Internal standardisation is a collaborative process by which Tutor/Assessors within a centre consider work that they have marked and, using pre-determined criteria, reach a common agreement on standards as being typical of work at a particular level by comparing samples and providing peer evaluation.
Internal standardisation is a crucial stage in the quality assurance process. Internal standardisation enables all IQAs and Tutor/Assessors to understand and apply the qualification standards fairly and consistently across the centres. Internal standardisation should not be viewed as a single activity but a series of ongoing activities within a centre to support consistent understanding and application of the standards.
There are different ways of approaching internal standardisation. The frequency and types of internal standardisation activities will depend on the number of learners and the frequency of the assessment sessions in a centre.  It is the responsibility of the IQA to determine and justify the fitness for purpose of standardisation approach. Records of the standardisation activities must be kept and made available to Gateway Qualification as part of the annual monitoring visit.
If a Lead IQA has been appointed within a centre, they must make arrangements for the internal standardisation of all IQAs. This should be carried out in a timely manner ahead of the internal standardisation of Tutor/Assessors in order to establish a consistent interpretation of the standards and ensure a common standard is applied across the centre.
A commonly used internal standardisation approach is for the IQA to hold a team standardisation event. This is an opportunity to:
Consolidate assessors’ understanding of the standards
Identify any challenges Tutor/Assessors experienced
Resolve any outstanding questions, contacting Gateway Qualifications directly for advice if required.