Once the agenda has been agreed, you can discuss the running order of the visit ensuring staff understand that timing for your verification activities must remain flexible. At this stage you should also ensure that staff have a clear understanding of the potential outcomes of the visit and how they will be conveyed — ie you will provide feedback at the end of your visit, and the outcome and verification report will be issued electronically to the centre thereafter. Stage 2: Verifying the evidence Each sample should be accompanied by the centre’s completed copy of the Verification Sample Form, which will indicate the centre’s assessment judgement/mark awarded at the time of verification for each of the candidates in the sample. (Note: in some visiting subjects, where live candidate performances form part of the verification evidence, centre assessment will take place at the same time as the verification activity. In these cases, centre staff should complete the Verification Sample Form with their assessment judgement during, rather than in advance of, the visit.) For each level you will need to check that you have: details of the selected verification activity (eg unit or IACCA) outcomes, assessment standards, and the approach to assessment (eg UASP, assessment portfolio, naturally-occurring evidence) for each candidate the candidate/assessment evidence information about how the evidence was judged evidence of the internal quality assurance processes In the event that the centre has the wrong materials (eg evidence against the wrong unit or evidence for course assessment or has not provided evidence at the correct level), or you feel that you cannot proceed with verification: you should contact the NQ Verification Team immediately. Review and make a decision about the approach and judgements presented for each level. Verification has the following outcomes, which are applied to each level in the sample: ‘Accepted’ indicates that: the approaches to assessment for all candidates at that level are valid the assessment judgements for all candidates at that level are reliable, consistent, and in line with the assessment standards If is an issue at one of the levels, your verification decision for that level must be ‘accepted*’ or ‘not accepted’. produced
When undertaking visiting verification, you may be able to resolve a not accepted decision during the visit (please see Section 4.4, Stage 3A: Resolving not accepted outcomes). You will be able to select the appropriate outcome from the Radio Buttons in Section 6: Selecting ‘resolved during visit’ will generate Section 7: Units/course verified and outcome(s). Selecting either ‘revisit required’, ‘submit evidence to SQA’ or ‘not applicable’ will not produce an additional field. Should a revisit be required, the commentary in your original not accepted decision will be sufficient. Should you click ‘resolved during visit’, ‘revisit required’ or ‘submit evidence to SQA’ in error, clicking ‘not applicable’ will deselect these outcomes. Section 7: Units/courses verified and outcomes Selecting ‘resolved during will generate additional blank fields to allow you to complete an external verification report detailing your follow-up decision. The centre will achieve this outcome on completion of their required actions and SQA’s receipt of the Verification Sample Form detailing the amended marks or results. Final review You must ensure that your report reflects the outcomes that have been recorded on the software — and that any recommendations and required actions are also in line with the outcomes. Not accepted outcomes must have clear actions stipulated in the ‘required action’ section of the report. Accepted* outcomes must have recommendations in the ‘development recommendations’ section of the report, whereas accepted outcomes should not have any recommended or required actions. On receipt of the finalised outcome record and external verification reports, SQA will issue them electronically to the centre. Verification cannot proceed If, during verification activity, you believe that verification cannot proceed then you should stop the verification — for example, in instances where centres have provided incorrect or insufficient materials, sample or assessment judgements. ‘Verification cannot proceed’ cases should be referred to team leaders, senior team leaders and principal verifiers and, where applicable, the NQ Verification Team should be contacted. If you have decided that verification cannot proceed, you should select this option from the radio buttons at Section 2: Selecting the ‘verification cannot proceed’ option will open a unique form, allowing you to provide details on the unit(s) affected and the information required from the centre to resolve this. An outcome of ‘verification cannot proceed’ should be recorded on the NQ QA software and the Verification Cannot Proceed Form attached.
DPVs may be asked to undertake additional activities. Participate in SQA events where DPV attendance/input is required. Undertake qualification approval activity. additional duties may be required to meet centre requirements and cannot always be planned in advance by SQA, so we may be reacting to centre requests for support. Usually there will be timelines to adhere to in these situations. Key performance measures: Ensure SQA verification activity is carried out within the conditions and timescales set by SQA. Support members of the team to meet SQA verification activity in relation to national standards set by SQA. Oversee team performance to meet SQA verification activity requirements. Ensure accuracy and consistency of decisions made by members of the team. Ensure reports generated by members of the team meet quality standard. Positive engagement with all members of the team through leadership and management of people. Positive engagement with all members of SQA staff. Positive engagement with all centre Demonstrate behaviours outlined in the Terms and Conditions of Appointment which support SQA’s values. Key activities and timescales: All prior verification reports to be returned to SQA within 12 working days of receipt. Any request to team members’ prior verification reports should be completed within eight working days of receipt. All activity invitations (eg events/postal/visits) to be responded to by specified dates. Event verification outcome records and reports for all selections at an individual event to be checked and submitted on the software by the end of that event. All postal verification outcome records and reports to be checked and submitted and materials despatched back to SQA within five working days of receipt. All follow-up verification outcome records and reports to be checked and submitted and materials despatched back to SQA within five working days of receipt. All appeals to be considered and report(s) submitted within the specified timescales. All visit dates to be set by specified dates. All visiting verification outcome records and reports to be checked and submitted within five working days of the visit. specific