CELLAWARDS

ADVICE& GUIDANCE FOR EXTERNAL VERIFIERS.

9/6/11

CELL Awards Advice Guidance for External Verifiers Rev 1 June 11.doc28/12/2018

V1.1Head of Qualifications, CELL

Updated 04/07/20132nd Floor | 33 Queen Street | London | EC4R 1AP

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The Role of the External Verifier (EV)

  • External Verifiers will be managed by the Head of Qualifications who will be responsible for their operations. The Head of Quality and Compliance will monitor the performance of both the systems and the individual external verifiers.
  • All external verification will be undertaken when appropriate by full time employees of CELL Awards or by sub-contractors who are quality or subject specialists and have detailed knowledge of the qualifications and administrative arrangements to support the qualifications that they verify. They will be engaged by demonstrating experience and relevant expertise and will be trained and inducted into the policies and procedures of CELL Awards.
  • External Verifiers act as CELL Award’s representatives liaising with centres to establish consistency in terms of the assessment of evidence of learning. They sample the quality assurance and assessment processes and assessment and standards for certification purposes. In addition they offer advice and guidance to centres, staff and CELL Awards in order to support continuous improvement.
  • External Verifiers undertake appropriate quality inspection visits to centres to ensure that the qualifications have been delivered in a manner approved by CELL Awards and that assessment has been carried out to CELL Award’s agreed standards. A report from each centre visit will summarise the centre’s activities, make judgements and recommendations through the use of the Qualification Inspection Form (QIF). Centres will be informed of the content of the report by the EV before leaving
  • External verifiers are required to sample a minimum of 20% of the internal assessments undertaken by the centre. Sampling must cover the full range of attainment, assessment methods used and the work of all assessors and units involved in the decisions relating to outcomes.
  • External verifiers help to standardise the centre’s interpretation of the assessment criteria and act in an advisory capacity on the nature and scope of any centre designed assessments. They will also advise on the delivery of the qualification in order to ensure that learners provide the appropriate evidence of achievement.
  • The number of centres allocated to each external verifier will be dependant on the number of registrations received and the geographical spread of centres.
  • To ensure impartiality within the verification process, under normal circumstances external verifiers will not be allocated to the same centre for more than 3 consecutive years.
  • External verifiers will not be allocated to any centre where there may be a conflict of interest. They are expected to declare any conflict of interest on application for the role and subsequently during any further work undertaken.
  • External verifiers must complete a Qualification Inspection Form (QIF) within 10 working days of each centre visit and provide copies for the Centre, the Head of Qualifications and the Head of Quality and Compliance. The report must include action plans where required and objective recommendations in order to allow CELL Awards to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the centre’s provision, with particular reference to the standard of assessment decisions.
  • External verifiers will receive initial training and will attend annual verifier review meetings to ensure consistency of approach. They will also where necessary and appropriate receive training as part of their continuing professional development relating to new procedures and regulations.
  • External verifiers may be required to examine and report on evidence following an appeal by a centre or candidate against assessment decisions, changes to an assessment decision or final results, as allowed for in the CELL Awards Appeals Procedure for Qualifications. They will be instructed through this by the Head of Quality & Compliance and/or the Head of Qualifications as is most appropriate.
  • External verifiers must maintain records and copies of all communications with a centre. These may be requested for inspection at any time by the Head of Quality and Compliance, CELL Awards, or the regulator (Ofqual).
  • All work undertaken by CELL Awards external verifiers is confidential and must be kept secure at all times. External verifiers will need a home computer with appropriate firewalls and virus protection in order to fulfil the requirements of the role.
  • CELL Awards values feedback from its external verifiers and issues an annual survey in order to evaluate its own performance and support.

Engagement, Induction and Initial Training

  • Engagement is subject to having the appropriate qualifications, experience and occupational expertise. It will also be necessary to participate in an induction and training session and to attend training conducted by CELL Awards as appropriate.
  • Initial training will include an introduction to CELL Awards policies and procedures, instruction on the methods to be used for reporting centres and a qualification specific introduction to standards and assessment procedures.
  • When CELL Awards has accepted an application the external verifier will receive a letter of appointment. The appointment may be terminated by either party giving two months notice.
  • Engagement of non qualified external verifiers will be dependant on their meeting any special requirements including where necessary the obtaining of their V2 award within 12 months of their first appointment. CELL Awards will where and when necessary provide the necessary support to achieve the award.
  • All new external verifiers will be able to observe an experienced member of the team on a visit. All external verifiers will be accompanied by the Head of Quality and Compliance on a joint visit once per year.

External Verifier

Job Description

The external verifier will:

  1. Verify the decisions made by assessors in line with the requirements for the qualification, through sampling all assessors and the full range of assessments.
  1. Carry out a quality audit of procedures in a centre when required.
  1. Offer advice and guidance to centres on administrative procedures, physical and staff resources and any technical issues relating to the delivery and/or assessment of a qualification.
  1. Complete a Qualification Inspection Form after each centre visit, including an action plan where appropriate to ensure that the requirements of CELL Awards are met in the future.
  1. Monitor the effectiveness of CELL Awards policies and procedures.
  1. Attend review, standardisation and training meetings as required.
  1. Complete all documentation and procedures as required by CELL Awards and comply with any other relevant regulations and codes of practice.
  1. Take part in CELL Award’s quality assurance procedures which includes an annual joint visit with the Head of Quality and Compliance.
  1. Keep up to date with operational practice and competence.
  1. Participate in CELL Award’s appeals procedures as required.
  1. Maintain records of all communications with centres and other parties and provide copies of these to the Head of Quality and Compliance, CELL Awards and/or the regulator (Ofqual) on request.

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