Safe Custody and Conduct of Entry Level FS Assessments, Schemes and Mind Maps of Sign Language

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Instructions

for the Conduct

of Controlled

Assessment

Functional Skills

Entry Level

Year 2021- 2022

Readers, scribes, sign language interpreters and practical assistants

Introduction

For the purpose of this document, the Head of Centre, Principal of the College or the Chief Officer is the named person who takes ultimate responsibility for quality assurance within the centre and will be referred to as ‘Head of Centre’ throughout the document.

All centres must have relevant approval from Pearson before offering the Entry Level Functional Skills (FS) qualification. This can be clarified by emailing: ukapproval@pearson.com

The Head of Centre is responsible for ensuring the proper conduct of the assessments for Entry Level FS, although they may delegate certain tasks as necessary. Please contact us if a situation arises that is not covered by this document. Contact details can be found on our website: http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/contact-us.html

This document covers the conduct of the controlled assessments for Functional Skills Mathematics, English and ICT at Entry 1, 2 and 3. For procedural matters not covered by this document (for example, how and when to make registrations) please refer to the Information Manual: https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/support-for-you/exam-officers- administrators/entries-information-manual.html

The assessments are graded as either ‘pass’ or ‘fail’, however, centres must refer to the Guidance for Assessors and accompanying mark schemes when marking controlled assessments and for the set pass mark. The Entry Level FS controlled assessment documents can be accessed via the secure website: https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/secure-tests/functional- skills.html

Assessors must have access to the Guidance for Assessors corresponding to each assessment in advance of each assessment to allow particular arrangements for each assessment to be accommodated in time.

Assessments can be held on any date suitable to your centre. There are no requirements for centres to inform Pearson of the arranged assessment date beforehand. However, in order to access the live assessment materials for Entry Level FS, centres should register learners for the qualification a minimum of 3 weeks before the scheduled assessment date.

Standards Verifiers are allocated as soon as registrations are made and notification is sent out. Any correspondence relating to the assessments should be addressed directly to your allocated Standards Verifier unless otherwise instructed by Pearson.

Safe custody of assessment papers

and other materials

The live assessment materials for Entry Level FS can be accessed, once learner registrations have been made, by clicking on the secure website: https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/secure-tests/functional- skills.html

Please note : Only authorised personnel such as the Examinations Officer(s) and Examinations Assistant(s) (as allocated per role on Edexcel Online) have appropriate access to download live materials from the secure site.

Live assessment materials include: controlled assessment tests, corresponding mark schemes, Guidance for Assessors and Entry Level FS ICT data files. These materials must be checked carefully once printed, and Pearson notified immediately if there are any problems or if the assessments cannot be accessed. Refer to the Appendix section at the end of this document for a full list of Pearson contact details.

Please note : Controlled assessment queries, i.e. the content of the assessment materials, must not be emailed as the content is secure and emailing any part of it is considered a breach of security – if you have a query about the content of a controlled assessment test, please contact us stating your name and contact details, and request for one of the team to contact you directly via phone to discuss your queries.

It is the responsibility of the Head of Centre to ensure that the assessment papers are locked away in a place of high security after they have been printed. Centres are not allowed to download and store any live assessments on their computers. All assessment materials are considered ‘live’ until Pearson has released them as a set of practice papers.

Once the assessment has been sat, all assessment papers and scripts must be collected before the learners leave the room to ensure that no controlled assessment tests are accidentally removed.

If the assessments are taking place on more than one site, the Head of Centre is responsible for ensuring that:

• the correct number of controlled assessment tests and supporting materials are delivered to each site and that security is maintained throughout
• the terms and conditions on the secure area of the website are followed
• the transport of assessment materials, if applicable, is secure.

Only Examinations Officers and Examinations Assistants can have access to download the secure materials and only persons authorised by the Head of Centre may have access to the assessment materials and completed scripts.

Conditions for storing assessment

materials

It is the responsibility of the Head of Centre to ensure that the assessments are locked away in a place of high security and to set out the appropriate terms of authorisation for members of staff.

Assessment materials must be stored in a safe or a cabinet in a securely locked room conforming to the secure storage requirements below.

