Glossary
Agored Cymru uses a number of terms to describe particular elements of the accreditation process. Some of the terms maybe used differently by other organisations, or are used by us to describe things which are not in common use in other organisations
| The Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Access to Higher Education (AHE) | Access to Higher Education courses enable mature students from under-represented groups to progress to higher education. QAA licenses Authorised Validating Agencies (AVAs) to recognise Access to Higher Education courses and to issue certificates to successful students. |
| Accreditation | The process through which the qualifications regulators confirm that a qualification conforms to the requirements of the QCF regulatory arrangements. |
| Accreditation of Prior Experience and Learning (APEL) | The recognition of previously gained experience, which can be checked and verified, and set against the demands of a new course with a view to arranging exemption from some of its content. (see RPL) |
| Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) | The recognition of previously gained knowledge and skills, usually in the form of qualifications or credits, which may be used to gain remission for some of the content of a new course. (See RPL) |
| Approved Internal Verifier Status (AIVS) | AIVS is the mechanism whereby Agored Cymru approves named individuals to authorise the award of credit for specific courses / sectors at a Recognised Centre. Please note that AIVS cannot currently be applied to Access to HE provision. |
| Assessment | The process of making judgements about the extent to which a learner's work meets the assessment criteria for a unit or part of a unit. Formative assessment provides ongoing feedback to learners that can help them improve their performance / achievement during the remaider of a course. Summative assessment takes place at the end of a defined period of learning. |
| Assessment Criteria | Statements that enable a judgement to be made about whether a learner has achieved the specified learning outcomes at a particular level. |
| Assessment Specification | Descriptions of the requirements a learner is expected to meet to demonstrate that a learning outcome has been achieved. |
| Assessor | The person who assesses a learner's work |
| Authenticity Statement | A statement confirming that the work has been produced by the learner who is putting it forward for assessment. Where work has been produced as part of a collaborative effort an authenticity statement also confirms the learner's role in the work. |
| Authorised Validating Agencies | Agencies including Agored Cymru that are licenced by QAA to to recognise Access to Higher Education courses and to issue certificates to successful learners |
| Award | A qualification with a credit value between 1 and 12 |
| Award of Credit | A certificate (electronic or paper-based) issued to an individual that recognises their achievement. |
| Awarding Organisation | A body recognised by the qualifications regulators against the requirements set out in these regulatory arrangements to award credits and qualifications. |
| Benchmark Assessment | A set of tasks that should be used to assess the unit. Individual tasks can be designed by the Centre, but these must use the benchmark assessments as a guide, and they must cover all of the assessment criteria. |
| CATS | Credit Accumulation and Transfer System |
| Centre | An organisation or consortium accountable to an awarding body for the assessment arrangements leading to a qualification or units. It may operate across more than one organisation or site. |
| Centre Recognition | A process through which a centre wishing to offer acceditation is confirmed as being able to maintain the required quality and consistency of assessment and comply with other expectations of the Awarding Organisation. |
| Certificate (1) for a unit or qualification | A record of attainment of credit or a qualification issued by an awarding organisation |
| Certificate (2) | A qualification with a credit value between 13 and 36 |
| Certification | The procedure by which Agored Cymru recognises the award of credit to learners and issues certificates. |
| Course | A coherently organised learning opportunity through which learners may achieve credit awards. |
| CQFW | The Credit and Qualification Framework for Wales is a framework designed to include all learning in Wales and is based on the concepts of volume of learning achievements (credit) and the demands made on the learner (level). The CQFW team is part of the Qualifications, Curriculum, Learning and Improvement (QCLI) of DCELLS. |
| Credit | Credit is a measure of the volume of achievement that a unit represents and is a means of recognising, measuring, valuing and comparing achievement. A credit is awarded to learners for the achievement of whole units. One credit has the notional value of 10 hours of learning. |
| Credit Accumulation | The process of accumulating credit towards an identified target. |
| Credit Level | Credit level reflects the complexity and / or the independence of learning. Each unit is unique and can exist a only one level. Entry Level provides a basis for progression to other learning programmes within the framework. Level One is comparable to NVQ1, Foundation GNVQ and GCSE grades D-G. Level Two is comparable to NVQ2, Intermediate GNVQ and GCSE grades A*-C. Level Three is comparable to NVQ3. A Level, AS Level and AVCE. |
| Credit transfer | The process of using credit awarded in the context of one qualification or course towards the achievement requirements of another. |
