any assignments and (b) reviewing final assessment

decisions.

Formative assessment sampling: sampling formative assessment enables the InternalVerifier to pick up problems at an early stage and so avoid the situation of turning

down final assessment decisions. It also highlights individual assessor needs for

support or training which in turn may be used to develop the assessment team as a

whole (see Section 3.6.1) . Similarly it provides an opportunity to identify and to

share good practice within the centre, particularly where one or more of the

assessors has wider experience than others in the team.

Summative assessment sampling: correct summative sampling should entail

reviewing the accuracy of the assessment decision by evaluating how the assessor has

reached that decision. The Internal Verifier must be able to follow an audit trail

which demonstrates clearly that the assessor has checked that the evidencepresented whatever its format (written work, practical test, video, tape, CD etc )

meets the assessment requirements, including grading criteria.

Planning the sample

It is helpful for the IV to prepare a schedule of their proposed sampling activities.

The simplest form of this is to set up a matrix of all units, assessors and learners and

to annotate this as each sample is completed. The External Verifier will wish to see a

copy of the sampling plan at each visit.

It is important that the Internal Verifier looks at assessment decisions of all the team

in any given period (eg on a calendar basis, or by learner cohort). It is crucial that

the sampling process is notdetermined by any rule of thumb such as 10% or a squareroot. Once the other sampling factors are taken into account, the sample size will

almost decide itself. It is critical that the process follows this route rather than the

other way round, ie deciding on a set sample size and trying to fit a strategy round

this.

The Internal Verifier must sample the full range of assessment methodsused, eg

assignment, case study, direct observation of performance of a task, professional

discussion, question and answer.

Allthe assessors should be included in the sample, but a number of other factors

must be considered:

For experienced assessors it is necessary to look at only a few decisions per

learner, and a minimum of two learners.

For inexperienced assessors or those new to a particular BTEC programme the

Internal Verifier may need to sample substantially more of their decisions for the

first 612 months. The objective would be to ensure that the Internal Verifier

reviews the new assessors decisions on all units/modules that they assess. Once

the Internal Verifier is satisfied that an assessors judgments are consistent and

accurate then it is reasonable to reduce the level of sampling.

For assessors whose standards are not judged to be satisfactory at initial

sampling, further samples should be taken, increasing in frequency and size.


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A sample of an IV plan for a BTEC Higher National programme is shown below.

Internal verification plan for HND

Unit

number

Learner

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 13 14 17 19 21 22

1

2 Y

3

4

5

6

7

8

9 Y

13

14 Y

15

16

17

41

42

43 44

This plan shows which pieces of work the IV will check. This is part of a plan for a

group of 44 learners.

The shows the intention is to check the selected piece of work. The followed by

Y means the work has been checked. A date could be used instead of a .

The plan is drawn up at the start of the programme. When a plan is complete it will

have:

at least one on each row showing that every learner is checked.

at least one in each column showing that every unit is checked.

The Internal Verifier will have to adjust the plan to ensure all assessors are covered

and all assessment types are covered. It is also useful to select a benchmark unit or

units, so that the IV can compare quality of assessment across different assessors and

different learners. This helps to establish an early view of the accuracy and

consistency within the team.

If there is more than one assignment in a unit then, for example, a different

assignment from Unit 3 will be chosen from learner 1 and learner 17.


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Planning is the key to ensuring coverage of the qualification as identified in the

internal verification strategy. However, the plan is a working document and plans can

and do change. The plan and the confirmation that the plan is being fulfilled should

be shown to and discussed with the External Verifier.

Key points 3

When planning their sampling Internal Verifiers should address:

experience and competence of assessors

a benchmarking unit(s) if possible

formative and summative sampling

coverage of all assessment methods/evidence sources

coverage of all units and all assessors

keeping records for EV.

3.3 Monitoring assessment practice

The second way in which the Internal Verifier assures the quality of the assessors

judgements is to monitor assessment practice. The aims of this are to:

ensure that the principles of best practice in assessment are adhered to by all

assessors

identify problems or areas where assessors require advice/development

ensure that learners understand and are satisfied with the assessment process.

Monitoring assessment should also include the Internal Verifier observing assessors in

action (where appropriate), looking at how they conduct an assessment and giving

them feedback on their performance. When carrying out this task, the Internal

Verifier must keep a record of the monitoring which includes giving feedback to the

assessor. The External Verifier will wish to see records of the IVs monitoring

activities.

The Internal Verifier should aim to monitor all the assessors within a given period of

6-12 months depending on the size and level of activity of the assessment team.

