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BWYQ Qualifications Delivery Manual With Student Registration System (SRS) notes added
Document 005 – Reviewed June 2017 2 of 54 © BWYQ - Qualification Delivery Manual
1. Introduction
This document outlines the BWYQ Qualification Delivery arrangements and is primarily intended for use by
BWYQ staff and centres. It may be provided to the regulatory authorities to satisfy them of BWYQ’s ability to
comply with various regulatory requirements.
The document and associated arrangements will be kept under continuous review by BWYQ, to ensure
appropriateness and effectiveness. In particular a formal review of these arrangements will be carried out at
least annually as part of BWYQ’s annual self-evaluation activities, with the outcomes reported to relevant
regulatory authorities accordingly.
Hence it is important that both the centre (BWYT) and BWYQ staff ensure that they follow the arrangements
in these documents and if amendments are required that they are brought to the attention of the BWYQ Head
of Operations or BWYQ Chair as soon as possible to trigger an earlier review and reduce the risk of any
potential non-compliances. This handbook must be read in conjunction with the following policy documents.
Chapters within this document only serve to provide a summary of the process. In all instances staff and
centres should first refer to their own policy documents and BWYQ policy documents as outlined below.
Document
Reference
Policy/ Guidance Document
BWYQ 006 Centre Recognition Documentation 2016
BWYQ 007 BWYQ Centre Handbook
BWYQ 008 BWYQ Equality and Diversity Statement
BWYQ 009 BWY E & D Policy
BWYQ 010 BWY Safeguarding Policies
BWYQ 012 Reasonable Adjustment Policy
BWYQ 013 Special Consideration Policy
BWYQ 014 Conflict of Interest Policy
BWYQ 015 Risk Management Policy & Risk Log
BWYQ 017 Malpractice and Maladministration Policy
BWYQ 018 Sanctions Policy
BWYQ 019 Complaints Policy & Procedure
BWYQ 020 Appeals Policy
BWYQ 021 Customer Services Statement
BWYQ 025 RPL Guidance
BWYQ 026 Plagiarism Guidance
Document 005 – Reviewed June 2017 3 of 54 © BWYQ - Qualification Delivery Manual
2. Contents BWYQ Qualifications Delivery Manual ................................................................................................................... 1
1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 2
2. Contents ............................................................................................................................................................ 3
3. Recognising and Approving Centres ................................................................................................................... 4
4. Supporting Centres and Providing Guidance ...................................................................................................... 5
5. Registering Learners, Exams and Certification .................................................................................................... 7
Learner registration ........................................................................................................................ 8
Certification .................................................................................................................................... 9
Certification review/recall ............................................................................................................ 10
Replacement certificates .............................................................................................................. 10
Student registration and certification process .............................................................................. 11
Learner analysis ............................................................................................................................ 11
Requests for acknowledgement of Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) ............................................. 12
Requests for Reasonable Adjustments and Special Considerations ............................................... 13
Marking and standardisation ........................................................................................................ 15
Assessment marking and standardisation ..................................................................................... 15
Training ........................................................................................................................................ 16
6. Competencies Expected of Tutors/Assessors ................................................................................................... 16
The role of Assessors in Internal Assessment ................................................................................ 17
7. Monitoring Centres .......................................................................................................................................... 17
1. Physical EQA e.g. annual centre visit ......................................................................................... 17
2. Remote EQA e.g. sampling ........................................................................................................ 17
Allocating External Quality Assurers ............................................................................................. 18
Visit Frequency and Preparation ................................................................................................... 19
EQA Communication and Organisational Chart ............................................................................. 20
EQA Visits/Monitoring .................................................................................................................. 21
Sampling within a Centre (BWYT) ................................................................................................. 22
Competitor information................................................................................................................ 25
External Quality Assurer Reports .................................................................................................. 25
Maintaining EQA Standards .......................................................................................................... 25
EQA STANDARDISATION ............................................................................................................... 26
Induction ...................................................................................................................................... 27
Reports ......................................................................................................................................... 27
Team meetings ............................................................................................................................. 28
1-2-1’s .......................................................................................................................................... 29
8. Malpractice and Maladministration Investigations ........................................................................................... 30
9. Centres/Qualifications Withdrawal .................................................................................................................. 33
10. Dealing with Complaints ................................................................................................................................ 34
11. Dealing with Appeals ...................................................................................................................................... 35
12. Appendices .................................................................................................................................................... 37
Centre Based Risk Management ................................................................................................... 37
Operational Compliance Categories .............................................................................................. 40
Operational Risk Categories .......................................................................................................... 42
Strategic Risks............................................................................................................................... 43
Document 005 – Reviewed June 2017 4 of 54 © BWYQ - Qualification Delivery Manual
3. Recognising and Approving Centres Also refer to Documents BWYQ 006 Centre Recognition and BWYQ 007 Recognised Centre Handbook
Note: In June 2016 Ofqual approved BWYQ retaining AO status for two regulated qualifications (BWYQ Level 4
Certificate in Yoga Teaching and BWYQ L4 Diploma in Teaching Yoga). BWYQ qualifications are delivered solely by
BWY Training. BWYQ does not foresee that it will expand to deliver from any other centres at this stage. The following
information is therefore for illustrative purposes regarding the processes that would be in place were the BWYQ to
expand.
This section outlines BWYQ’s approach to recognising centres – which are defined by Ofqual as centres which
undertake the delivery of the qualification on BWYQ’s behalf such as colleges, training providers or employers.
(Venues used to conduct assessment, in which the venue provider plays no part in the delivery of the assessment,
would not fall within the definition of a centre – as stated by Ofqual in the Frequently Asked Questions on the General
Conditions). BWYQ operates a centre recognition and qualification approval process that ensures the requirements
of the regulatory authorities General Conditions of Recognition in respect of centre recognition (Condition C2) are
appropriately addressed.
Centres wishing to offer a BWYQ qualification complete a Centre Recognition Form (BWYQ 006) which can be
requested from the BWYQ Central Office or via the email contacts at the end of this document. Approved centres
applying to offer further BWYQ qualifications, would need to complete a Qualification Approval Form to add
additional qualifications to their centre profile. Completed Centre Recognition Forms and Qualification Approval
Forms are reviewed by the BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ Chair to ensure that they have been appropriately
completed and all relevant information has been attached. The completed forms are then passed to BWYQ
Committee for approval.
When a centre has applied for recognition, the BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ Chair assign an External Quality
Assurer (EQA) to visit the centre to ensure that they have the appropriate resources, such as suitably qualified,
experienced staff and facilities, in place to be able to deliver BWYQ provision, in accordance with the BWYQ
qualification specifications. At these visits the EQA may review any centre devised assessment activities they are
considering using (if appropriate to the qualification they are seeking recognition and approval for) with views sought
from BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ Chair as appropriate.
The EQA may also outline the process they need to go through to seek approval of future assessment activities (see
next section). S/he will also outline BWYQ’s quality expectations of the centre to ensure understanding of BWYQ’s
approach to quality assurance and the actions/sanctions that may be imposed on the centre should it fail to deliver
BWYQ’s qualification(s) appropriately.
Upon receiving a satisfactory report from the External Quality Assurer EQA, the BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ
Chair will recognise the centre accordingly and approve it to offer the relevant qualification(s). Based on the
recommendations of the EQA report the BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ Chair will reserve the right to assign
actions to this recognition/approval if required.
To protect the integrity of BWYQ’s qualifications, newly recognised centres or centres offering a new type of
qualification will not be permitted to claim certificates for their learners until they have had a successful visit from a
BWYQ External Quality Assurer. The application form will be archived, along with any attached documents, to reflect
the fact the centre has now been recognised and/or approved to offer a particular qualification(s).
Document 005 – Reviewed June 2017 5 of 54 © BWYQ - Qualification Delivery Manual
4. Supporting Centres and Providing Guidance
Centre requires support
The centre can contact BWYQ via phone/email and log a request for
support
Officer receiving the request
responds to the centre and/or
passes the matter onto a colleague
to address
Centre requests for support/ feedback are logged/
assessed to identify areas where BWYQ could
improve services/support with recommendations
made to NEC/ BWYQ Committee to action as
appropriate
BWYQ identifies a need for centre training event, which is considered and approved or not by NEC/ BWYQ
Committee
If approved; manager is assigned to lead on organising the
event (e.g. booking the venue, confirming the agenda and
speakers, producing materials, sending invites and
managing the events on the day, etc.)
The centre can access the
qualification
specifications, exemplar
materials, forms and the
centre handbook via the
BWY/Q websites
Invites sent to centre and/or the event is promoted. Centres respond and book places
Event takes place and delegates complete event evaluations
NEC/ BWYQ Committee overview receive feedback and use this to
inform future events
Document 005 – Reviewed June 2017 6 of 54 © BWYQ - Qualification Delivery Manual
To support centres to deliver qualifications in a consistent manner BWYQ will:
• provide a qualification specification for each of the qualifications (and units) that the centre intends to
deliver. These have been designed by the BWYQ in accordance with regulatory requirements and are
published on the BWYQ website www.bwyq.org.uk .
• provide a learner assessment matrix/ record for qualifications to support internal assessment. This
will be used to track evidence of achievement by each learner and is available in the BWYQ
qualification assessment handbook. This function is provided by the Student Registration Systems for
courses registered from 2017. Supplementary instructions on using the SRS are available in the DCT
area of the BWY website.
• specify the qualifications and experience that centre staff must have, and/or their responsibilities in
the relevant qualification specification.
• hold various events for centres and track the attendance of centres at such events. The events will be
held at various locations and on a range of dates as and when they are required. They will be organised
by BWYQ Central Office and will support centres by, for example, sharing best practise in terms of
good assessment/internal quality assurance methods and updating them on sector/regulatory
developments as appropriate. At no time will such events that could be classified as ‘Prohibited
training’ (training provided to centres/teachers in relation to a qualification - whether physically or
remotely by means of simultaneous electronic communication - where someone holds information in
relation to the content of assessment materials or information about the assessment for that
qualification, and where disclosure of the information to centres/teachers would breach assessment
confidentiality)
• provide appropriate training material from such events online for future reference
• ensure centres receive and understand the requirements for operating as an approved centre by
providing them with a copy of BWYQ 007 Centre Handbook.
• ensure they receive support from BWYQ’s External quality assurer (EQAs) during their engagements
with the centre. External Quality Assurer EQAs will be managed and trained by the BWYQ Head of
Operations
• Have office staff available to offer support and guidance between the hours of 9am and 5.30pm,
Monday to Friday.
The BWYQ 007 Recognised Centre Handbook it includes, amongst other things, specific requirements for the
secure storage and return of assessment materials, Internal Quality Assurance expectations, how to register
learners (including confirming the identity of learners) and requesting certification for learners. This document
will be made available to centres alongside their first set of qualifications. In summary, the handbook will be
based around the following structure:
• Introduction
• Roles and responsibilities of an BWYQ centre
• Resources expected of an BWYQ centre (e.g. the staff expectations/ the experience they should have
and/or tasks they should do)
• Registering learners
• References to all relevant BWYQ Policies (as provided in the introduction to this handbook)
• How to a request RPL; Reasonable Adjustments or Special Considerations
• Exam/ assessment arrangements. For example:
• How to conduct assessments
Document 005 – Reviewed June 2017 7 of 54 © BWYQ - Qualification Delivery Manual
• Securely returning assessment evidence to BWYQ
• How to record and escalate any incidents (e.g. alleged learner misconduct or if an error is spotted
in an assessment)
• Details of where they can access support from BWYQ (e.g. key contact details, description of BWYQ’s
web pages that will have BWYQ’s various policies)
• Guidance on how to prevent and/or investigate instances of malpractice and maladministration
• How they will receive certificates
• Summary of how BWYQ will visit/monitor centres
• Details of how the centre (BWYT) can request additional support/guidance from BWYQ
5. Registering Learners, Exams and Certification Refer also to BWYQ 007 Centre Handbook. A flow chart illustrating the process is given on page 11
A new Student Registration System (SRS) has been introduced in 2017, which is configured to the new BWY
website and member data base. Integrating all systems, this platform provides a 'one stop' shop for all
students, tutors, IQAs and members; where they can access a broad range of information concerning the BWY
but also specific information regarding their own studies or courses that they are delivering and quality
assuring.