| Credit Value | The measurement of notional time that a learner will take, on average, to achieve the learning outcomes of the unit. Credit value is calculated in terms of total learning time and can be made up of both contact and self study time. 1 credit is equal to 10 notional hours of learning. |
| Criterion Reference Assessment | The setting of an assessment where achievement is measured against approved assessment criteria |
| DCELLS | The Department of Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, a department within the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG). The Department aims to improve children’s services, education and training provision to secure better outcomes for learners, business, and employers. It operates through four groups, which are responsible for policy, planning, funding, and monitoring services in their respective areas. DCELLS has included qualifications regulation within its functions since April 2006, a responsibility previously held by ACCAC. |
| Diploma | A qualification with a credit value of 37 or above. |
| Direct Claims Status | This provides a Recognised Centre the ability to make a direct claim for certification from Agored Cymru. It is only conferred on Recognised Centres which have Approved Internal Verifier Status (AIVS) and have robust internal quality assurance systems. |
| e assessment | The end to end electronic assessment processes where ICT is used for the presentation of assessment activity and the recording of responses. This includes the end to end assessment process from the perspective of learners, tutors, learning establishments, awarding organisations, regulators and the general public. |
| e portfolio | An electronically based fil store and information management system which is modelled on the working method used for paper portfolios, but which takes advantage of the capabilities of ICT. The learner builds and maintains a digital repository of artefacts, which they can use to demonstrate competence and/or reflect on their learning. |
| Equivalence | The matching of levels of awards with each other, in order that realistic comparisons can be made nationally about levels of study. |
| European Qualifications Framework for Life Long Learning (EQF) | The EQF is a European wide framework of eight reference levels of learning, to which the National Qualification Frameworks of member states should be referred. It is intended that it will act as a means to compare the qualifications levels of different countries and different education and training systems. |
| Evidence | Proof that a learner has achieved or is working towards the achievement of assessment criteria. Satisfactory evidence for all assessment criteria enables the internal verifier to confirm the award of credit. |
| Exemption | The facility for a learner to claim exemption from some of the achievement requirements of a QCF qualification, using evidence of certificated, non-QCF achievement deemed to be of equivalent value. |
| Expiry date of a unit | The date a unit will cease to be part of the unit databank and after which the unit will become archived and learners can no longer be registered. |
| External Assessment | A form of independent assessment where the assessment tasks are set externally to the centre, and a learner's work is assessed by the awarding body. |
| External Verifier (EV) | A person appointed by Agored Cymru to review a particular area of provision, sector or subject delivered by a Centre, as part of the Agored Cymru'ss external quality assurance systems. |
| Grade | A point on a scale of performance used to differentiate achievement within a qualification |
| Guided Learning Hours | The number of hours of tutor supervised or directed study time required to deliver a unit or qualification |
| Internal Assessment | Assessment where the assessment tasks are set and the learner's work is assessed, within the learner's centre, subject to external verification. |
| Internal Verifier (IV) | An individual appointed by the Centre to ensure the standard of quality assurance within a Centre and particularly to ensure accurate and consistent standards of assessment, between assessors operating within the centre. |
| Learner | A student, trainee, or any other participant on a course |
| Learner achievement record | An authoritative record of all credit and qualification achievements made by an individual learner within the QCF |
| Learning Outcome | A statement which clearly identifies what the learner will know, understand, or be able to do on completion of the learning process. |
| Learning Support | The facilities offered by an organisation which provide the support necessary for a learner to achieve the outcomes of a programme. |
| Level | An indication of the relative demand, complexity and / or depth of achievement, and / or the autonomy of the learner in demonstrating that achievement. |
| Level descriptor | The description or definition of a level. |
| Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK) | The Sector Skills Council with responsibility for Community Learning and Development, Further Education, Higher Education, Libraries, Archives and Information Services and Work Based Learning. |
| Malpractice | The deliberate or wilful contravention or ignoring of the regulatory requirements of the QCF by an organisation recognised to operate within the framework |
| Mandatory Units | Units that must be achieved in order to meet the requirements of a Qualification, which are specified in the rules of combination for a qualification. |
| Mapping | The relationship between one piece of learning and another, that highlights equivalence betweeen them and / or opportunities to demonstrate additional skills such as Basic Skills, Key Skills or PHSE. |