When monitoring assessment of performance the Internal Verifier must be aware of

safety, confidentiality, security and any additional organisational requirements which

could be affected by their presence. These issues should be discussed with the

assessor before arranging to monitor them.

The quality and accuracy of assessment plans as well as assessor records/reports,

should be included in the monitoring activity. The Internal Verifier should evaluate

the assessors assessment decisions and interpersonal skills, with a view to noting any

areas which would benefit from advice or further training/development. Following

the monitoring exercise, it is important that constructive and positive feedback

including praise is given to enable the assessor to develop. The discussion should

be held in private and should not be overheard by learners or other assessors. The

Internal Verifier should keep a record of this and ensure that it forms part of the

assessors individual development plan.


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Key points 4

When monitoring assessment practice the IV should look at:

the effectiveness of the planning

the assessors interpersonal skills

the accuracy of the judgements quality of feedback to the learner

giving feedback to the assessor confidentially

keeping records for EV.

3.4 Assuring consistency standardising assessment judgments

An important aspect of ensuring the consistency of decisions across all members of

the assessment team is to standardise assessment judgements. The aims of this are

to ensure that:

each assessor consistently makes valid decisions

all assessors make the same decision on the same evidence base

all learners are assessed and graded accurately and fairly.

Standardisation (often called moderation) is a crucial part of the Internal Verifiers

duties. The simplest way of completing a standardisation review is to ask the

assessment team to review an assignment or other piece of evidence that they have

not seen before. The evidence must also be anonymised so that they have no idea

who the original assessor or learner is. Each assessor should then make a decision

based on what is in front of them.

It is also helpful to ask them to note any queries they may have eg further

information needed or authentication of a piece of evidence. This enables the

Internal Verifier to check that assessors are asking the right questions when looking

at evidence as well as arriving at the correct decisions, ie that the process as well as

the judgment is sound.

Standardisation exercises should form a regular part of the programme teams

procedures and activities. Where there is more than one internal verifier,

standardisation exercises must be extended to include the other Internal Verifiers, so

that consistency of verification judgments is monitored across all team members. The

External Verifier will wish to see records of standardisation meetings and activities.

Key points 5

In standardising assessments the IV should:

ask assessors to assess previously unseen work

compare judgements across the team

check accuracy and process.


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3.5 Learners needs and equality of opportunity

Monitoring assessment (see Section 3.3) also creates an opportunity to liaise with

learners to ensure that their assessment needs are being properly met and that there

is equality of opportunity.

In particular, Internal Verifiers should check that the learners:

know which BTEC qualification they are working towards

understand the assessment and grading processes

know what progress they have made towards achievement

have confidence in their assessor

understand the appeals process

have no unmet current learning needs.

3.6 Managing assessor resources

3.6.1 Developing the assessment team

A significant part of the Internal Verifiers role is to guide, support and ensure the

continuing professional development (including occupational updating) of the team of

assessors. This is likely to be critical at certain stages:

when an assessor is new to the team, to the centre, to the BTEC qualification

when the qualification changes or Edexcel issues revised guidance

following External Verifier visits.

New assessors should receive an appropriate level of induction, depending on their

previous experience. As with learner induction the process is more effective if it is

coherent and structured. The Internal Verifier must ensure that all assessors have:

copies of the BTEC specifications they are to assess

a set of all assignments, assessment and grading criteria, report forms

any guidance notes used by the centre

copies of the centres appeals procedures, equal opportunities policy and other

relevant organisational procedures, eg quality manual, health and safety policy,

emergency evacuation procedures

information about Edexcel and the External Verifier

information about their learners, including prior achievement/accreditation,

special learning or assessment needs, including adaptations.

The Internal Verifier must also check and hold on file the following information for

each assessor on the programme team:

personal profile or CV demonstrating occupational competence at an appropriate

level and current/recent relevant industrial or commercial experience

their original qualification certificates or validatedcopies

a professional development plan for their role as an assessor.


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It is good practice to maintain a Centre File with this information. This is

particularly useful for the External Verifier. The External Verifier will expect to see

evidence that the Internal Verifier has identified and addressed learning and

development needs for each assessor.

Where the centre has a large team, including a number of Internal Verifiers, it is

beneficial to appoint a Senior Internal Verifier. With this model, the Senior Internal

Verifier would also monitor performance and maintain development plans for theother Internal Verifiers.

Key points 6

In developing the assessment team:

ensure coherent, structured induction for all assessors

ensure all assessors have all documents and materials

keep on file validated copies of assessors qualification

certificates

establish personal development plans for all the team

hold regular development meetings

keep records for EV.