Following their course selection process and information days, tutors register their courses on the SRS so that
students can arrange their own enrolment and instant payment. From there on course administration takes
place online. Students receive their course material and are able to upload assignments via the SRS, whilst
tutors and IQAs can assess, review and comment on work to feedback to their learners on the system. There
are administration levels of confidentiality and permissions allowing for tutors and IQAs to correspond in
private. The SRS allows for all parties involved in the design, delivery and quality assurance of the courses to
be able to monitor progress remotely and where-ever they are, and students benefit from increased
accessibility to their programme material and support on-line.
The SRS has the facility to cover the end-to-end learner registration and certification process with a built-in certificate generation feature for paper based certificates. It streamlines traditional learner registration and certification activities and contains a number of innovative features from coherently supporting requests for reasonable adjustments, special considerations and recognised prior learning, to full audit trails in relation to all initial and final grading and results decisions, to a unique way of fully accessing a learner’s record and history at any stage in the registration and certification life-cycle; to support regulatory data-return reports and real-
time student achievement. Further information is provided in the BWYQ 007 Centre Handbook and supplementary SRS instructions available on the DCT area of the website.
The BWYQ Educational Administrator/ Quality Assurance Officer are responsible for managing BWYQ’s
registration and certification arrangements for those courses that weren’t registered on to the SRS. A student
registration document logs all information by course. The BWYQ Educational Administrator ensures that
BWYQ:
• Issue unit and qualification results and certifications for all valid entries and claims, ensuring that these
results/certificates are expressed clearly to learners and other users of BWYQ’s qualifications and that
they accurately reflect the marking of assessments and the results achieved
• Publish an up to date list of all timescales for issuing results, certificates and replacement certificates
(normally through BWYQ’s customer service statement) and that BWYQ complies with these timescales
Document 005 – Reviewed June 2017 8 of 54 © BWYQ - Qualification Delivery Manual
• Only issue certificates and replacement certificates to those who have a valid claim/entitlement to them
• Maintain accurate records of all certificates and replacement certificates that BWYQ issue
Learner registration
Ideally learners will be registered by the relevant member of centre staff no later than at commencement of
the course however this is often not possible, and learners should be registered on the relevant qualification
and/or unit(s) as soon as possible thereafter.
It is the centre’s responsibility to take all reasonable steps to confirm the identity of the learners. This is done
via the SRS and member data base, which verifies the students’ identity and allocates a unique number to
them.
Each centre will nominate personnel who will be authorised to check and submit/ approve course
registration/certification requests. These centre staff are responsible for ensuring that the course has been
delivered effectively; the learner has completed the relevant parts of the course and the identification of the
learner has been confirmed. In addition, they will check course paperwork and registration requests and
certificate claims to ensure they have been fully and correctly completed, including:
• That result information match course registration details.
• Only appropriately competent trainers, assessors and verifiers were involved in the
delivery/assessment
• The correct BWYQ documentation was used.
• Learner details are correctly completed
• Investigating any suspicious entries or reasons for omissions of key data, resolving any issues with the
relevant trainer, assessor and/or internal quality assurer and when required raising the matter with
BWYQ.
For those courses not registered on the SRS, completed Learner Registration Forms would have been checked
by the centre to ensure full and clear completion and that the correct qualification and/or unit(s) had been
listed, as well as being signed off by a suitable empowered and authorised member of staff. The SRS automates
this level of scrutiny and ensures correct data entry.
All registration requests completed prior to the SRS are logged on a student registration and certification
spreadsheet, by course. This is managed by the Quality Assurance Officer with the Educational Administrator
supporting.
Document 005 – Reviewed June 2017 9 of 54 © BWYQ - Qualification Delivery Manual
Certification
A centre can only make a claim for certification of the full qualification and credits to BWYQ when they are satisfied that a learner has completed the relevant assessments, achieved all of the qualification learning outcome assessment criteria as detailed in the qualification specification and assessment handbooks and has reached the specified level of attainment (level 4) for the units and/or qualification. If the learner failed to complete the entire qualification for whatever reason individual units and credits can also be claimed. The BWYT’s Quality Assurance Officer will verify all learner achievement before claims for certification are made by the centre.
Note: these internal arrangements for compliance with regards to student registration and certification will be
monitored from time to time by the external quality assurer (EQA) allocated to the centre to ensure robust
arrangements are in place, specified procedures have been followed and that the centre has arrangements
which minimise the risk of fraudulent or mistaken certificate claims being made. Should any issues arise
through these visits of through other means (such as a complaint or via an Ofqual investigation) that calls in
question the validity of a certificate claim, the centre manager must be immediately notified, and a formal
investigation carried out (in accordance with BWYQ’s malpractice and maladministration policy).
Submitted qualification/unit results will be examined by the BWYT Quality Assurance Officer (with advice from
the BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ Chair) who will check that the relevant unit(s) and/or qualifications
have been achieved (alongside the assessment matrix and with any accepted RPL claims) and that each
candidate has successfully achieved the ‘pass’ mark and that these, and the learner details, have been correctly
entered on the submission form. This process is automated by the SRS
Once successful achievement has been confirmed the Educational Administrator will refer the certificate
records to the Head of BWYQ Operations who will approve the certificates. The Educational Administrator will
then initiate the certificate printing and distribute the qualification and/or unit(s) and credit(s) certificates to
the relevant centre (note: certificate templates are stored securely within the BWYQ offices with only the
BWYQ Educational Administrator and BWY Operations Manager having access).
The Educational Administrator will ensure that the final certificate(s) clearly identify the language the
assessment was carried out in if another language was used other than English, Irish or Welsh and where the
objective of the qualification was not to gain skills, knowledge or understanding in the language.
To prevent fraudulent misuse, each certificate will adhere to the certificate requirements of the regulatory
authorities and will:
• Clearly and uniquely identify both the learner and the certificate itself
• Display the title of the qualification as it appears on Ofqual’s Register (along with any Endorsement
title if appropriate) – and no other title for the qualification
• Reflect the results achieved by the learner (certificates are not issued before all relevant achievements
have been obtained by the learner)
• Not contain the titles of any “unregulated” qualifications on the same certificate that contains details
of a “regulated” qualification
Unless there is a concern with the validity of achievement, the certification process must be completed within
6 - 8 weeks of the assessment being completed and certificate claim being submitted (as specified in BWYQ
Document 005 – Reviewed June 2017 10 of 54 © BWYQ - Qualification Delivery Manual
021 Customer Service Statement). Certificate claims must be accompanied by copies of all students assessed
portfolios (including assessment matrices), the completed end of course review and the IQA report evidencing
that all actions related to student achievement have been addressed and signed off.
If a ‘fail’ has been determined this will be communicated to the learner via the relevant centre; the learner will
then have the opportunity, if appropriate, to enquire about, or appeal against, the result in accordance with
BWYQ’s Appeals policy. Alternatively, they may opt to claim certificates for the individual unit(s)/credit(s) they
have achieved to date if they do not wish to continue with the full qualification.
Certification review/recall
If situations arise that call into the question the validity of an awarding decision (e.g. via an enquiry in
accordance with BWYQ’s Appeals Policy or an investigation in accordance with BWYQ’s Malpractice and
Maladministration Policy), or an error has been made and a learner has incorrectly been awarded/ not
awarded, a unit/qualification achievement the issue will be brought to the attention of the BWYQ Head of
Operations who will inform the BWYQ committee and take matters forward. If this is in relation to EQA activity,
then the process outlined from page 17 will come in to play.
The centre and Awarding Organisation will ensure that the relevant learner’s records are amended (and/or the
records of groups of learners if the investigation indicates the issue affects more than one learner) to reflect
the new award or indicate that an earlier award has been withdrawn/amended. They are also responsible for
altering marks/awards if it is found there were an error and/or material inconsistency in the assessments
arrangements assigned to a particular task, unit or qualification.
The BWYQ Head of Operations will then be responsible for ensuring that the relevant learner(s) and centre(s)
are informed of the revised awarding decision and the decision to revoke the certificates (if they have been
issued already) in accordance with BWYQ’s stated Appeals and/or Malpractice and Maladministration Policies.
BWYQ will then carry out, as stated in BWYQ’s Appeals policy, a review across other learners/centres to see if
they too were affected by the same original decision/error.
Replacement certificates
Learners, or centres acting on their behalf, can request a replacement certificate. In doing so they need to
contact the Educational Administrator (who will also notify the Head of BWYQ Operations) and supply the
following information:
• Rationale for the request (e.g. loss of the original or the learner’s name has changed)
• Full name, date of birth, sex of the learner along with the name of the qualification and date of award and the centre where they achieved the award (including centre address if known)
• Supporting evidence – such as the identification of the learner (passport/driving license) or change of name records (e.g. deed poll or divorce records)
• The original certificate – this must be returned if the request is in relation to an error on the original or a change of name, so it can be destroyed.
In addition, they must pay the replacement certification fee of £25
Document 005 – Reviewed June 2017 11 of 54 © BWYQ - Qualification Delivery Manual
All requests will be reviewed by the Educational Administrator (who will also notify the BWYQ Chair and Head
of BWYQ Operations), upon satisfaction that the claim is valid, and the identity of the learner has been
authenticated and the claim has been validated (by checking the database to ascertain their attainment
records), the BWYQ Head of Operations or BWYQ Chair will authorise the issue of a replacement certificate
that will be an exact replica of the original certificate - with the key exception being the new certificate will be
clearly identifiable as being a replacement.
Should the claim be rejected the BWYQ Chair will contact the person making the request and will inform them
accordingly of the decision and the rationale for this.
The Educational Administrator will also update the learner’s record to reflect the request and outcome.
Student registration and certification process
Learner analysis
The Safeguarding and Diversity Manager and BWYQ Head of Operations will also review candidate registration
and certification data on a regular basis to ensure that no adverse trends are identified in relation to equality
•Centre approved to offer the qualification
•Centre registers learners (see above)
•Centre delivers the qualification in accordance with the requirements outlined in the BWYQ qualification specification and assessment handbooks – if there are any centre devised assessment tasks these are approved by BWYQ where appropriate (see centre recognition section)
•Centre records assessment, internal verification and pass/fail details
•Centre monitored by BWYQ EQAs
•Centre makes a certificate claim including IQA approval. EQA verifies certificate claim (where appropriate) and BWYQ Head of Operations/ BWYQ Chair approves. Educational Administrator issues certificates.
