The internal and external moderation processes are a key part of the ASYE framework. As is the national quality assurance panel which is there to support the national consistency of NQSWs' experience across the ASYE programme.
In collaboration with the sector the moderation processes have been refreshed by updating the guidance and streamlining the templates. The templates have a focus on providing feedback to the employer about how the consistency of NQSWs’ experience across the dimensions of support, assessment and outcome could be developed further. This feedback is quality assurance evidence and should be used in developing the organisation's annual action plan for continuous development.
The external moderation process is mandatory for ASYE programmes in adult services and good practice for ASYE programmes in child and family services.
Purposes of moderation processes
To ensure that:
Internal and external (partnership) moderation provides an important means by which this is achieved.
Internal moderation
Employers take responsibility for NQSW’s completing the ASYE programme. The assessor recommends an outcome of pass or fail and the employer decides whether to confirm this recommendation through their internal moderation processes.
Internal moderation should be the central element of the quality assurance process. It also provides the opportunity for the employer to:
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review and ensure consistency in the assessors' practice
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review overall programme delivery and highlight any delivery issues in relation to the NQSW's experience of support, assessment and outcomes provided by the programme
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review NQSW feedback of their experience of the programme, which will also help to inform its development.
Before a portfolio is submitted to an internal moderation panel, anonymisation and confidentiality should be undertaken in accordance with your organisation’s guidance on anonymisation.
Supporting a robust internal moderation process
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This gives guidance on anonymising a NQSWs portfolio before submitting it to an internal and external panel or the national quality assurance panel.
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This provides guidance for undertaking the internal moderation process when reviewing an assessor's recommendation for a NQSW at the end of their ASYE programme.
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Where your organisation has not yet adopted the refreshed ASYE paperwork, use this template to record the internal moderation of the assessor's recommendation for a NQSW.
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Where your organisation has not yet adopted the refreshed ASYE paperwork, use this template to record the internal moderation of the assessor's recommendation for a NQSW.
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This template supports an organisation to collate and summarise the internal moderation processes over a set period.
External moderation
External moderation supports national consistency. It also generates feedback/quality assurance evidence for participating organisations that they can use in the development of their annual action plan for the continuous development of their programme.
Adults services
There is a requirement in adult services that all ASYE programmes are a member of an external moderation partnership, which undertake the moderation of internal panel decisions of partnership organisations.
Child and family services
This is good practice in child and family ASYE programmes and where external moderation processes are adopted, the templates can be used.
External partnership moderation
Internal moderation panel decisions are moderated by the external moderation partnership to ensure that they meet the programme requirements.
The external moderation partnership scrutinises the decision-making of an internal panel to ensure that:
- the employer decisions are accurate, valid, robust and sufficient
- the employer is providing the expected support and assessment processes.
A 10% sample of average and good assessment outcomes from each programme participating in the partnership are reviewed by the external moderation partnership, along with fails and marginal decisions.
The moderation of a set of evidence by the external panel can be recorded for the submitting organisation in the external panel reviewer template.
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Provides guidance for undertaking the external moderation process when reviewing sets of evidence from organisations that participate in the moderation partnership.
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Provides guidance to external moderation partnerships on what should be included in their memorandum of collaboration.
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Where your organisation has adopted the refreshed ASYE paperwork, use this template to record the moderation of the set of evidence submitted by the partnership organisation.
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Where your organisation has not yet adopted the refreshed ASYE paperwork, use this template to record the moderation of the set of evidence submitted by the partnership organisation.
Word document - 70 Kb
The themes and issues arising from the moderation of internal panel decisions are recorded in this report. It provides quality assurance evidence that partnership organisations can draw on when developing their organisation's annual action plan for continuous development.
National quality assurance panel
The purpose of the national quality assurance panel (NQAP) is to support the national consistency of NQSWs’ experience across the ASYE programme's core dimensions of support, assessment and outcome.
It aims to achieve this through three objectives:
Skills for Care identifies, by random sampling, sets of evidence for moderation by the panel with feedback being provided to the submitting organisation. The feedback will be part of the organisation’s quality assurance evidence for developing their
action plan for the continuous development of their programme.
Child and family ASYE programmes, on a voluntary basis, may choose to submit a set of evidence for moderation by emailing regulatedworkforce@skillsforcare.org.uk
On an annual basis, the panel will communicate key messages to the sector, which have been informed by its moderation of evidence submitted to the NQAP.
The messages will focus on areas for development and should be considered by ASYE co-ordinators in its quality assurance processes, which result in the production of an action plan for the continuous development of their programme
Endorsement application process
An organisation can apply for an element of their practice in delivering the ASYE programme to be endorsed. There are two ways to do this. When making an application support is available from a panel member or Skills for Care lead. The two ways are:
- Self-initiated: an organisation approaches Skills for Care to start an application to the NQAP for endorsement of an area(s) of their programme that meets or contributes in a meaningful way to meeting an element(s) of the NEC/NEC+.
- Skills for Care initiated: Skills for Care approaches an organisation as a result of a quality assurance visit or moderation by the NQAP and asks them to consider an endorsement application in relation to an element of their practice in the delivery of the programme that either meets or contributes in a meaningful way to meeting an element of the NEC/NEC+.
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This provides organisations with guidance about how to make an application and secure the support of a panel member in doing so
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Complete this template to apply to have your practice example endorsed by the NQAP