| National Occupational Standards (NOS) | These are statements of skills, knowledge and understanding neded in employment which clearly define the outcomes of competent performance. National Occupational Standards are developed and recognised by Sector Skills Councils or recognised organisations. |
| National Open College Network (NOCN) | An Awarding Body recognised by the Quality and Curriculum Authority (QCA). NOCN awards Qualifications and licences Open College Networks across England and Northern Ireland. |
| National Qualifications Framework (NQF) | The framework used by the regulatory authorities to position qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. |
| Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) |
The Regulator of Qualifications, Examinations and Tests in England. For further information click the link below. http://www.ofqual.gov.uk/files/2010-07-22-introducing-ofqual.pdf |
| Open College Networks (OCNs) | Open College Networks are organisations licenced by NOCN to develop opportunities for learning and to award credits in recognition of learning successfully undertaken. |
| Plagairism | Using or copying the work of others (whether written, printed or in any other form) without proper acknowledgement in any coursework. |
| Principal Quality Reviewer | An individual engaged by Agored Cymru to undertake the quality audit of a group of centres within one sector e.g. FE |
| Qualification | An award made to a learner for the achievement of the specified combination of credits, or credits and exemptions, required for that award. |
| Qualification Specification | A detailed statement defining the purpose, content, structure and assessment arrangements for a Qualification |
| Qualifications Regulators | Government designated statutory organisations required to establish national standards for qualifications and secure comliance with them. The regulatory authorities for England, Wales and Northern Ireland are respectively Ofqual, DCELLS and CCEA |
| Quality Assurance | A commitment by a provider regarding the quality of all aspects of their provision including, preparation, delivery, assessment, documentation and certification. |
| Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) | An independent authority funded by UK universities and colleges of higher education and higher education funding bodies. QAA monitors the quality of higher education and in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, licenses Authorised Validating Agencies (AVAs) to recognise Access to Higher Education courses and to issue certificates to successful students. |
| Quality Reviewer (QR) | An individual engaged by OCN Wales to quality audit a Recognised Centre. |
| Reasonable Adjustments | Reasonable steps which are approved in advance of assessment to ensure that candidates with either a permanent long-term disability or learning difficulty, or a temporary disability, illness or indisposition is not put at a disadvantage in comparison to a person without such a disability or difficulty. |
| Recognition of prior learning (RPL) | A method of assessment that considers whether a learner can demonstrate that they meet the assessment criteria of a unit through knowledge, understanding or skills they already posses and do not need to develop through a course of learning. |
| Regulatory Bodies (for qualifications) | Government designated statutory organisations required to establish national standards for qualifications and secure comliance with them. The regulatory authorities for England, Wales and Northern Ireland are respectively Ofqual, DCELLS and CCEA |
| Reliability of assessment | The extent to which assessment results are an accurate measurement of a learner's achievements against the requirements of a unit - reliable assessment repeatedly produces the same outcome without inherent bias or variability in the assessment instrument. |
| Rules of combination | A description of the credit accumulation requirements for the achievement of a named qualification. |
| Sector | Sectors have been developed to categorise qualifications for use across relevant education agencies and bodies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Sectors are designated in the Sector Subject Area Classification System (SSACS) copies of which are available through the QCA website at www.qca.org.uk |
| Sector Skills Councils | 25 employer-led independent organisations that cover approximately 85% of the UK workforce and represent the skills and training interests of small to large business. |
| Special Consideration | Procedures implemented at the time of an assessment to allow attainment to be demonstrated by learners who have suffered from temporary illness, injury or indisposition at the time of assessment. |
| Standardisation of assessment | A process to ensure that the assessment criteria for a Qualification, unit or part of a unit are applied consistently by by assessors and verifiers. Standardisation can be carried out within Centres as well as across Centres. |
| Target group | Those learners whose needs a course is primarily intended to meet. |
| Tutor | Trainer, lecturer, or facilitator of a course. |
| Unique learner number (ULN) | The unique number that is used to identify an individual learner |
| Unit | A unit is the smallest part of learning that can be accredited in it's own right. A unit has an explicit and coherent set of outcomes which describe what a learner will be able to do along with appropriate assesment criteria, credit value, level and title and unique unit idendification code. Units may be designed as part of a qualification or be independent. Units do not have to be taught or delivered as discrete entities. |
| Validity of assessment | The fitness of purpose of an assessment tool or scheme - valid assessment gives an accurate measurement of what it is supposed to measure. |