•Learner makes a claim for a replacement certificate and provides relevant information and fee
•Educational Administrator checks BWYQ records and confirms the learner’s claim/achievement, advises Head of BWYQ Operations and BWYQ Chair, who approve reissue is appropriate
•If there are issues the learner is contacted to provide additional details. If concerns arise about the claim the Head of BWYQ Operations and BWYQ Chair are informed and an investigation is started (See Malpractice and Maladministration arrangements)
•If the claim is correct a replacement certificate is issued and the learner’s record is update accordingly
Document 005 – Reviewed June 2017 12 of 54 © BWYQ - Qualification Delivery Manual
of opportunity and diversity or the success and failure rates of BWYQ’s qualifications which may signal
particular learners who share a particular characteristic were unfairly advantaged or disadvantaged. In which
case, the outcomes would be feedback into BWYQ’s regular management team meetings and BWYQ’s on-
going review of units and qualifications (see previous section). Examples of some of the data that will be
analysed include:
• Registrations per qualification
• Pass, failure, withdrawal and transfer rates per qualification and trends in relation to learner and
centre profiles.
• Number and details of exemption, equivalence and RPL requests
• Special Considerations and Reasonable Adjustments Requests
In addition, the outcomes of the analysis may also signal that changes are required to BWYQ’s approach to
developing, delivering and awarding qualification; in which case, these will be taken forward by the relevant
team lead for the particular process affected.
Requests for acknowledgement of Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) Refer to BWYQ 025 Recognition of Prior Learning Guidance and BWYQ 026 Plagiarism Guidance
BWYQ will accept requests to acknowledge recognised prior learning (RPL) if it has been agreed that the
qualifications studies or skills acquired are sufficient to meet BWYQ course requirements and therefore
negates the need for a learner to complete a particular unit/set of BWYQ learning outcomes. In the first
instance, a centre will make an assessment of the learner’s request and the nature of the RPL. If they deem
that it is a valid and appropriate request they will apply to BWYQ for RPL on behalf of the learner. A form is
available in the BWYQ Centre Recognition Document (BWYQ 006). This form is automatically sent to students
via the SRS
BWYQ would request the syllabus and criteria of any certified RPL courses and will attempt to match the learning outcomes to the BWYQ Cert/Dip syllabus and criteria via the Learning Outcome Assessment Matrix provided in the BWYQ 025 RPL document. This will include looking at the level, and credits if applicable, of the achieved qualification and will also identify any gaps in learning. Certificates related to the RPL request will be requested for evidence. BWY accredited groups/ yoga courses have similar criteria as BWYQ courses, so RPL in these instances may be fairly simple to evidence and apply. For an 'unknown' organisation, e.g. Anatomy and Physiology units from an Occupational Therapy qualification, more detailed information would be required. The tutor would be able to advise in the first instance but would also draw on advice from the IQA and Quality Assurance Officer before requesting approval from The BWYQ Chair. The BWYQ Chair/ Head of BWYQ Operations will then review the request to ensure it meets any stated and
acceptable opportunities agreed with the sector and will feedback the outcomes of the assessment to the
centre (e.g. accepted or not) with a clear rationale for the decision.
If accepted, the relevant evidence will be compiled to accompany the learner’s other assessed material and
BWYQ records. If the RPL application is not accepted the learner may choose to follow the BWYQ appeals
process. In either case the learner’s record is updated accordingly; including RPL against specific units if the
application was successful.
Document 005 – Reviewed June 2017 13 of 54 © BWYQ - Qualification Delivery Manual
Further information is available via the BWYQ document 025 Recognition of Prior Learning Guidance for
Centres. The flow chart below outlines the procedure for dealing with requests for acknowledgement of RPL.
Requests for Reasonable Adjustments and Special Considerations Refer to BWYQ 012 Reasonable Adjustment Policy and BWYQ 013 Special Considerations Policy
The flow charts below outline the procedures for dealing with reasonable adjustments and special
considerations followed by a detailed description of the process. The Quality Assurance Officer is initially
Document 005 – Reviewed June 2017 14 of 54 © BWYQ - Qualification Delivery Manual
responsible for managing applications, however she is supported by the BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ
Chair in any decision making. Forms are automatically sent to the student by the SRS.
Both types of request must be emailed to the BWYT Quality Assurance Officer in the first instance. The request
forms can also be found within the Reasonable Adjustments and Special Considerations Policy, available online
or on request from the BWYQ Central Office.
Approved centres must submit requests for reasonable adjustments at least 10 weeks prior to when the
assessment is due to take place. Applications for approval of reasonable adjustments are made by centres
using the designated forms submitted to the Safeguarding and Diversity Manager and BWYQ Head of
Operations for approval. BWYQ will aim to respond to all requests for reasonable adjustments within 3 working
days of receipt of the form.
Special consideration can be applied after an assessment if there was a reason the learner may have been
disadvantaged during the assessment. Approved centres must submit requests for special considerations no
later than 5 days after the assessment has taken place. Applications for approval of special considerations are
made by centres using the designated forms submitted to the BWYQ Head of Operations and Safeguarding
and Diversity Manager at Central Office for approval. BWYQ will aim to respond to all requests for special
considerations within 48 hours of receipt of the form.
•Centre applies on behalf of a learner for reasonable adjustments or special considerations
•Application received and reviewed by Quality Assurance Officer (in doing so consideration is given to the relevance of the claim in relation to the unit’s learning outcomes, assessment criteria and associated assessment method(s)
•Reasonable adjustment/special consideration is granted and the Centre/learner informed. Learner’s record is updated accordingly and the application filed.
•Reasonable adjustment/special consideration is rejected and the Centre/learner informed. Learner’s record is updated accordingly and the application filed.
•start an appeal in accordance with BWYQ Appeals Policy (see the Appeals section for details of the steps associated with this process)
Learner/ centre accept decision to reject RA/
Spec Cons application
Learner/ centre decide to appeal against decision
Document 005 – Reviewed June 2017 15 of 54 © BWYQ - Qualification Delivery Manual
Marking and standardisation
BWYQ strives to have robust arrangements in place to ensure accurate and consistent marking of assessments.
Assessment marking and standardisation Each qualification is marked by assessors, and standardised by the BWYT IQA for that qualification. The IQAs
report to the Quality Assurance Officer who is responsible for maintaining standards across different
specifications in a subject within a qualification and from year to year. The Quality Assurance Officer and IQAs
are responsible for moderating the assessors marking schemes. This process is further scrutinised by External
Quality Assurers (EQAs) and the associated processes, who are recruited by the BWYQ to sample and ensure
correct practice at the recognised centres [BWYT]. The Quality Assurance Officer and BWYQ Head of
Operations ensure that IQAs and assessors are adequately trained in ensuring standardisation across
assessment marking schemes.
Additional checks and IQA/EQA activities are undertaken on any scripts where there are doubts about the
performance of an assessor, or where the performance of a learner or centre is significantly different from
expectations. The BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ Chair will also review all policies and procedures for
currency and accuracy as part of the annual self-assessment cycle.
Further information regarding the requirements of internal quality assurance of assessment processes at
centres can be found in The BWYQ Recognised Centre Handbook (p.14).
DCTs are required to submit evidence of learners assessed work to Central Office where it will be retained for
three years. For this reason, tutors are required to save all students work on to a USB stick or submit a zip file
at the end of the course as part of the certificate claim, also completing an end of course review document.
These should be submitted with the completed IQA report and certificate request form to central office. The
end of course review and further information is available in the centre handbook and from the Quality
Assurance Officer at BWY Central Office.
If an unacceptable level of inaccurate or inconsistent assessing is identified, assessors/ tutors are given
additional support until they satisfy the IQA that they can mark in line with the common, standardised
approach. If this is not the case, they are not allowed to continue assessing If necessary, any work that they
have completed will be re-marked. This is highly unlikely as tutors/ assessors delivering BWYQ courses have
undergone extensive training in yoga teaching.
Should an IQA, the Quality Assurance Officer (QAO) or an EQA identify any issues or adverse trends in
assessment at a centre they must immediately notify the BWYQ Head of Operations or BWYQ Chair who will
decide whether to start an investigation in accordance with BWYQ’s malpractice and maladministration policy,
whilst suspending the issue of any certificates. If it is not necessary to initiate the BWYQ 017 Malpractice or
Maladministration Policy or BWYQ 018 Sanctions Policy the BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ Chair will
decide on alternative action and advise the centre immediately. Any actions will be Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Realistic and Timebound (SMART).
Reports on assessment results, special considerations and reasonable adjustment applications and withdrawal,
transfer or deferral are reported back to the BWYQ Committee.
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Training The BWYQ believe that good marking depends upon the tutors/ assessors and IQAs shared understanding of
the mark scheme, and the consistency of its application. Therefore, before assessors start marking, they all go
through a standardisation process as part of their initial Yoga Diploma Course Tutor (DCT) training. This aims
to ensure that they are fully competent in assessing against the BWYQ learning outcome assessment criteria
consistently before they begin assessing. During standardisation, tutors/ assessors practise marking
assessments using the qualification assessment front sheets and handbooks to build up an understanding of
the marking standard and approach that they must apply.
Once the tutor/ assessor has demonstrated that they can assess the BWYQ learning outcome assessment
criteria and qualifications correctly, they are cleared to begin/continue assessing. If they do not succeed, they
are given further training and a second chance to qualify. Markers who do not meet the required standard at
this point are prevented from marking.
6. Competencies Expected of Tutors/Assessors Tutors/Assessors delivering BWYQ qualifications should be suitably qualified and occupationally competent in
the subject or vocational area they are teaching and or assessing. Centres should only use tutors who have
been initially trained as a qualified yoga teacher, and practicing for a minimum of 4 years.
Tutors/Assessors should have completed the BWY Diploma Course Tutor (DCT) qualification and may have also
achieved the following qualification (s):
• Certificate in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (CTLLS)
• Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTTLS)
• Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
• Certificate in Education (Cert Ed)
• 730/7, 730/6, 740/07, or 740/06
• D32, D33, A1
• Assessors Qualification (QCF/ RQF)
As a minimum, Assessors should also be able to meet the following requirements:
• Must have, or be working towards A1 or an equivalent Assessors Qualification or teaching qualification;
• Must be able to provide evidence of the knowledge, understanding and application of the National Occupational Standards/ qualification/ regulatory frameworks for the yoga course that they are teaching and possess the necessary key skills and academic ability at the appropriate level;
• Must be able to demonstrate technical competence (and hold an appropriate qualification) e.g. in teaching yoga and yoga teacher training;
• Must be able to demonstrate competence in the assessment of the technical aspects of the qualification; • Must be familiar with the awarding organisation’s and regulator’s requirements in relation to conducting
assessment, recording assessment decisions and maintaining learners’ assessment records;
• Must be able to use plain language which is free from bias and appropriate to the qualifications;
• Must be committed to equal opportunities in assessment and have the ability to translate this commitment into practice.
• Must be committed to delivering the qualification in accordance with the Awarding Organisation and Regulator’s requirements
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The role of Assessors in Internal Assessment Centres’ Assessors will be responsible for:
• managing the process of assessment of internally assessed methods, this must be evidenced from assessment planning, through to making and recording assessment decisions;
• assessing evidence of learners’ competence against the standards specified in the BWYQ qualification specification, making reliable judgements about this competence in accordance with the qualification assessment handbooks;
• following BWYQ policies, process and guidance related to the compliant delivery of the regulated qualifications.