3.6.2 Managing programme delivery

Finally, the Internal Verifier manages the quality of programme delivery.

The systems and processes described in preceding sections are designed to maintainquality of assessment. However, the Internal Verifier also has a widermanagement

role in respect of the BTEC programme(s):

to ensure assessment resources, including personnel, are effectively deployed

to provide a link between the centre and Edexcel.

As the Internal Verifier has a key role in assuring and ensuring quality standards in

the delivery and assessment of the BTEC qualification, their duties and

responsibilities should be included as an integral partof the organisations quality

procedures and manuals. Internal Verifiers should be in a position to report directly

to the Quality Manager of their organisation on all aspects of the centres BTECprogramme. They should have a sufficient level of authority to deploy assessment

staff to meet programme needs.

The Internal Verifier acts as a link between the centre and Edexcel. Internal Verifiers

must ensure that they have up-to-date information/guidance issued by BTEC,

industry and professional bodies, and that this information is passed on to all the

assessment team.


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On visits, the External Verifiers main contact is the Internal Verifier, and they will

be expected to have a range of information to hand:

numbers of current registered learners

learner enrolment and registration details

assessor details specifically CVs, occupational qualifications, personal

development plans, workloads

learner progress reviews and achievements, special assessment requirements,

assessment records and plans

learner support resources available

internal verification sampling plan

internal verifier activity records including feedback to assessors, discussions with

learners, standardisation activities.

Creating and maintaining good information channels is particularly important

following an External Verifier visit where an action plan has been agreed. Actionpoints are usually agreed with the Internal Verifier of the BTEC programme, often in

conjunction with the Quality Manager. It is vitally important that the points raised by

the External Verifier are acted upon within the timescale specified. Failure to do so

will result in a quality issue being noted by Edexcel against the centre, and may lead

to access to certification being blocked.

Key points 7

In managing programme delivery:

include IV in organisation quality procedures, meetings and

manuals

establish clear link for IV to senior management team

ensure programme files updated and available for EV

establish system for implementing EV Action Plans

establish system for ensuring certificate claims endorsed

by IV.


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4 Establishing the IV structure

If your organisation is new to BTEC or to offering externally accredited qualifications,

there may not have been any prior need for an internal verification or quality

assurance system. A frequently asked question is:

Where does the role of Internal Verifier fit within an organisation and how

many Internal Verifiers are needed?

This will depend very much on a number of factors such as the number of tutors on

the programme team, their experience and expertise as assessors and IVs.

To help explain this point, some examples of IV and assessor structures for different

programme teams are shown below.


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Example

Edexcel International

External Verifier(s)

Approved Centre

Senior Management Team, including Quality Manager/Nominee

Programme teams

Programme

Team 1

Programme

Team 2

Programme

Team 3

Internal

Verifier

Assessors

Internal

Verifiers

Assessors

Internal

Verifiers

Assessors

Programme Team 1: comprises five tutors/assessors delivering the first year of a

BTEC National Diploma in Business with 19 learners. The programme leader also acts

as one of the teams Internal Verifiers. However, the programme leader is notpermitted to verify their own work and so a verifier from Programme Team 2

internally verifies their work.

Assessor 1

Internal Verifier 1

Assessor 2

Assessor 3

Assessor 4

Assessor 5

Programme Team 2: comprises seven assessors, two of whom also take on the role of

Internal Verifier. One of the Internal Verifiers (2) acts as the programme leader for

this Travel and Tourism programme. The programme is delivered over two years, the

seven assessors being split into two delivery teams as shown below. One assessor is

teaching on both years of the programme.

Programme Team 1


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Assessor 1

Internal Verifier 1

Assessor 5

Internal Verifier 2

Programme Leader

Assessor 2Assessor 3

Assessor 4

Assessor 4Assessor 6

Assessor 7

Who verifies what?

Internal Verifier 1 verifies the work of assessor 2, 3 and 4 for the first year work and

assessor 5 plus that of the Programme Leader from Team 1.

Internal Verifier 2 verifies the work of assessor 4, 6 and 7 for the second year work

and that for assessor 1.

Programme Team 3: comprises four experienced assessors operating a BTEC NationalDiploma in Art and Design for the third year of operation. The programme is

delivered over two years.

Assessor 1

Internal Verifier 1

Assessor 2

Internal Verifier 2

Assessor 3

Internal Verifier 3

Assessor 4

Internal verifier 4

Assessor 3

Assessor 4

Assessor 1

Assessor 2

Who verifies what?