Requirement Recommendation ● Strong safe or security cabinet or metal cabinet with locking bar ● 2 or 3 key holders only

Bolted to wall or floor

● Secure room in a fixed building, i.e. not a Portakabin or similar ● Walls, ceiling and floor of strong, solid construction

Preferably on an upper floor with no windows.

● Solid door ● Strong, secure hinges ● Security lock, e.g. 5 lever mortise lock ● 2 or 3 key holders only ● There must be at least 2 keys rather than 1 key with 2 or more members of staff with access to it. Centres must not keep a spare set of keys in a cabinet or safe which can be accessed by members of staff who are not involved in exams administration. Keys must either be kept on the key holder’s person or kept in a coded key safe which is only accessible to the designated key holders

A hollow door would require reinforcement.

Conditions for transporting

assessment materials

Assessment materials should not be moved until immediately before the scheduled assessment time. Unless the assessment is scheduled for Monday 8am and as long as the sub-site is within reach, there is no problem with moving the assessment materials on Monday morning. If the sub-site is a considerable distance away, the assessment materials can be transported, provided that:

• the alternative site has secure storage to keep the papers until the scheduled assessment
• assessment materials are sealed in a secure envelope
• assessment materials are transported by a responsible member of staff who has sight/hold of the sealed envelope at all times during the transport. In exceptional circumstances, and when this is not possible, centres will need to contact us in order to get approval to use a recorded delivery postal method such as Royal Mail recorded delivery services
• a transport log is kept (there is no template that we give centres, a spreadsheet or a Word-table would be enough, as long as the following information is captured: names of all people handling the papers, times when the papers were removed from secure storage, means of transport and security measures taken, tracking number log when approval to use a postal delivery method has been granted, time of arrival in sub-site and secure storage arrangements at the alternative site).

Scheduling the assessments

Assessments may take place at any time and on any date. The Head of Centre must take all reasonable steps to ensure there is no possibility of collusion between learners taking assessments at different times, or between learners and anybody else with access to the assessment papers.

Entry Level FS Assessment Record and Authentication Sheet

One form for each learner needs to be completed and signed by the learner and Assessor/Invigilator for each controlled assessment sat. The Assessment Record and Authentication Sheet should be retained and submitted together with the particular sample requested for standards verification.

Re-sit rules

Entry Level FS Maths, Entry Level FS ICT, Entry Level FS

English Reading and Writing

Learners who do not pass the assessment the first time and wish to sit it again, must re-sit the whole assessment (using a different paper) no earlier than 14 days from taking the original assessment.

If the learner should fail the assessment again, they will have to wait at least 14 days before sitting the assessment again (using a different paper). The tests should be rotated until the controlled assessment is passed. Centres are required to keep a log of controlled assessment tests for each specific learner taking this course.

Entry Level FS English Speaking, Listening & Communicating

Learners who do not pass the assessment the first time and wish to sit it again, can re-sit no earlier than 14 days from taking the original assessment – this means that each of the activities in Task 1 and the discussion in Task 2 must be different from the original assessment. Where a learner has not passed one of the tasks for Speaking, Listening & Communicating they are permitted to retake that task only, providing they passed the other task. No controlled assessment tests are produced for this component. Please refer to the Sample Assessment Materials for ideas on discussion topics. Sample Assessment Materials can be found on the following link of the Pearson website: https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-functional- skills/english-2019.coursematerials.html#filterQuery=category:Pearson- UK:Category%2FSpecification-and-sample-assessments

Accommodation

The Head of Centre is responsible for ensuring all assessments take place in a suitable venue whether on or off the centre’s own premises.

The venue must be free from extraneous noise and enable learners to work without disturbance or interruption for the duration of the assessment.

Any room in which an assessment is held must provide learners with appropriate conditions for taking the assessment. You should pay attention to conditions such as lighting, heating and ventilation and the level of outside noise.

The centre must display the JCQ Warning to candidates and JCQ Mobile Phone poster and any specific instructions related to the subjects being examined. The JCQ handbook can be downloaded from the JCQ website - https://www.jcq.org.uk/

No display materials which might be helpful to candidates should be visible in the assessment room, however posters that may already be on the walls do not need to be removed unless they would be helpful to candidates.