• ensuring that they use valid, fair and reliable assessment methods that are moderated;
• conducting assessment in the way which meets the equal opportunities principles and policies (BWYQ 008 and 009) and as specified in Section 8;
• maintaining accurate and verifiable assessment records for each learner;
• signing the Certification Request Form to confirm that the learner has successfully met all the assessment criteria in the components assessed by the centre.
7. Monitoring Centres
This section outlines BWYQ’s approach to reviewing the performance of the centre, BWYT/individual tutors
acting on behalf of the centre; ensuring the effective delivery of assessments and internal quality assurance
practice. BWYQ carry out two types of External Quality Assurance activities:
1. Physical EQA e.g. annual centre visit
There will be the conventional physical visit where the EQA will visit the premises and externally quality assure
the activities of the centre. During this activity the EQA will sample a range of students assessed work across
all courses, participate in observations and interview students, assessors, IQAs and other key staff to support
the compilation of the centre EQA report. EQA activity of this nature takes place at least once annually with
the outcoming report informing the Awarding Organisation self-assessment process.
2. Remote EQA e.g. sampling
BWYQ will also perform remote external quality assurance (desktop) where the EQA will sample requested
documentation, verifying assessment practice and internal quality assurance. This activity can form part of the
centre EQA outlined above or be arranged independently as a course specific EQA. Course specific EQA activity
can be arranged in response to feedback, complaints, appeals, trend analysis or as part of the certification
process.
In all cases the EQA will sample the documents and compile a report using the appropriate EQA Form. The
outcome of this activity may trigger a physical visit to observe assessment and internal quality assurance. The
report will include SMART* actions, which the EQA will feed these back to the centre within a suitable
timeframe. The EQA will work with the centre to ensure that actions are being addressed. From 2016-17 EQA
activities to support improvement have been scheduled with the centre no less than on a quarterly basis.
* S=specific M= measurable A= achievable R= realistic T= timebound
Below is a flow chart of the process followed by a detailed description. The BWYQ Head of Operations is
responsible for managing the procedure, however if they are absent then BWYQ Chair or BWY Operations
Manager will fulfil their duties. Additional experts will also be recruited to support transparency in EQA
activities.
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Allocating External Quality Assurers
The performance of each centre (or individual trainer) will be monitored and verified by BWYQ’s External
Quality Assurer (EQAs). The Head of BWY Operations / BWYQ Chair, are responsible for the allocation process
and will ensure that an External Quality Assurer:
• has the appropriate sector competence and qualification level to verify the qualification(s) the centre is
approved to offer
• the possession of the appropriate External Quality Assurance qualifications OR the equivalent
occupational experience (or the willingness to work towards such a qualification or experience);
• occupational expertise in the subject they are Externally Quality Assuring this could be demonstrated
through having spent 3 – 5 years working in the subject sector
• a thorough understanding of the standards for the BWYQ qualifications which they will be verifying;
• a thorough understanding of the Regulated Qualification Framework (RQF)
• a detailed knowledge of the awarding organisation’s systems and documentation;
• competence in the systems used to ensure consistency of standards across options and centres and over
time and the ability to ensure such consistency;
• the ability to use language which is plain, clear, accessible, inoffensive, free from bias and appropriate to
the BWYQ qualifications in Yoga;
• a commitment to equality, diversity and safeguarding; particularly in relation to access to and fairness in
assessment, and the ability to translate this commitment into practice.
• is allocated a centre in their area (where possible). Travel should be kept to a minimum (although it is
accepted that, due to specialisms within the EQA team there may be occasions where this guideline will
be over-ruled)
•Centre is recognised/approved and risk allocated. EQA assigned to the centre and informed of the monitoring plan for the centre/ themes and priorities.
•If a change of circumstances occurs that alters the centre's risk status the EQA is informed and the purpose of the EQA assessment is altered.EQA and Head of BWYQ Operations/delegate discuss/alter EQA schedule/focus
•EQA visit takes place and report is written and sent to the Head of BWYQ Operations/or her delegate and the BWYQ Chair
•Head of BWYQ Operations/ delegate and the BWYQ Chair review the content and appropriateness of the report and any recommended actions/sanctions. If there are issues with the quality of the report the BWYQ representatives will amend accordingly and refer back to EQA; providing feedback/training to update their performance (**see EQA standardisation flow chart below)
•The report will be sent to the Centre and any actions/sanctions recorded . The centres risk profile is updated.
•Centre works towards completing the action(s) and if need be they make a request for an extension/clarification. Head of BWYQ Operations/ EQA updates the action on the reports and communicates the decision to the centre
•Centre submits evidence to address the action. The Head of BWYQ Operations and EQA considers and signs off or not in which case a sanction may be imposed and the risk rating altered
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• to ensure no conflict of interest in relation to the centre e.g. the EQA has not worked at the centre within
the last 18 months; has a relative that works at the centre; has worked at a competitor centre in the local
area, is a Governor at the centre. If the EQA has a conflict of interest and is the only EQA capable of being
allocated to the centre, then the Head of BWYQ Operations/ BWYQ Chair will be responsible for
monitoring each report produced by the EQA to ensure no adverse issues emerge that may lead BWYQ to
being accused of not being consistent and/or unfair in relation to the centre.
• has sufficient workload capacity to undertake the new centre (by looking at their current allocation
workload)
Visit Frequency and Preparation
An External Quality Assurer (EQA) will normally conduct a review of a centre at least once a year – although
additional visits will be carried out if there are concerns about the centre’s performance; there has been a
significant change in the number of qualifications they are offering/ learners who have been registered, or
they are delivering a new form of assessment at the centre. See Appendix 1 for details of BWYQ’s centre risk
model and approach. Any centre classified as High or Very High risk for any category will be investigated by
the Head of BWYQ Operations / BWYQ Chair/ BWY Operations Manager. This will include increased monitoring
such as additional EQA visits/ remote sampling.
Equally, additional visits may be carried out in response to issues that may have emerged from an investigation
into a complaint, appeal or if issues have been raised by another AO e.g. they have notified us due to
suspected/actual instances of malpractice/maladministration at the centre.
In addition to the regular EQA reviews (either remote or physical visits), BWYQ reserves the right to carry out
other pre-arranged or unannounced visits in the interests of ensuring compliance and quality assuring the
integrity of the qualification delivery and assessment practice. Such visits may be undertaken by the EQA or
other representative(s) from BWYQ.
Each centre will also receive an external engagement with the EQA /member of BWYQ to assess their level of
activity/monitor action plans and to identify additional needs. This visit will be undertaken remotely, with the
Head of BWYQ Operations / BWYQ Chair and the BWYQ approved centre IQA/centre contact. The purpose of
this desk based visit will be to identify whether there have been any significant changes (or planned changes)
that may warrant an additional visit, and/or a planned visit being brought forward. All such remote
engagements are recorded by the Head of BWYQ Operations/ BWYQ Chair.
In relation to actual visit based activities, an EQA should contact the centre in advance of a centre visit to
explain the scope of the visit and the verification and sampling activities that will take place. This contact will
include making arrangements to observe assessments taking place.
Where appropriate, the EQA may decide to request information from the centre in advance of the visit to help
inform the sample that will be undertaken at the visit as well as reviewing information BWYQ hold on the
centre in their centre profile (e.g. details of previous enquiries, complaints, appeals, etc.). The EQA and BWYQ
Head of Operations will work together to establish the request, which will be made to the centre via the Quality
Assurance Officer (QAO). See communication flow chart for the EQA on page 20.
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Centres are obliged to comply with any requests for access to premises, people and records for the purposes
of External Quality Assurance. If a centre fails to provide access the EQA should inform the Head of BWYQ
Operations/ BWYQ Chair who will then decide on the appropriate action to take with the centre.
Once a visit date has been agreed, the centre will need to ensure that the appropriate members of staff attend
the meeting, all requested documentation is provided and access to course and staff records is available.
If a centre cancels an EQA visit at short notice the EQA should contact the Head of BWYQ Operations/ BWYQ
Chair who must be satisfied that there was a legitimate reason for the cancellation. If this cannot be
established, BWYQ will reserve the right to withhold certification claims until a monitoring visit is completed.
EQA Communication and Organisational Chart
Formal/ Official Line Management Structure
Communication routes and organisational hierarchy
IQAs DCTs
Quality Assurance Officer
Head of BWYQ
Operations and RO
EQA
BWY Operations
Manager BWYQ Committee and
Chair (volunteers)
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EQA Visits/Monitoring Whilst undertaking a visit and/or as part of the overall monitoring approach, each EQA should:
• ensure, through appropriate sampling/moderation, that assessment arrangements are fit for purpose and
the criteria against which learners’ performance is differentiated are being applied consistently by
assessors within and across centres and in accordance with requirements specified for each qualification
• check that any centre based assessment activities have been submitted to BWYQ for approval and review
by the Head of BWYQ Operations/ BWYQ Chair using the appropriate application form and are being
implemented appropriately and consistently – and/or approving further assessment activities.
• ensure the centre is taking all reasonable steps to prevent the occurrence of malpractice or
maladministration
• confirm that previously identified action points have been met
• confirm that assessments are conducted by appropriately qualified and occupationally expert assessors
• confirm that exam arrangements at centres are in accordance with BWYQ’s requirements
• confirm the centre has the appropriate resources and expertise to deliver BWYQ’s qualifications in
accordance with BWYQ, sector and/or regulatory requirements
• confirm all learners undertake an initial assessment in order to identify barriers to assessment,
exemptions and/or recognition of prior learning (RPL)
• sample assessment decisions to confirm that the learner evidence is authentic and valid and that national
standards are being consistently maintained and regulatory requirements adhered to
• confirm that assessment decisions are regularly sampled, through internal quality assurance, for accuracy
against the national standards
• check that claims for certification are authentic, valid and supported by auditable records and that
learners have met the specified level of attainment
• ensure that the centre/ DCTs are retaining appropriate records of assessment and internal quality
assurance decisions for at least three years
• ensure that the centre is meeting BWYQ requirements for learner data retention as set out in BWYQ’s
guidance materials to centres
• advise and support centres on the interpretation of national standards, learning outcomes and
assessment criteria
• provide centres with feedback and support upon completion of any prior internal quality assurance
activities uploaded to the insert system name when requested by BWYQ
• provide centres with up-to-date information and advice in line with BWYQ awards and regulatory
authority guidance and requirements
• recommend the application of appropriate sanctions in line with BWYQ’s Sanctions Policy, on centres that
fail to meet the requirements
• identify opportunities at the centre for them to offer additional BWYQ qualifications (where appropriate)
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Sampling within a Centre (BWYT)
To make decisions on the matters listed an EQA should review samples of the following at each visit and/or
over a suitable period. The EQA will record the sample and the rationale behind its selection in the visit forms
so that the Head of BWYQ Operations/BWYQ Committee can monitor the characteristics of selected samples
over time and the effectiveness of the EQA sampling. EQA sampling will include:
• evidence that assessors, trainers and internal quality assurers have appropriate qualifications and
experience to meet the assessment strategy for the awards/units they assess/verify
• evidence of continuous professional development (CPD) for assessors, trainers and internal quality
assurers and appropriate records
• evidence that learners have access to fair and unbiased to assessment
• evidence that assessment practice is valid and fit for purpose, adhering to the VARCs principle
• evidence that assessment practice meets the requirements set out in the BWYQ Qualification and
Assessment Specifications; including accurate assessment against all Learning Outcome Assessment
Criteria
• evidence of valid claims for exemptions and/or RPL (recognition of prior learning)
• evidence that assessments are structured effectively in terms of planning, assessing, review and
feedback
• assessment instruments, evidence, tasks and assessment methods (e.g. learner portfolio or other
evidence or assessment conditions) to ensure they are appropriate and that centre based assessment
activities have been approved by BWYQ in advance of their use as noted above
• evidence that assessors are taking part in standardisation activities
• evidence that the BWYQ Centre (BWYT) is complying with policies and procedures
• evidence of assessment decisions of all assessors
• all assessment locations to ensure standards are being consistently applied
• internal quality assurance quality assurance and assessment records including feedback to assessors
• learner registration and claim records for units and qualifications
• internal quality assurance strategy and sampling records
• details of any appeals, or reasonable adjustments
• evidence that the centre has a diversity and equality policy, appeals policy and complaints policy and
arrangements to prevent and investigate instances of malpractice and maladministration and that these
are being applied and monitored appropriately
A BWYQ External Quality Assurer would also report back to the Head of BWYQ Operations/ BWYQ Chair
training needs that have arisen from the visit, for example personnel within the centre may need additional
training on the BWYQ insert system name.
