The Independent Assessor (IA)

An alternative Approved Method of Independent Assessment.

What is independent assessment?

The regulatory authorities, Ofqual, DCELLS (Department for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning Skills) and CCEA (Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment for Northern Ireland), have a statutory remit to regulate external qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. They require Awarding Bodies such as Sports Leaders UK to ensure that each of their qualifications accredited into the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) includes a form of independent assessment or an alternative approved by the regulatory authorities.

Why an 'alternative approved method'?

Most Awarding Bodies fulfil the requirements of independent assessment by setting an examination or a set assignment. Sports Leaders UK is aware of and supportive of a huge majority of opinion within its current Approved Assessment Centres (AAC) that this is NOT appropriate to the sports leadership qualifications. 

We have therefore developed an alternative method of independent assessment, that has been approved by the regulatory authorities, based upon the concept of an 'expert witness' assessing one unit. This is an opportunity to achieve the engagement of an existing 'independent' person in the assessment.

What will be assessed?*

The unit to be assessed will be the demonstration of leadership. This unit already offers an opportunity to synoptically assess the skills; knowledge and understanding achieved by the candidate through all of the qualifications' units, and is assessed after the other units have been delivered. In other words the IA will be able to get an overview of the candidates' knowledge, understanding and ability to apply that knowledge and understanding in practice.

*Please see 'How does it work in practice?' below for information regarding the Level 3 Award in Day Walk Leadership and the Level 3 Certificate in Basic Expedition Leadership, as the process is different.

How will the unit be assessed?

The unit will be assessed through observation of the candidate assisting or independently leading either a part or a whole sporting activity session, in accordance with the required Assessment Criteria of the qualification in question.

Who will undertake the assessment of this unit?

The person who will undertake the assessment of this unit will be the person who supervises the candidate for their demonstration of leadership. This may be the host at a sports club, a teacher in a school or other 'independent person' who has NOT been involved in the assessment or teaching/training of the candidate in any other way, and who has no vested interest in the outcome of the assessment i.e. the result of the assessment would not reflect upon their own performance or status.

For most AACs this person is easily identified as the host organisation contact for the demonstration of leadership particularly with respect to the Level 2 Award in Community Sports Leadership and the Level 3 Certificate in Higher Sports Leadership.

For the Level 1 Award in Sports Leadership, the Level 1 Award in Dance Leadership, and the Level 2 Award in Sports Leadership, it may be that some schools will have to ask another teacher to 'independently assess' the demonstration of leadership.

The Independent Assessor: Lines of responsiblity

The Independent Assessor is responsible for making an assessment decision to validate that the candidate has demonstrated competence against the Assessment Criteria for the annually selected qualification unit. The selected unit will be identified in the candidate Record of Achievement. The IA's responsibilities are exactly the same as the internal assessor for this one unit. By assessing the candidate's performance against the Assessment Criteria for the selected unit the IA's can provide an autonomous view of the candidate's knowledge and skills. This will also support the external verification process that ensures the assessment of the candidate has been fair and consistent. The overall assessment decision must be in keeping with the internal assessments of the candidate to demonstrate that there is no bias either in favour or against any individual.

What knowledge, experience and understanding must the IA have?

The IA must understand and be able to recognise the skills and knowledge that a candidate is demonstrating as set out in the Assessment Criteria of the qualification. This means that the IA must have appropriate knowledge and understanding about sports leadership at least at the level of the qualification they are assessing that will enable them to:

• Make reliable and consistent judgements about the candidate's performance to ensure it meets the Assessment Criteria detailed in the candidate Record of Achievement.

Guidelines and exemplar materials will be provided to identify minimum assessment standards for the selected unit linked to independent assessing.

How will independent assessment of performance be recorded?

The assessment decision and supportive comments must be recorded on a standard report that will be in the candidate Record of Achievement, and which is a simple development of the former report also carried in the candidate Record of Achievement for the demonstration of leadership.

Why have independent assessments of the candidate?

Sports Leaders UK must include a form of external assessment in their quality assurance process. The IA arrangement is an alternative approved method that must be applied to every candidate, and linked to one unit across all centres, to ensure a robust quality assurance measurement of candidate assessment can be achieved. This is a requirement for inclusion on the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF). Maintaining the qualifications on the QCF is essential to those AACs who currently draw down funding for the delivery of the qualifications.

How does this work in practice?

Level 1 Award in Sports Leadership (SL1), Level 1 Award in Dance Leadership (DL), Level 2 Award in Sports Leadership (SL2)
A centre delivering one of the above qualifications will need to nominate a person (separate to the Tutor/Assessor and Internal Verifier (IV)) to be the IA. Some centres may be able to use a colleague who is familiar with the content and purpose of this qualification.

Level 2 Award in Community Sports Leadership (CSL), Level 3 Certificate in Higher Sports Leadership (HSL)
The supervisor of the demonstration of leadership will fulfil the role of the IA for these two qualifications. This person must be additional to the Tutor/Assessor(s) and the IV(s) for the course.

*Level 3 Award in Day Walk Leadership (DWL), Level 3 Certificate in Basic Expedition Leadership (BEL)
A new system is being used for these two qualifications, which requires changes to the allocation of roles:

• Demonstration of leadership hours - these are monitored by a supervisor who mentors the candidate through the action plan devised between the candidate and their Tutor/Assessor.
• The Independent Assessor (IA) for these two qualifications will work with the Tutor/Assessor over the assessment component of the course to assess all the candidates against the Assessment Criteria. The assessment will be recorded on the Independent Assessor Forms for these qualfications, the IA must be accredited by Sports Leaders UK and hold a Mountain Leader or Walking Group Leader award.

External verification of internal assessment

By introducing the independent assessment system for all candidates, external verification of centres, and their systems and procedures is undertaken on a sampled basis only. A 30% sample of centres are externally verified each year by Sports Leaders UK. Centres will be notified when they have been selected for sampling and can expect a visit at least once every three years.