Quality Assuring the Scottish Baccalaureate Inter-disciplinary Project Session

Introduction Collaborative approach to quality assurance of the Baccalaureate IPs. IPs are internally assessed, graded and quality assured by centres and their partners. Grading decisions are then externally verified by SQA External Verifiers (EVs). An important feature of this external verification process is dialogue between centre representatives and EVs during a Quality Forum event.

Overview of Quality Assurance Processes The following stages are involved in the quality assurance of the IP: Internal quality assurance by centres The Central Verification event The Quality Forum event Post-forum procedures

Internal Quality Assurance by Centres Purpose The purpose of internal quality assurance is to ensure, as far as possible, that: all those involved in delivering and assessing the IP in your centre develop a common and appropriate understanding of the national standards. the templates and candidate guidance are capable of generating sufficient evidence all those involved in assessing the IP in your centre have made grading decisions for all candidates in line with the national standard.

Internal Quality Assurance Models Effective internal quality assurance model will normally involve the following: a standardisation process verification of the templates and candidate guidance you are going to use with candidates verification of internal assessment decisions

The Quality Forum event Purpose The purpose of the Quality Forum is to give your centres representative opportunities to: outline assessment and internal quality assurance processes used in your centre, and learn about those used in other centres. contribute to the central verification process develop their understanding of the national standards of competence for the IP share examples of good practice, and alternative approaches to the delivery and development of the IP.

Preparation for the Quality Forum event Your centre will make available for uplift by SQA the five pieces of mandatory evidence for each candidate selected: the candidate's project proposal the candidate's project plan the record of the candidate's presentation of his/her project findings/product. the candidate's evaluation of the project the candidate's evaluation of his/her generic and cognitive skills development. plus the checklist along with the associated assessor comments.

The Quality Forum Event - Roles The role of your centre representative is to: attend the quality forum on the date allocated outline the internal IP assessment and quality assurance processes used in your centre. participate in a peer review of a small selection of candidate evidence and assessor comments from other centres contribute to the group discussion and share good practice feedback to all colleagues in your centre following the event.

The Quality Forum Event - Roles The role of the EV is to: record information about each centres internal quality assurance processes assist centre representatives during the peer review process chair the discussion and provide guidance identify examples of good practice in the assessment of generic and cognitive skills, and/or internal quality assurance support centre representatives in developing their understanding of the national standard of competence for the IP

The Quality Forum Event - Format The Quality Forum will be a full day event with a fixed agenda Registration and tea/coffee Welcome and introductions Outline of internal assessment and quality assurance processes by centre reps Tea/coffee break IP Review Lunch Peer Review Sharing good practice Close

What Happens after the Quality Forum? The purposes of post-Quality Forum procedures are to: consider feedback from the peer review and finalise the external verification of centre grading decisions at a report writing event – Central Verification inform centres of the results of external verification – Central Verification Reports ensure all outstanding issues are fully resolved to allow certification to take place on time.

Possible Outcomes of External Verification There are three possible outcomes of IP external verification. These are: Accepted Issues Identified Not Accepted

Key Dates and Timings 31 st March - Submission of candidate grades 11 th April - confirmation of candidate sample selected 27 th April - uplift of candidate evidence from centres th May - Quality Forum events 12 th May - Central verification event 20 th May - EV reports received by centres 6 th June - All outstanding issues resolved

A Final Note………. SQA will value feedback from all centres involved in delivering and assessing the IP. At the end of the quality assurance process you will be asked to send feedback on your and your centres experiences this year. However, feedback from centres is also welcome at any stage in the processes and will be used to inform evaluation of the IP, its assessment and quality assurance processes.

Any Questions?