With a stable team all gaining experience together the work of internal verification

can be shared. In this case, assessors 1 and 2 take on the internal verification of the

first year work while assessors 3 and 4 take on the role in year 2.

In small inexperienced programme teams, where assessors alternate duties as

internal verifiers, it is advisable to use a person outside the team to sample work and

independently validate the decisions made.

Programme

Team 2

Programme

Team 3


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4.1 Good practice

When establishing quality assurance structures it is important to separate clearly the

duties of assessor and Internal Verifier. Where a centre is well resourced it would be

good practice to establish a Senior IV to have an overview of one or more

programmes, thereby keeping a distance from any assessment role. This also offers a

simple and effective route for appeals from learners should these arise.

Key points 8

Establish clearly defined roles within each team.

Ensure that there are clear lines of communication between

team members, team leader, Internal Verifiers and Quality

Manager.

Ensure verifiers do not internally verify their own assessment

decisions.

Ensure that there is a proper separation of duties for initial

assessment and internal verification.


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Appendix 1 Example Assignment Template andFeedback Form

Assignment Brief and Feedback Form

Learner name

Course title

Assessor name

Internal Verifier

name

Date

Unit number and

title

Assignment title

Outcome number(s)

and statement(s)

Date set Hand-in date

Review dates 1 2 3

Learner declaration

I confirm that the work submitted for this assignment is my own.

Learner signature Date

Introduction

Purpose/aims

Background or

scenario


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Tasks

Task

numberTask

(Include the grading statement from the published

specifications)

Criteria

covered

1

2

3

Feedback

Criteria Feedback to learner

(Evidence presented against the published criteria)

Achieved

Y/N?

Y/N

Y/N

Y/N

General

comments

Assessor signature Date

Internal Verifier signature Date


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Appendix 2 Example Template IV of AssignmentBrief FormInternal verification of Assignment Briefs

Title of assignment

Course

Unit

Target criteria

Assessor

Internal Verifier

or XEvaluation criteria

1stdraft Final Brief

1 Is the assignment word processed?

2 Is there a title to the assignment?

3 Is there reference to the unit and the learning outcomes

being assessed, including outcome statements?

4 Is there a suitable scenario/introduction that is appropriate

to the level of the learner?

5 Are the instructions clear and unambiguous to the learners,

including the format that the finished piece of work is to

take?

6 Are there contextualised assessment criteria included in the

assignment brief?

7 Do the grading criteria relate to the outcome(s) beingassessed and the P/M/D criteria from the qualification

specification? (where appropriate)

8 Is the assignment appropriate for the level of the learners?

9 Is the standard of communication to the learners acceptable?

(Consider Reading Age Calculations)

10 Are suitable basic/key skills development opportunities

identified to the learner, even if they are not being directly

assessed in this assignment?

11 Is the hand-in date clear?

Comments: (including key strengths of the brief, any corrective action and areas for

improvement)

Signature tutor Date

Signature IV(ready for use) Date


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Appendix 3 Example Template IV Feedback toAssessor Form

Internal Verification Feedback to Assessor (for one learning outcome)

Title of assignment

Course

Unit

Target criteria

Assessor

Internal Verifier

Grades(s) awardedLearner name

P M D F

IV Agree?

(Y/N)

New

grade

YorN

Have the criteria been applied to the learner work consistently?

Have the criteria been awarded appropriately?

Is the feedback to the learners relevant?

Is the feedback to the learner supportive?

Does the feedback highlight areas for improvement?

Are the authenticity statements completed by the learners?

Further comments to assessor: (including details of any corrective action required)

Signature tutor Date

Signature IV Date

P= Pass, M= Merit, D= Distinction, F= Fail


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ndix4

Example

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Program

mename

Yearofprogramme

InternalVerifier

Assignmentbrief

Assessmentdec

isions

Unittitle

Learning

outcome

Assessor

InternalV

erifier

Done(Y/N)

D

ate

Done(Y/N)

Date

1

2

3

4

5

6

Assignmentbrief

Assessmentdec

isions

Unittitle

Learning

outcome

Assessor

InternalV

erifier

Done(Y/N)

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Done(Y/N)

Date

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Assignmentbrief

Assessmentdec

isions

Unittitle

Learning

outcome

Assessor

InternalV

erifier

Done(Y/N)

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ate

Done(Y/N)

Date

1

2

3

4

5

6


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BTECH

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ecisions

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January 2006

For more information on Edexcel and BTEC qualifications please contact

Customer Services on 0870 240 9800

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