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Assessment and Internal Quality Assurance (Trainer, Assessor, Quality Assurer - TAQA) - QCF (No. 6317 )

City & Guilds will launch the new suite of qualifications in Autumn 2010: Assessment and Internal Quality Assurance (6317).

The current Assessor and Verifier Units qualification (7317) are being replaced by the 6317 qualification.

The TAQA qualifications

'TAQA' stands for:

Training
Assessment
Quality
Assurance

These qualifications are for staff that are working in, or looking to gain entry to, roles in Assessment and Internal Quality Assurance.  They have been developed by LLUK (Lifelong Learning UK) to replace the Assessor and Verifier Units which expire on 31 December 2010. They are designed for use in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - LLUK is currently working on related developments in Scotland.

The new units and qualifications will provide people who carry out assessment and internal quality assurance roles in their organisation with the opportunity to develop and improve their practice as well as achieving a professional qualification for the role. They have been developed for those working in accredited learning, non accredited learning, the NQF and the QCF.

For assessors there are awards and a certificate at level 3 and for internal quality assurers (internal Verifiers), there are awards and a certificate at level 4. There will ultimately be qualifications for Trainers as well but the Assessor and Quality Assurer qualifications were deemed to be the priority for development.

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 centre.

These qualifications will eventually be part of a full framework of qualifications for trainers, assessor and quality assurance personnel.

What are the main differences between A1 and V1 and the TAQA qualifications?

There are a number of key differences:

• The TAQA qualifications have been written for QCF so are credit rated, written on the QCF template, 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, non accredited 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 a unit and qualification for quality assurance staff who manage the work of teams of assessors;

Assessment guidance from LLUK

All learning outcomes in the units must be assessed using methods appropriate to their content. See the specific assessment methods 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;
• recognising prior learning;

For the units where vocational skills, knowledge and understanding are being assessed methods will include:

• oral and written questions;
• assignments;
• projects;
• case studies;
• recognising prior learning;

Qualification structure

There will be 7 new qualifications, for an overview of these see our information resource - click here:

The Gill Payne Partnership Ltd is delighted to congratulate one of our Key Partners, Reynolds Training Services Ltd on being awarded accreditation by the National Skills Academy Process Industry (NSAPI) as an Academy Centre for Technical Competence.

Reynolds Training Services Ltd (RTS), whose offices are located within the Innovation Centre on the Europarc, Great Grimsby, provides comprehensive training and competence assessment for the Bulk Liquid Warehousing and Energy Sectors, covering areas including health & safety, jetty and terminal operations, and safety management.

RTS has now also been approved by the National Skills Academy Process Industry, as an Academy Centre for Technical Competence giving RTS their seal of approval for the courses and training that RTS develop.

The National Skills Academy Process Industry is an employer-led centre of excellence for skills and training needs in the chemical, polymer, pharmaceutical and downstream petroleum industries. It promotes training and encourages employers to invest in the training of their staff, so the current workforce can compete to an industry-wide gold standard.

Iain Taylor, Regional Manager of the National Skills Academy Process Industry, presented John Reynolds, Managing Director of Reynolds Training Services Ltd, with a certificate for their accreditation at a presentation at the RTS offices in Grimsby. “We are delighted to welcome Reynolds Training Services Ltd on board and a part of the Academy Training,” says Iain Taylor, “We have seen how Reynolds Training Services Ltd has grown and developed over the last couple of years, and can see that they are training providers that really will make a difference to the training industry.”

“RTS is thrilled to be receiving this accreditation which cements our relationship with the Academy, and further underpins RTS’s development,” says John Reynolds. “RTS has been supported by the Academy from an early stage and I see the Academy as a key element to our development. On a personal note, thanks to Iain for his continued trust and support in RTS at an early stage. It’s all about support, as the Academy supports us; we support our clients in the same way.”

Congratulation to John and Reynolds Training Services Ltd.

Okay, we have a bit more information (well in fact we have a lot more, just trying to get around to putting it all into English!) on the new Assessment Standards.

The new standards are aligned to the QCF and the new standards for Assessment have 3 Units, which can be completed in whole as a group, combinations of the three Units or individually:

• Unit 1: Understanding the Principles and Practices of Assessment:
  • The aim of this unit is to assess the candidate assessor’s knowledge and understanding of the principles and practices that underpin assessment;
• Unit 2: Assess occupational competence in the work environment:
  • The aim of this unit is to assess the candidate assessor’s performance in assessing occupational competence in an individual’s work environment;
• Unit 3: Assess vocational skills, knowledge and understanding:
  • The aim of this unit is to assess the candidate assessor’s performance in assessing vocational skills, knowledge and understanding in environments other than the workplace – for example, workshops, classrooms or other training environments;

These are used in combination as follows to create 4 Awards:

• Level 3 Award in Understanding the Principles and Practices of Assessment; (no pre-existing qualification match);
  • This qualification is intended for those who wish to gain an understanding of the principles and practices of assessment without any requirement to practice as assessors;
    • Unit 1 ONLY;
• Level 3 Award in Assessing Competence in the Work Environment; (Replaces Unit A1 and Unit L20);
  • This qualification is intended for assessors who assess occupational competence in an individual’s work environment;
    • Unit 1 and Unit 2;
• Level 3 Award in Assessing Vocationally Related Achievement; (no EXACT pre-existing qualification match);
  • This qualification is intended for those who assess vocational skills, knowledge and understanding in environments other than the work environment (for example a workshop, classroom or other training environment) (for assessing VRQs rather than NVQs, etc.);
    • Unit 1 and Unit 3;
• Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement; (Replaces Unit A1 and Unit L20 - all singing and all dancing qualification);
  • This qualification is intended for those who assess both occupational competence in the work environment and vocational skills, knowledge and understanding in environments other than the workplace (for example a workshop, classroom or other training environment);
    • Unit 1, Unit 2 and Unit 3;

We are working on the details for these and the new Verification Qualifications so keep your browser coming back to us for updates. We will also shortly have a new proposal document completed to explain the process and costs for achieving these qualifications.

Hope this helps!

(Edited by Gary Payne - original submission Tuesday, 3 August 2010, 11:09 AM)