The seating arrangements in the assessment room must be such as to prevent learners from overlooking, intentionally or otherwise, the work of others, and with sufficient space to accommodate assessment papers, answer sheet/workbook(s) and any other required materials.

Various assessments may be held simultaneously in the same room, provided no disturbance is caused.

Invigilation arrangements

The assessments must take place under supervised conditions, where:

• learners must be continually supervised by a reliable person
• all necessary facilities must be available to learners
• any time restrictions must be complied with
• learners’ work must be independent and unaided.

The Head of Centre must ensure that suitably informed and briefed adults carry out assessment invigilation. The Head of Centre should be fully aware of any potential conflict of interest between a learner and Invigilator and take all reasonable steps to prevent any such conflict. We require the Head of Centre to maintain a record of approved invigilators for instances whereby the tutor is undertaking sole invigilation duties. This must include invigilator names and the rationale for their selection.

Please note : the tutor is able to undertake sole invigilation duties, even if they have had overall responsibility for preparation of the candidates being examined. Tutors cannot direct candidates to particular questions or particular sections of the question paper and must not advise the learner to correct a wrong answer.

A centre must ensure that it has a suitable invigilator available for all Entry Level Functional Skills exams.

Invigilators must give their full attention to the proper conduct of the assessment for the whole time it is in progress and there must be a sufficient number of Invigilators in the room to monitor all of the candidates present. It is suggested as good practice that one Invigilator would be responsible for no more than 30 candidates.

Where assessment is being invigilated by one person, they must be able to summon assistance easily without leaving the assessment room or disturbing the learners. The Head of Centre may choose to adopt more rigid ‘examination’ procedures for the assessments than those set out in this document. This is acceptable, although no learner should be unfairly disadvantaged as a result.

The Head of Centre is responsible for ensuring that any equipment and software used is fit for purpose and in working order, in particular:

• all hardware and software must be checked by a competent person before use.
• learners must not be able to access another learner’s work, for example anybody who has taken the same controlled assessment during an earlier sitting; particular care should be taken where networked workstations are used to prevent work being accessible via shared folders
• learners should only save a document if specifically directed by the activity instructions
• learners should not be able to access email or the internet whilst a controlled assessment is in progress – unless specified in the assessment
• it is advisable that Invigilators have a reasonable level of IT competence, since they need to ensure learners submit only their own work and need to be assured that learners are not colluding in any way
• all printouts must be collected once the learner has finished the controlled assessment
• some of the Entry Level FS ICT assessed activities may require the use of other technological items.

Please note : The ICT data files, which can be found in the same folder as the Guidance for Assessors on the secure website, do not need to be downloaded onto a memory stick by the learner. Centres are permitted to download the files onto a secure drive, but this has to be done before each batch of learners take the controlled assessment to ensure the latest versions are used. If learners are required to show knowledge of how to use input and output devices (for example by using a memory stick), this evidence can be submitted in the form of a witness statement.

Additional Guidance Entry Level FS English Speaking,

Listening & Communicating

Your centre will be required to ensure that a Speaking, Listening & Communicating assessment is scheduled to take place on the day of the Standards Verifier virtual visit or, if this is not possible (for example, learners are off sick, learners have particular needs which preclude an external Standards Verifier being present or the assessment is taking place in a face to face setting) to ensure that two E1, one E2, and one E3 video recordings of live assessments can be viewed during the virtual visit.

The Head of Centre must ensure that the following requirements are adhered to so that the Entry Level Speaking, Listening and Communicating assessments are conducted and assessed fairly and consistently across all centres.