To assist the EQA s in their sampling activities they will have access to information on the learners registered
by the centre and whether their learning is in progress or completed.
Therefore, in developing a sampling strategy an EQA must take into account the specific circumstances of the
centre being visited. Particular factors which should be considered when determining the scope of a sample
may include:
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• Number of registered learners
• Number of certificates claimed
• Assessor and internal quality assurer qualifications. Inexperienced or unqualified assessors may not be
familiar with the assessment methods or standards and may need careful monitoring until they
develop the necessary expertise. Therefore, a sample should contain a sufficient proportion of their
assessment decisions.
• Learner/assessor ratios
• Learner/trainer ratios
• Internal quality assurer/assessor ratios
• The number of sub centre/satellite sites and their geographical dispersion. Where a centre has a
number of assessment sites the sampling plan must enable the EQA to verify that assessment and
internal quality assurance practices are maintained with equal rigour and consistency at all locations.
• The centre’s track record in complying with BWYQ’s requirements and any agreed action plans
• Centre/ tutor/ IQA risk rating (red/ amber/ green)
• Rate of staff turnover
An EQA should ensure that their sampling strategy involves not only the inspection of evidence, but also
meetings with internal quality assurers, assessors and learners, in order that the EQA can confirm whether the
process of assessment, as well as the standards being used to judge learner competence, are consistent and
meet national standards.
Also, an EQA should ensure that the selection of learners, assessors and internal quality assurers for sampling
is not left solely to the discretion of the centre and should therefore select learners without prior notification
to the centre, to minimise the risk of fraudulent claims for certification.
If a centre fails to make available learners selected for interview the EQA must inform the Head of BWYQ
Operations/ BWYQ Chair who will require the centre to provide proof that these learners exist. If this cannot
be clearly established the Head of BWYQ Operations/ BWYQ Chair will work together to decide on what
sanctions should be applied and the nature of any potential malpractice/maladministration investigation.
Whatever the precise plan used, the final sample must be sufficient for the EQA to:
• confirm the consistency and authenticity of assessment decisions
• confirm the validity of claims for certification and authenticity of learners’ evidence
• provide evidence to support the EQA conclusions
If the sample shows that the centre is not applying the required standards, the EQA should:
• identify and record the specific area of concern
• confirm if they had to overturn/remark assessments carried out by the centre or because of an
inconsistency in the details we publish or provide in relation to the assessment – in which case they
must immediately notify the Head of BWYQ Operations/ BWYQ Chair who will engage with the Head
of BWY Operations/ BWYT Chair (dependent on circumstance) to assess the impact on BWYQ’s
qualifications, materials and/or certificates that have/have not been awarded and who will take
appropriate action in accordance with BWYQ’s arrangements for dealing with actual/potential adverse
effects
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• feedback immediately to the internal quality assurer and/or the centre representative and request a
further sample to ascertain the extent of the non-compliance.
• record their findings in their report
• recommend sanctions, if appropriate
• create an appropriate action plan for the centre
It should be noted that some of BWYQ’s qualifications may include stimulus materials provided by the
Awarding Organisation or centre to support assessments. The use of these should be reviewed during the
centre visits to ensure they, and the language they use, are appropriate. They are only appropriate if they:
• enable learners to demonstrate their level of attainment,
• require knowledge, skills and understanding which are required for the qualification,
• are clear and unambiguous (unless ambiguity forms part of the assessment), and
• are not likely to cause unnecessary offence to learners.
In considering whether language and stimulus materials for an assessment are appropriate, an EQA must take
into account in particular:
• the age of learners who may reasonably be expected to take the qualification,
• the level of the qualification (level 4),
• the objective of the qualification, and
• the knowledge, skills and understanding assessed for the qualification.
• it contains language or content which could lead a group of learners who share a common attribute or
circumstance to experience – because of that attribute or circumstance – an unreasonable
disadvantage in the level of attainment that they are able to demonstrate in the assessment
If an EQA finds a particular issue during their sampling activity, they will notify the BWYQ Head of Operations
and BWYQ Chair immediately. Further samples may be requested from the QAO to further investigate the
matter and support the EQA in establishing whether the BWYQ Malpractice and Maladministration or
Sanctions Policy should be implemented. The assessor/ IQA may be contacted at this stage to provide further
evidence. The EQA and BWYQ Head of Operations/ BWYQ Chair will endeavour to ensure that the centre is
kept up to date with developments and that any adverse effect that may impact on the students is prevented
or mitigated (in compliance with Ofqual expectations as outlined in BWYQ 001 Governance Manual and BWYQ
policies).
BWYQ have a service level agreement (SLA) that certificates will be issued within 6-8 weeks (see BWYQ 021
Customer Service Statement) providing that achievement has been proven to be valid. In all cases where the
issue of certificates within this SLA may be brought in to question the BWYQ Head of Operations/ BWYQ
Chair should ensure that the centre is advised within 5 working days.
EQAs are responsible for ensuring that the BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ Chair are regularly updated on any arising issues in order that they can keep the centre well- informed via the communication route illustrated on page 20.
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Competitor information
If the EQA identifies any intelligence or feedback from the centre in relation to the services, approaches and/or
assessment arrangements and standards of competitor awarding organisations during the visit, they are
required to bring these to the attention of Head of BWYQ Operations/ BWYQ Chair who will then consider the
information and record it accordingly.
This data will then be reviewed on a regular basis to help identify if other awarding organisations are offering
qualifications that are similar in nature, or have the same title, but are not doing so to the same standards/level
of attainment offered by BWYQ. If it is identified that other organisations are offering the qualification to a
lower standard than us the Head of BWYQ Operations, will be responsible for raising the matter with the
relevant regulatory authority for them to investigate (e.g. in accordance with the intentions of Ofqual’s General
Condition H4).
External Quality Assurer Reports
At the end of each visit the EQA will provide a report to the centre, which would be accessed by the centre
through the BWYQ insert system name, that:
• records the date of the visit
• details the monitoring and verification activities undertaken, including information on any sampling
undertaken and who was interviewed
• contains feedback to the centre on the quality and consistency of its assessment process and the
effectiveness of internal quality assurance/quality assurance arrangements
• highlights areas of good practice
• specifies what SMART actions the centre must take if its performance does not meet BWYQ’s
requirements, when these actions must be completed and who is responsible for completing them
• If applicable, and only if serious weaknesses are found, details of any sanctions that will be imposed,
or will be recommend to managers within BWYQ to impose with a rationale for such a decision (see
the next section for details).
EQA s should be aware of BWYQ’s Malpractice and Maladministration Policy and their responsibility to report
any potential or alleged malpractice immediately to the Head of BWYQ Operations/ BWYQ Chair. If the centre
is unhappy with the conduct or outcome of a quality assurance visit the matter should be taken up through
BWYQ’s Appeals procedure.
Maintaining EQA Standards
As an awarding organisation BWYQ are responsible for ensuring that the criteria against which learners’
performances are differentiated are applied accurately and consistently and in accordance with regulatory
and/or sector requirements. The purpose of undertaking standardisation of external quality assurance
activities is to ensure that judgements made by EQA s, on the performance of approved BWYQ centres, are
consistent and reliable
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Below is a flow chart to show the process for arranging standardisation and team meetings with BWYQ EQA s.
The flow chart is followed by a description of the process.
EQA STANDARDISATION
EQA s will be expected to attend all standardisation meetings in relation to the qualifications they verify, as
part of their contract with BWYQ. Each standardisation meeting will be organised and chaired by the Head of
BWYQ Operations/ BWYQ Chair.
As part of standardisation activities, the Head of BWYQ Operations will undertake regular monitoring of
external quality assurance activities, including joining EQAs on external quality assurance visits. These visits
will allow for the identification of best practice and areas for development of individual EQA s. They will also
inform on training needs as part of overall quality activities.
The outcomes of BWYQ’s standardisation activities will feedback into the on-going qualification review process
as appropriate (e.g. the outcomes indicate that amendments may need to be made to the content or
assessment approach of a unit and/or qualification or that levels of attainment have been inconsistently
applied across centres, qualifications or overtime) and regular reviews of the appropriateness of BWYQ’s
centre monitoring arrangements.
In addition, to ensure standards are robustly monitored and enforced, the above will be subject to regular
review as part of BWYQ’s annual self-evaluation arrangements.
•EQA is recruited, suitably trained and inducted. EQA undertakes visits as per flow chart p.21.
•EQA reports are reviewed as per ** centre monitoring flow chart above (p. 18)
•Suitable colleague/ consultant shadows EQA and updates their performance record in the corporate governance reporting system accordingly
•No issues = wait for next standardisation shadowing exercise.
•If issues are identified with the performance, behaviour and/or consistency of an EQA/ group of EQAs a range of activities can be deployed to resolve issues and raise standards
•Additional training is implemented for the EV(s)
•A greater level of sampling/even 100% sampling of the EV(s) reports is carried out
•Increased level of shadow visits carried out
•EQA’s contract is terminated and a new EQA is recruited (if required)
•Issue reported to BWYQ Committee/ regulators and action taken if appropriate (eg if an adverse effect has occurred because of an EQA’s action the adverse effect arrangements will be implemented – see governance manual
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Induction
All EQA s will receive an induction upon appointment and a copy of this delivery manual. EQA s will also shadow
each other, as part of their induction to BWYQ and to share and develop best practice.
In addition, they will receive on-going training if needs are identified in the 1-2-1s (mentioned below) and as
part of the team standardisation meetings (see below).
Reports
To support BWYQ’s approach to ensuring standards are maintained across qualifications, centres and over
time the Head of BWYQ Operations, will work with the QAO and Safeguarding and Diversity Manager in
keeping records of all centre monitoring activities, appeals, centre requests for special considerations/
reasonable adjustments and malpractice investigations. Trend and activity reports will be produced to enable
BWYQ to identify positive/adverse trends in relation to ensuring standards are comparable year on year across
centres, qualifications at the same level and title and where they are assessed using different assessment
methods. These records will be stored on the shared drive at BWYQ Central Office.
Regular reports on centre activity will be produced for the BWYQ Committee as requested. These reports will
contain summaries in relation to the following specific and/or combined areas:
• Analysis of centre monitoring activities including: the frequency of visits and desk top monitoring
undertaken in the last period and planned for the next period; the approach EQA s have taken to applying
actions, sanctions and risk judgments; trends that may be emerging within and across centres.
