International Study Visit Programme 20 February 2015 Arches Room, Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow Brian Stokes Quality Enhancement Manager Scottish Qualifications Authority

About SQA International awarding and accreditation body Established by Act of Parliament & work closely with government Staff in Scotland, UK & many regions of the world Sharing expertise, experience & best practice

The SQA Centre Management Process EngageDisengage Pre- Approval Approval Process Normal Business Post- Approval Process Exit Process

The SQA Centre Management Process: Pre Approval  Business Development Managers /Consultants or International Project Managers decide if we want to do business with a centre  Business Development staff or International Project Officers decide if the application is complete  Pass to ASV Team

The SQA Centre Management Process: Approval  ASV staff decide whether we can do business with a centre System Approval Subject Approval Centre Approval

The SQA Centre Management Process: Approval Cont’d..  System Approver and Qualification Approver decide (or recommend) whether approval criteria have been met  Decision is either Approved or Not Approved

Systems Approval considers:  the centre’s management structure and process to support the delivery of qualifications  the internal verification system

Qualification Approval considers:  Assessors’ and internal verifiers’ qualifications and experience  the internal verification system  resources  assessment material

SQA’s approach to Quality Assurance Systems and Qualification Verification

What is our goal? SQA should have a transparent intelligence-led, risk based model for quality assurance of approved centres and potential centres

Features of SQA’s Approach  Quality Assurance Criteria  Outcome Statements for Systems and Qualifications  Proportionate Sanctions  Electronic Report Structure  Detailed on-line guidance for centres

Quality Criteria  Six Categories: –Management of a centre –Resources –Candidate Support –Internal Assessment & Verification –External Assessment –Records/Data Management  All signposted to four QA processes  All pre-rated as High/Medium/Low impact  All supported by possible sources of evidence

SQA’s Approach to Quality Assurance: The Four Processes  Systems Approval  Qualification Approval  Systems Verification  Qualification Verification

Quality Assurance Criteria CategoriesSystem ApprovalQualification Approval System VerificationQualification Verification Management of a Centre XX ResourcesXXXX Candidate SupportXXX Internal Assessment & Verification XXXX External AssessmentX X Records/Data Management XXX

High/Medium/Low Impact Criteria  All criteria are important  However, some are more important than others  Those that are most important are rated as High Impact criteria  Those that are less important are rated as Low Impact criteria  In between these two are medium impact criteria.  Failure to meet a High Impact criteria will have a greater impact on the outcome of the visit

Sufficiency of evidence  No Systems Verifier or Qualification Verifier can change the impact rating of a criteria.  For each criterion they verify, they must decide whether you have presented them with: –Sufficient evidence to meet the criterion –Some, but insufficient evidence to meet the criterion –No evidence to meet the criterion

Good Practice and Guidance  As part of the verification visit, Verifiers will identify good practice that is evident in your centre.  They will also give advice and guidance to help you improve the delivery of our qualifications  This is a mandatory part of the verifier’s role

Sufficiency of evidence  We will support you and help you to understand what sort of evidence you can provide to meet each criterion  Once the verifier has made their decision regarding the sufficiency of evidence, they will then calculate the Outcome Rating  This will depend on the impact level of the criteria and the sufficiency of the evidence presented

Outcome Statements

How Outcome Ratings are calculated  Outcome ratings are given for the outcome of each Systems Verification and Qualification Verification visit for each of the 6 categories of criteria  These are based on the sufficiency of the evidence you provide to the verifier

What if non-compliances are identified?  Where there is No evidence or insufficient evidence to meet a criterion, the Verifier will agree with you, during the visit: –the action your centre needs to take in order to become compliant. –The evidence you need to produce –Where to send this evidence –The date by which the action must be taken

What happens then?  SQA will ask the verifier to consider the evidence you send us and ask them to consider whether it is Sufficient or insufficient.  Depending on the sufficiency of the evidence, your Outcome Statement will be re-calculated.

Sanctions  If the outcome of a verification visit results in an outcome rating of Some strengths and some weaknesses, Weaknesses outweigh strengths or Significant weaknesses we may decide to place a sanction on a centre until the outcome increases to Significant Strengths or Strengths outweigh weaknesses.  The Outcome rating may decrease if the centre fails to meet action points agreed during a verification visit.  Sanctions will only be used where necessary.

Sanctions

Electronic Report Structure  Printable e-report  Clear concise record of visit planning to visit completion  Easy viewing of Agreed Actions

Summary and next steps  Continued Partnership working between centres and SQA  Making progress with improvements for the future  Questions?