• In the event where there is a single candidate, a member of staff or a willing student of a similar level can be used to partner a candidate for the Speaking, Listening and communicating assessment.
• All performances must be internally assessed once they have been recorded. As the person administering the Speaking, Listening and Communicating assessment has to play the role of the interlocutor, it would be impractical to conduct assessment of the candidates’ performances as they occur (during the recording of the assessments). Alternative arrangements must be made for separate Assessors to mark the candidates’ performance as they occur. Any such Assessors must be members of the teaching team and be fully conversant with the national standards and the Pearson criteria. In the event where there is a single candidate, a willing student of a similar level is preferred to partner with a candidate. However, a member of staff can be used but they cannot act as the Assessor/interlocutor while the assessment is taking place.
• We recommend that all assessed candidates’ assessments be video recorded. If there are any specific reasons why a candidate should not be identified within a video recording, please contact the Assessment team via the contact us page on the website.
• All video recording equipment must be tested before formal assessment begins and periodically checked between recordings.
• The candidate must clearly state their full name and their Pearson registration number at the beginning of each recording before commencing the assessment.
• Care must be taken not to erase any recording accidentally and to ensure that each assessment recording is saved and stored securely.
• If assessments are not recorded or are inaudible, the candidate will need to take the assessment again and must be re-recorded.
• If you experience technical issues and you lose a group of recordings you must contact the Assessment team via the contact us page on the website.
• Centres must provide good quality video / audio media with clear audio - the Standards Verifier will request these during the standardisation virtual visit.
• All recordings should be clearly labelled with the centre name and number, the name of the interlocutor(s) and Assessor(s) as well as the candidates’ names, number and task completed.

microphone should be used. This could be mounted on the desk in front of the candidate or you could use a lapel microphone attached to the candidate’s clothing. If a separate microphone is used this should be linked to the camera through the appropriate audio input e.g. XLR, audio jack or phone socket.

• The finished recording should be downloaded to an appropriate device such as a desktop computer, laptop or portable device such as a tablet. Care must be taken to ensure that the individual recordings are stored in an appropriate file format.
• The recording must not be edited.
• The finished recording must be stored securely. The individual candidate recording should be stored as a file with the candidate’s name and Pearson Registration number in the file name.
• The candidate’s recording must be finalised in a universally acceptable format for playback such as MP4, MPEG, AVI, MOV or WMV. If the work is saved on to DVD it must be in a format that can be played on any DVD player in all regions.
• A back-up copy of the file must be kept in an appropriate medium such as a CD, DVD or memory stick. This copy must be retained for a minimum of three years by the centre in a secure place. Please note: It may be appropriate, in some cases, to use a handheld device to record the candidate. If this is used there must be facilities to record sound at an appropriate level. There must also be a facility to store the recordings as files and download these files to an appropriate storage device. The same checks on recording levels, clarity of sound and security of the file formats must be carried out.

Identifying learners

The Invigilators must be satisfied as to the identity of every learner attending each assessment. The Head of Centre must make sure that appropriate arrangements are in place so that all Invigilators can carry out adequate checks on the identity of all learners. All learners must be registered with Pearson for the assessment in advance.

Persons present

Whilst the assessment is taking place, only the learner(s) and Invigilator(s) and other authorised persons should be in the room. Representatives from the awarding body and regulatory authorities reserve the right to observe the assessment provided learners are not disturbed. Otherwise, only persons authorised by the Head of Centre are to be allowed in the assessment room.

Starting the assessment

Before learners are permitted to start work, the Invigilator must:

• ensure that learners are seated in accordance with the seating arrangements
• inform the learners they are now under supervised conditions
• advise learners that any unauthorised material must be handed in (including MP players, pagers, tablets, mobile phones, smart phones and other products with text facilities) o Please note: Entry Level FS ICT may require the use of mobile phones and other technological based items
• check that learners have all the necessary materials to enable them to complete the assessment as set out in the Guidance for Assessors document for each assessment
• arrange for controlled assessment tests to be handed out immediately before the start of the assessment
• if necessary, report to the Head of Centre any grounds for suspicion about the security of the controlled assessment tests and, where appropriate, the Head of Centre must immediately notify Pearson
• draw the learners’ attention to the front of the controlled assessment test to check that they have been given the correct subject and level for the assessment; centres are allowed to read instructions to the learners and to display them in the room where the assessment is taking place
• ensure that details of any erratum notices are brought to the attention of learners
• instruct learners to record their personal details according to the requirements
• remind learners that they must follow the instructions on how to record and submit their work