• Qualifications reviewed, assessment methods used and the consistency and quality of the assessment
practices
• The performance of BWYQ’s EQA s to ensure their judgements and approach are consistent across centres
and qualifications
• Whether the criteria against which learners’ performance is differentiated are being applied accurately
and consistently by assessors in different centres
• Feedback from centre staff in relation to the qualifications delivered including their content, assessment
methods and associated support materials
• Whether centres have effective arrangements in place to register learners and track their progress and
achievements
• The performance of centres’ internal assessment, quality assurance, standardisation and marking
arrangements and how often, and why, decisions were overturned by BWYQ staff
• Any complaints against individual EQA s
• Any positive feedback received from centres and/or other stakeholders
These findings will be compared against previous reports (in particular annual reports) and circulated to key
members of staff across BWYQ, with a clear executive summary and details of any suggested actions, to inform
future qualification reviews/developments and on-going monitoring and customer support activities such as:
• Whether assessment methods and materials are appropriate, or if changes are required, in terms of
their associated level of demand and support
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• Whether centres, in the main, deliver qualifications via well organised, consistent and structured
arrangements and in accordance with the requirements of the qualifications and/or the regulators -
and if not the types of guidance/support BWYQ needs to provide to address the issues
• Whether the approach to monitoring the performance of centres is appropriate and helps ensures
standards are maintained across centres, qualification titles and over time (e.g. by comparing to
previous years’ reports) and/or if there are discrepancies in the consistency of approach amongst the
monitoring teams
• Whether the specified level of attainment it set for each qualification has been consistently achieved
over time and between similar qualifications within BWYQ and where intelligence has been collected
against similar qualifications made available by other awarding organisations (see the previous section
on Centre Visits and the sub-section Competitor details for further information) in order for BWYQ to
have sufficient confidence that standards are being appropriately maintained.
Team meetings
The EQA team will have regular team meetings, led by the Head of BWYQ Operations to review current trends,
performance, and review and disseminate lessons learned/good practice and/or to undertake standardisation
activities amongst the team to ensure that standards are consistently interpreted and enforced.
These meetings will also consider outcomes and recommendations from the reports mentioned above. In
addition, the aims of standardisation meetings, amongst other things, are:
• To provide an opportunity to ensure the consistency of the award of credit to learners across different
assessors/verifiers/centres and to agree the standards to be achieved
• To ensure consistency in the judgements that are being made
• To ensure the adequacy of the feedback provided to learners
• To identify and share best practice from centre visits
In addition, these meetings will be used to update and train the team on relevant developments that will affect
their role (e.g. developments with the regulators, or new emerging SSC strategies).
At these standardisation meetings, the EQA team will, from time to time, review and sample each other’s work,
discuss emerging issues/trends and share areas of good practice identified amongst centres and their staff and
ensure that standards are maintained within and across qualifications, units, centres and over time.
The agenda for each meeting, associated papers and the agreed outcomes and actions will be recorded by the
Head of BWYQ Operations to ensure sufficient audit trails are maintained to inform future activities and/or to
be used in future regulatory audits. Example agenda topics include:
• Introductions
• Apologies
• BWYQ policies updates
• BWYQ qualifications updates
• Procedures for planning and carrying out an EQA visit
• Review centre standardisation practices
• Evaluating evidence at EQA visits
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• Giving appropriate feedback to centres
• Developing centre action plans from EQA visits
• Review EQA reports
• Qualification updates for delivery/IV/assessing centre staff
• Malpractice and maladministration issues
• Best practice examples identified from centre visits
• Trends identified from centre visits
• Qualification feedback from centre visits
• EQA CPD/training
1-2-1’s
In addition to the team meetings, the Head of BWYQ Operations, will monitor the work of each EQA throughout
the year to ensure they are carrying out their role to the expected standards with details of each review
recorded on the EQA’s record as reported to BWYQ committee and BWY NEC:
• Their decisions against the relevant qualification and regulatory requirements
• The quality of their reports and any trends identified through the above analysis of their reports
• The contents of their reports against those of other EQA s within the same period and qualification type.
• Any complaints against them
• Any grievances over marks awarded, reports produced and/or decisions made
• Any positive feedback received from centres and/or other stakeholders
• The level of sales the EQA has obtained and/or business they have managed to maintain and/or grow
• The content and approach they have taken to applying actions, sanctions and/or risk judgements on
their centres
The Head of BWYQ Operations or BWYQ Chair will also shadow each EQA on centre visits from time to time to
assess their approach to centre monitoring and support and/or to provide additional support to them on
certain visits.
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8. Malpractice and Maladministration Investigations Please refer to BWYQ 017 Malpractice and Maladministration Policy
The following is guidance staff should adhere to when they are involved in carrying out
malpractice/maladministration investigations with details of each investigation recorded in the Malpractice
log. It outlines typical stages in an investigation and these are supported and reflected in various degrees,
where appropriate, in the Malpractice/maladministration form.
The Head of BWYQ Operations and BWYQ Chair are responsible for allocating staff to lead on, contribute to an
investigation, and for ensuring that all investigations adhere to BWYQ’s Malpractice and Maladministration
Policy and the arrangements outlined below. At all stages should a member of staff involved in an investigation
have queries with regard to BWYQ’s process or emerging findings they should immediately contact the BWYQ
Head of Operations for clarification and/or support. Below is a flow chart of the process followed by a detailed
description.
Stage 1: Briefing and record-keeping
All suspected cases of malpractice and maladministration will be passed to the Head of BWYQ Operations and
BWYQ Chair, who will record the issues on a malpractice and maladministration log. They will review the
evidence and consult with the other relevant parties, such as the BWY Operations Manager. They will ensure
any investigation is carried out in a prompt and effective manner and in accordance with the procedures in
BWYQ’s Malpractice and Maladministration policy. The Head of BWYQ Operations and BWYQ Chair will
allocate a relevant member of staff (e.g. an External Quality Assurer) to lead the investigation and establish
whether the malpractice or maladministration has occurred, and review any supporting evidence received or
gathered. This person (s) will be the investigator for the case.
If, due to the nature of the allegation being investigated, the investigation will be carried out jointly with
another organisation (e.g. another AO, the regulators or funding bodies) the Head of BWYQ Operations and
Provide regular reports on the findings and progress to SMT/ BWYQ Committee and BWY NEC , (the advisory panel and the board)
In some cases evidence of maladministration and malpractice will lead to a centre being de-regulated by BWYQ - see section on 'withdrawal' if this is the case.
Consider the impact on learners and/or issued certificates and take steps as outlined in the malpractice and maladministration policy
Identify lessons learnt from the investigation and implement arrangements to prevent, where possible, similar incidents occurring
Relevant parties informed at this stage, where relevant, and Investigation carried out
No evidence of Malpractice/maladministration the Centre is informed and the matter closed (regulators informed as
appropriate)
Evidence of maladministration : parties notified and actions and/or sanctions imposed on the centre in accordance with those outlined in the malpractice and maladministration policy and
sanctions policy
Allegation made and reviewed by BWY Head of Operations and BWYQ Chair
Allegation dismissedInvestigation started and investigator(s) allocated and provided with a brief and terms of
reference for the investigation
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BWYQ Chair will clarify the leadership responsibilities with the other organisation(s) and agree the working
and investigation principles and arrangements that must be followed. They will then ensure that all members
of BWYQ’s investigation team are fully informed of the agreement and adhere accordingly.
The Investigator will ensure that an individual or centre has not been asked to assist or lead an investigation
when there is a suspicion or allegation the individual or centre was itself connected to the incident being
investigated. The terms of reference for each investigation will be recorded by the Head of BWYQ Operations,
in the Malpractice/Maladministration log (unless agreed otherwise as part of the principles/agreement
associated with any joint investigation activities).
Staff assigned to an investigation (referred to in the rest of this section as ‘investigators’) will have a clear brief
from the Head of BWYQ Operations and BWYQ Chair therefore have a clear understanding of their role in the
investigation and the need to maintain an auditable record of every key action during an investigation to
demonstrate that BWYQ have acted appropriately. The BWY Operations Manager, will stipulate and/or provide
secure storage arrangements for all material associated with an investigation in case of subsequent legal
challenge.
All allegations of malpractice and/or maladministration will be uploaded to the corporate governance software
by the Head of BWYQ Operations. This will enable BWYQ to identify possible trends/issues; to revisit at a later
date if new evidence comes to light; and/or to show to the regulators upon request to prove compliance with
their good practice guidance for dealing with Malpractice and/or Maladministration.
Stage 2: Establishing the facts
Investigators should review the relevant evidence and associated documentation, including relevant BWYQ
guidance on the delivery of the qualifications and related quality assurance arrangements, to determine:
• what occurred (nature of malpractice/substance of the allegations)
• why the incident occurred
• who was involved in the incident
• when it occurred
• where it occurred (e.g. there may be more than one location or centre affected)
• what action, if any, the centre has taken.
Stage 3: Interviews
Most investigations will include interviews with key parties and therefore interviews should be thoroughly
prepared, conducted appropriately and underpinned by clear records of the interviews. For example:
• Interviews should include prepared questions; responses should be recorded.
• Interviewers may find it helpful to use the ‘PEACE’ technique:
• plan and prepare
• engage and explain
• account
• closure
• evaluation.
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Face-to-face interviews should normally be conducted by two people with one person primarily acting as
interviewer and the other as note-taker. Those being interviewed should be informed that they may have
another individual of their choosing present and that they do not have to answer questions (these
arrangements aim to protect the rights of all individuals).
Stage 4: Other contacts
• In some cases, learners or employers may need to be contacted for facts and information. This may be
done via face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, by post or by email.
• Whichever method is used, the investigator will have a set of prepared questions. The responses will be
recorded and attached as relevant to the malpractice/maladministration form. Investigators should log
the number of attempts made to contact an individual.
Stage 5: Documentary evidence
• Wherever possible documentary evidence should be authenticated by reference to the author; this may
include asking learners and others to confirm handwriting, dates and signatures.
• Receipts should be given for any documentation removed from a centre.
• Where relevant, independent expert opinion may be obtained from subject specialists about a learner’s
evidence and/or from a specialist organisation such as a forensic examiner, who may comment on the
validity of documents.
Stage 6: Conclusions
Once the investigators have gathered and reviewed all relevant evidence, the draft findings and
recommendations should be forwarded to the Head of BWYQ Operations and BWYQ Chair, to enable a decision
to be made on the outcome of the investigation and any appropriate actions actions that should be undertaken
(e.g. notifying relevant parties, applying actions and/or sanctions; amending BWYQ’s internal arrangements
and/or centre guidance, etc.). The Head of BWYQ Operations and BWYQ Chair may consult with the BWY
Operations Manager for their opinion, when making a judgement.
Stage 7: Reporting
The final outcomes are submitted to the relevant parties in accordance with the arrangements outlined in
BWYQ’s Malpractice and Maladministration Policy.
Stage 8: Actions
Any resultant action plan, sanction and/or internal lessons learned (e.g. possible changes are required in
relation to BWYQ’s arrangements for developing, delivering or awarding BWYQ’s qualifications) is
implemented and monitored appropriately using the corporate governance software by the Head of BWYQ
Operations.
The Head of BWYQ Operations and BWYQ Chair, will complete a ‘lessons learned’ summary at the end of each
investigation and make recommendations to the BWYQ Committee to ensure BWYQ learn from experiences
of dealing with malpractice and maladministration and improve BWYQ’s ways of working/guidance as
appropriate. Head of BWYQ Operations will also notify Ofqual and any other relevant awarding organisations
of the malpractice/maladministration that has taken place.
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9. Centres/Qualifications Withdrawal See guidance notes on withdrawal of qualifications at centre BWYQ 06a)
Should a centre have its approval for a qualification/suite of qualifications removed, or it opts to no longer
offer one of BWYQ’s qualifications, the centre should ideally submit a “qualification withdrawal notice” to
BWYQ with details of the withdrawal, the rationale and details of any learners that may be affected in
accordance with the arrangements outlined in the document entitled “Process for managing the withdrawal
of a qualification at a centre”. This form is available from BWYQ Central Office.
Upon receipt of the form or notification the BWYQ Head of Operations will be responsible for taking the
request forward and for ensuring that all reasonable steps are taken to protect the interests of any learners
currently registered on the qualification(s). For example, BWYQ will either certificate them for any
achievements to date and/or seek to transfer them – where possible and feasible – to another centre/
organisation to enable them to continue their learning.
When a centre has its BWYQ Centre Approved status withdrawn completely, the BWYQ Head of Operations
will update the centre’s records and advise all concerned at Central Office. The flowchart below outlines the
procedure for withdrawing a qualification. The BWYQ Head of Operations will oversee the process. In their
absence, the BWY Operations Manager or BWYQ Chair will fulfil these duties.
•Centre decides to no longer operate as a centre for all/some provision and informs BWYQ submitting a form or contacting BWYQ central office by other means.
•Head of BWYQ Operations/ BWYQ Chair review the application and identifies if learners are currently registered and if they may be affected by the decision
•Head of BWYQ Operations/ BWYQ Chair discusses the matter with the centre and either agrees to the withdrawal with immediate affect or seeks to put in place arrangements to support any existing centres such as finding them another centre to continue their learning or certificate them for achievements to date
•Head of BWYQ Operations updates the centres profile and removes their access from the BWYQ systems
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10. Dealing with Complaints Refer to BWYQ 019 Complaints Policy
Any complaints received by BWYQ will be dealt with following the guidance outline in BWYQ’s complaints
policy. The Safeguarding and Diversity Manager is responsible for dealing with complaints. If the Safeguarding
and Diversity Manager is unavailable to deal with a complaint, the BWY Operations Manager will be appointed
to deal with the complaint, following the Complaints Policy.
Below is a flow chart of the process followed by a detailed description of the complaints procedure.
• The Safeguarding and Diversity Manager will record the complaint and if appropriate pass on to BWYQ.
• BWYQ will acknowledge the complaint within 5 working days
• The Safeguarding and Diversity Manager will Investigate the relevant evidence and associated
documentation, including relevant BWYQ guidance on the delivery of the qualifications and related
quality assurance arrangements, to determine:
▪ what occurred (nature of the complaint)
▪ why the complaint occurred
▪ who was involved in the complaint
▪ when it occurred
▪ where it occurred (e.g. there may be more than one location or centre affected)
▪ what action, if any, the centre has taken.
• In some cases, learners or employers may be contacted for facts and information. This may be done via
face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, by post or by email.
• The Safeguarding and Diversity Manager will review the findings of the investigation and update the
records in the complaints log.
• BWYQ aims to investigate complaints within 20 working days but will advise the complainant of progress
if the matter is more complex or requires more time. This is in line with BWYQ’s complaints policy.
Feeds in to self assessment and quality assurance processes informing action plans that support improvement
Consider the impact on our services, centres and/or learners and identified and implement lessons learnt
Resolved at stage 2 Complaintant not satisfaied and moved to stage 3 - see Appeals process
Complaints Process followed as with the BWYQ Complaints Policy
Resolved at stage 1 Complaintant is not satisfied and moves to stage 2
Allegation made and reviewed by Safeguarding Officer or delegate
No evidence to support complaint the complainant s informed and the matter closed
Complaint upheld and complainant informed
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• Any actions required will be discussed, agreed and continually reviewed with the relevant departments
and will be logged in the complaints log.
• If the complainant is not satisfied with the decision regarding their complaint, they can appeal the
decision, in line with BWYQ’s Appeals Policy.
• The Safeguarding and Diversity Manager, will complete a ‘lessons learned’ summary at the end of each
investigation and make recommendations to the BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ Chair to ensure
that BWYQ learn from experiences of dealing with complaints and improve BWYQ’s ways of
working/guidance as appropriate.
During the complaints process the BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ Chair will be able to monitor progress
with the Safeguarding Officer.
11. Dealing with Appeals Refer to BWYQ 020 Appeals Policy
Any appeals received by BWYQ will be dealt with following the guidance outline in BWYQ’s Appeals Policy. The
Head of BWYQ Operations, BWYQ Chair and the Safeguarding and Diversity Manager will oversee appeals. in
line with the BWYQ the Appeals Policy.
Below is a flow chart that outlines the internal process for dealing with appeals followed by a detailed
description of the procedure.
• The appeal will be received via the BWYQ within 4 weeks from the date BWYQ notified them of the
decision.
• The Safeguarding and Diversity Manager will record the appeal in the appeal log.
• BWYQ will acknowledge the appeal within 5 working days and carry out an initial review
• The Safeguarding and Diversity Manager will review the evidence and judgements confirm if new
evidence has emerged that may alter the original decision.
• The Safeguarding and Diversity Manager will record the findings in the appeals log
Inform the regulators in accordance with our adverse effect policy e.g. if the appeal found that incorrect certificates have been issued and/or another adverse effect has occurred
Consider the impact on our services, centres and/or learners and identified and implement lessons learnt if the appeal is upheld
Appeal put forward to a group that contains an independent reviewer (or direct to an independent reviewer)
Appeal decision related to the appellant and Appellant accepts
Appelant is still unhappy with the decision - can appeal to the regulators
Appeal made and reviewed by Safeguarding Officer suppored by Head of BWYQ Operations and BWYQ Chair as appropriate
Informal review carried out and appellant notified of the outcomes
Appellant decides to withdraw the appeal Appellant decides to proceed to the formal appeal stage
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• If the appellant is not satisfied with the initial review they can take their appeal to independent review.
This request must be made in writing to the Safeguarding and Diversity Manager who will then appoint
an independent reviewer
• The Independent reviewer will investigate the appeal and make a decision within 20 working days of
their appointment. The Independent reviewer’s decision is final; however, if the appellant is still
unhappy, they can escalate their appeal to the regulatory authorities.
• Any actions required will be discussed, agreed and continually reviewed with the relevant departments
and will be logged in the appeals log.
• The Safeguarding and Diversity Manager will complete a ‘lessons learned’ summary at the end of each
investigation and make recommendations to the BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ Chair to ensure
BWYQ learn from experiences of dealing with appeals and improve BWYQ’s ways of working/guidance
as appropriate.
During the appeals process the BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ Chair will be able to monitor progress.
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12. Appendices
Centre Based Risk Management Refer to BWYQ 015 Risk Management Policy
Introduction
This section outlines BWYQ’s process and approach to consistently and successfully identifying and:
• Making compliance judgments in relation to a centre
• Managing risks associated with centres delivering BWYQ’s qualifications.
• Whilst these arrangements are for internal use only it is important that EQAs inform centres of BWYQ’s approach to making compliance and risk management judgments to ensure the centre is aware of BWYQ’s approach and have arrangements in place to:
• Act upon compliance judgments, and
• Proactively manage identified risks and prevent them from occurring, and where it cannot be prevented mitigate and reduce the risk of it occurring as far as possible and the impact should it occur.
Responsibility for identifying and managing risks associated with the delivery of BWYQ’s qualifications rests both with BWYQ Centres and BWYQ as an Awarding Organisation; there is a joint interest in ensuring the successful delivery of the qualifications and protecting the interests of all BWYQ learners. Centres should have a process of identifying risk in place and have identified personnel who will be responsible for ensuring smooth communication of risk to BWYQ in the event of adverse effects on BWYQ learners and qualifications. All centres should familiarise themselves with the Risk guidance for Centres given here, and in BWYQ 007 Centre Handbook, to ensure that their Centre policies and procedures emulate these expectations. The BWYQ Risk Management process includes contingency planning to mitigate risks. Centres are required to identify risks to BWYQ and offer such contingency planning to mitigate these risks as appropriate. Further guidance should be sought from the BWYQ Head of Operations and BWYQ Chair. The BWYQ Risk and Contingency Planning documents are available to all centres via from BWYQ Central Office or the Head of BWYQ Operations. The task of identifying the current level of compliance at centres rests with the Head of BWYQ Operations and
the BWYQ’s EQAs. This should be done within each section of the visit form completed during the
visit/engagement.
BWYQ Risks and Risk Management are recorded on the Risk, COI and Business Continuity Log (saved on the
BWYQ Central Office shared drive) and by the Head of BWYQ Operations. To ensure consistency in the BWYQ
approach to compliance and risk management, if any individual compliance/risk area is amended the BWYQ
Head of Operations will immediately alert relevant staff by email and the BWY Operations Manager/ BWYQ
Chair who will review the change to ensure it is appropriate and seek clarification for the judgement if need
be.
The operational areas which BWYQ will form compliance and risk judgments against, and which BWYQ believe
are a strong indicator of a centre’s future ability to successfully deliver qualifications are as follows (all of which
are sections in BWYQ’s visit report forms):
Governance – this covers non-compliances and risks associated with the centre’s governance arrangements,
administration activities, policies and overall management and approach
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Internal quality assurance – this covers non-compliances and risks associated with the centre’s internal quality
assurance arrangements
Assessment – this covers non-compliances and risks associated with the centre’s internal assessment
arrangements
Learner experience –this covers non-compliances and risks associated with the experiences of learners at the
centres
During the visits, the EQA will assess the centre’s level of compliance for all/some of these areas (depending
on what’s covered during the visit) and record a factual judgment in the report based on the centre’s
performance at the time of the monitoring activity. In doing so they will use the following four scale metrics
and provide a clear rational for the judgment which will link with the findings in the same section of the report
form:
Green (fully compliant)
Amber (minor non-compliances)
Amber-red (some important areas are deemed to be non-compliance)
Red (some critical areas are deemed to be non-compliant and urgent action is required)
In addition, and at the end of each section, they will record the potential future risk associated with the section
under review and in doing so will use the following four scale metrics and provide a clear rationale for the risk
judgment:
Green (low risk)
Amber (medium risk)
Amber-red (high risk)
Red (very high risk)
The compliance and risk judgments and rationale will then be automatically added and reflected in the centre’s
profile in BWYQ’s records on the central office shared drive.
It is feasible that the rating assigned to a centre’s current level of compliance and its future risk rating could
be completely opposite. For example, a centre may be deemed to be fully compliant but if the lead internal
quality assurer is due to leave next month and no replacement is in place, then the centre’s risk rating will be
higher. Alternatively, a centre may be largely non-compliant but have a lower risk rating if the centre identified
all of the non-compliances before BWYQ’s EQA visited and in doing so had proactively identified an appropriate
action plan.
Therefore, BWYQ’s risk evaluations will be based around:
Probability – the likelihood of a particular outcome actually happening.
Impact – the effect or result of a particular event actually happening on the reputation of the centre and the
qualification(s) and/or the interests of learners
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Awareness – the awareness within the centre of the risk and the controls it has, or doesn’t have, in place to
successfully deal with the risk
It is important to note, that a centre does not have to meet all of the criteria listed in a compliance or risk
‘category’ to be given that weighting – staff pick the most pertinent weighting based on the incident (e.g. if
the centre has no IV and is running internally assessed qualifications they should be weighted ‘Very high risk’
in the ‘Staff turnover’ category even if they have an overall low frequency of staff changes). If you are in
doubt about which weighting to assign, then please contact BWYQ Head of Operations for advice and
guidance.
40
Operational Compliance Categories
Area Fully compliance Some minor non-
compliances
Some none compliances in key areas Major non-compliance(s) identified
Governance No actions identified in
this section of the
reports
Non-compliances identified in
relation to e.g.
• Governance arrangements are unclear
• Current documentation hasn’t been uploaded / submitted
Non-compliances identified in relation
to e.g.:
• Poor tracking records in complying with actions
Existing/new partnerships not
documented Poor security of key
documents
Non-compliances identified in relation to e.g.:
• No single named point of accountability in place
• Centre coordination ineffective; a significant change has taken place in regards of the centres governance arrangements/status and BWYQ were not informed
Key policies inadequate (e.g. Equality and
Diversity, Complaints, Appeals etc.) No
maladministration/ maladjustment policies etc.
Assessment No actions identified in
this section of the
reports
Non-compliances identified in
relation to:
Assessment criteria being
used but with some
inaccuracies in record keeping
Non-compliances identified in relation
to:
Assessment practises are deviating
slightly from those stipulated in BWYQ
regulated qualification programme
specification and course outlines but
learning outcomes are still being met
Non-compliances identified in relation to:
Assessment practises are not compliant with
those outlined in the BWYQ regulated
qualification programme specification and
course outline, learning outcomes are not
being met.
41
Area Fully compliance Some minor non-
compliances
Some none compliances in key areas Major non-compliance(s) identified
Internal quality
assurance
No actions identified in
this section of the
reports
Non-compliances identified in
relation to e.g.:
Minor in discrepancies with
regard to form completion
e.g. dates and student
numbers overlooked
Non-compliances identified in relation
e.g.:
Important detail missing from the
form and therefore IQA process e.g.
sampling has taken place, but
evidence has not been submitted
Non-compliances identified in relation e.g.:
Essential IQA practise has not taken place as
part of the review e.g. students have not been
interviewed and a sample of work has not been
reviewed
Learner
Experience
No actions identified in
this section of the
reports
Non-compliances identified in
relation e.g.:
Learner feedback processes
unclear or not consistently
followed in line with centre
process documentation
Non-compliances identified in relation
to e.g.:
Customer complaints indicate that the
learning experience is deviating from
the qualification specification and
description in some areas
Non-compliances identified in relation to:
The learning experience is not in compliant
with BWYQ expectations with regard to
delivering regulated BWYQ qualifications
42
Operational Risk Categories Risk Priority Definition
Very high Major impact on project/work schedule, budget, scope or
resources
High Significant impact on project/work schedule, budget, scope or
resources
Medium Possible impact on project/work schedule, budget, scope or
resources
Low No material impact
Please see the BWYQ 015 Risk Management Policy for further information or contact the BWYQ Central Office for further support identifying risk and
categorising risk.
BWYQ will risk rate centres against the following areas in order to support BWYQ’s rolling programme planning and internal reporting to the IQA team, SMT
and the BWYQ Committee and to help identify and manage strategic risks that may emerge within centres due to their track record and/or the range of
qualifications they deliver and the number of learners they have enrolled.
43
Strategic Risks
Area
Low Medium High Very High
Compliance
None to a few minor
actions in place
No satellite centres
being used
No complaints about
the centre received
No concerns raised via
recent centre
recognition /
qualification approval
applications (e.g.
actions)
Well-established
controls (e.g.
procedures) in place to
manage the
area/activity.
Actions in key areas in place
Some satellite centres being
used
Some complaints about the
centre received
Some concerns raised via
recent centre recognition /
qualification approval
applications (e.g. actions)
Not known in recent
experience to have significant
non-compliances (i.e. in the
last 12 months)
Controls in place (e.g.
procedures) to manage the
area/activity but have not
been frequently applied (due
Significant and/or numerous actions in
place in relation to assessment,
records, quality assurance governance
and/or resources
Concerns about the centre’s
structure/status (e.g. company status,
partnership arrangements, satellite
sites)
Trends emerging in relation to
actions/complaints in relation to the
centre
Suspension of certification in place
Recent experience of major non-
compliances occurring (i.e. within the
last 12 months) before
Key areas have significant actions in place and
centre has a poor track record of completing
actions on time.
Actions relate to a malpractice/
maladministration investigation
Large number of satellite sites being used (5+)
and/or significant concerns around practices
at, or management of, satellite sites.
Malpractice/Maladministration investigation
underway
Suspension of certification and registration in
place
No controls currently in place to manage the
area/activity.
44
Area
Low Medium High Very High
No experience of a
significant
issue/adverse effect at
the centre previously
to the nature/frequency of
the activity).
New controls in place to manage the
area/activity but have not yet been
applied.
Reputational
Centre has on average
a low number of
learners per year (1-
99)
Centre is a small
standalone company
(e.g. a small
employer/training
provider not part of a
national organisation)
Medium number of learners
on average per year (100+)
Centre is a medium-sized
standalone company (e.g. a
medium sized
employer/training provider
not part of a national
organisation)
High number of learners on average
per year (e.g. 200+)
Organisation with a relatively high
profile in the country/sector
Actual and/or potential article in
local/national media about the centre
and/or BWYQ’s qualifications at the
centre
Centre forms part of a nationally/ sector
recognised organisation
Very high volume of learners on average per
year (500+)
High profile/regulated qualifications being
delivered
Regular profile in local/national media
Learner numbers
Currently has in the
region of 1-99 learners
Currently has in the region of
100-199 learners
Consistent number of
learners over the past year
Currently has in the region of 200-499
learners
Currently has in the region of 500+ learners
Major change in learner numbers in the last 6
months (60% plus)
45
Area
Low Medium High Very High
Consistent profile of
learner numbers over
the past two years
Significant change in learner numbers
in the last 6 months (e.g. 40%
increase)
Staff turnover
Minimal staff turnover
not affecting
capacity/ability
Moderate and well managed
staff turnover (e.g. more
frequent but well managed
staff changes)
Turnover of key staff/posts (e.g. key
managerial posts and internal quality
assurers)
Single points of failure at the centre
(e.g. over-reliance on one or two key
individuals)
Poor management/staff-handover
when changes occur
Significant changes in operational
practice when changes occurs
Significant and frequent changes of key
staff/staff resources are depleted
No Internal quality assurer in place
No Head of Centre
Change in the centre ownership and/or
governance arrangements
Qualification offer
Offers a low number of
active qualifications –
between 1-5
Qualifications are of
similar type
Offers a moderate number of
active qualifications –
between 6-10
Qualifications that are
designed only to meet the
Offers a high number of active
qualifications – between 11-15
Qualifications that indicate that an
individual can undertake a specific
role in the workplace
Offers a very high number of active
qualifications – between 15+
Offers qualifications that an individual is
required by law to have gained in order to
undertake a specific role (license to practice)
46
Area
Low Medium High Very High
Qualifications taken
for personal growth
and enjoyment
Qualifications have
consistent assessment
arrangements
needs of a named employer
or other organisation
Starting to use a new
qualification type/assessment
method
Diverse and large range of
qualifications on offer
Diverse and large range of assessment
methods being used
Diverse and large range of qualifications being
offered across a range of sites.
Financial risk
No issues arising
through financial
checks undertaken
during the centre
recognition process
None to a minor
financial commitment
(£0 to £1k)
No debt against the
centre
Paying within 30-day
period
No financial checks
undertaken during the centre
recognition process
Medium financial
commitment (£1 - 10K)
Moderate debt against the
centre (up to 25% of their
financial commitment)
Track record of paying outside
of the agreed period (i.e.
within 31 - 60-day period)
Some issues found during the financial
checks undertaken during the centre
recognition process
Large financial commitment (£10 -
25K)
Large debt against the centre (up to
65% of their financial commitment)
Track record of paying bills outside of
the agreed period (i.e. within the 61 -
90-day period)
Significant issues arising through financial
checks undertaken during the centre
recognition process
Significant financial commitment (£75K+)
Significant debt against the centre (over 66% of
their financial commitment)
Track record of paying bills outside of the
agreed period (i.e. within the 91 day + period)
Press stories and/or intelligence that suggest
the centre will/is going bankrupt and/or will go
into insolvency.
47
Area
Low Medium High Very High
No press stories or
intelligence from
stakeholders (e.g.
funding bodies)
relating to financial
difficulties
Emerging intelligence that
suggest financial difficulties
may exist
Press story and/or intelligence that
clearly suggests the centre may be
experiencing financial difficulties
Funding identified No funding
arrangements/reliance
N/A Primary funding contractor with
bodies like the SFA
Secondary funding contractor (e.g. a sub-
contractor) with bodies like the SFA
AO notifications
(
No notifications
received from other
AOs/Regulators
No notifications received
from other AOs/Regulators
Concerns raised by BWYQ
staff.
Notified of an incident of malpractice/
maladministration by another
AO/third party but no immediate
relationship to BWYQ’s qualifications
BWYQ have been informed that a
Malpractice/Maladministration
investigation is underway with
another party
Notified of an incident of malpractice/
maladministration by another AO with
similarities to concerns/practices used in
relation to BWYQ’s qualifications
Centre profile
Company website in
place
Gaps appearing in relation to
centre ownership and/or
location details.
Significant confusion in relation to the
ownership/location of the centre.
Major concerns emerging in relation to the
ownership and/or location of the centre.
48
Area
Low Medium High Very High
Populated by the
account
managers post
application
approvals
Clear ownership and
location details in
relation to the centre.
Owner is only involved
in one organisation
Some staff (e.g. managers,
assessors, invigilators) are
working with other centres
Owner is involved in one to
two organisations
No centre website.
Large number of staff working with
other centres (e.g. managers,
assessors, invigilators).
Owner is involved in three companies
No centre website.
Centres with ‘college’ in the title but is not a
formal recognised college and/or appears to be
using the title in a misleading manner.
Large number of staff and/or key staff working
with other centres (e.g. managers, assessors,
invigilators) and issues have emerged with
their performance in these centres.
Owner is involved in four plus companies
49 Qualification Delivery Manual
Document History
Date Author Action
June 2015 BWYQ Head of Operations and Responsible Officer Amanda Buchanan
Reviewed and revised
July 2015 BWYQ Chair: Paul Fox Approved
Feb 2016 Revised in line with Centre Handbook BWYQ Head of Operations and Responsible Officer Amanda Buchanan
Reviewed and revised
Dec 2016 BWYQ Head of Operations and Responsible Officer Amanda Buchanan
Reviewed and revised
July 2017 BWYQ Head of Operations and Responsible Officer Amanda Buchanan
Reviewed and revised
July 2017 BWYQ Chair: Mila Bogen Approved
November 2017 BWYQ Head of Operations and Responsible Officer Amanda Buchanan
Clarification of EQA section
07.12.17 BWYQ Chair: Mila Bogen Approved
The British Wheel of Yoga Qualifications Publication 2016
BWYQ c/o BWY - 25 Jermyn Street, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 7RU
Telephone: 01529 419915
Email: [email protected]
www.bwyq.org.uk
Registered Charity: 1140717 Company Number: 07371206