Preparing for moderation | NCFE

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Preparing for moderation

We want you to feel confident and prepared for moderation, so we’ve provided a summary of everything you need to know. For further information visit our: 

Assessment windows 

Assessment window dates for the moderated components of the Occupational Specialism (OS) are outlined below. You can also view these in the Key Dates Schedule. 

Qualification name 

Qualification number 

Occupational Specialism 

Assessment window 

T Level Technical Qualification in Education and Early Years (Level 3)  

603/5829/4 

Early Years Educator 

Part 1: 1 September - 26 May 2023 

 

Part 2: 1 February 2023 – 26 May 2023  

T Level Technical Qualification in Education and Early Years (Level 3)  

603/5829/4 

Assisting Teaching 

1 February 2023 – 26 May 2023 

T Level Technical Qualification in Health (Level 3)  

603/7066/X 

Supporting Healthcare 

Part 1: Practical Activity Assessment (PAA) Core  

17 April 2023 – 28 April 2023 

 

Part 2: Practical Activity Assessment (PAA) Option 2 May 2023 – 26 May 2023 

T Level Technical Qualification in Healthcare Science (Level 3)  

603/7083/X 

Assisting with Healthcare Science 

31 March 2023 – 19 May 2023  

T Level Technical Qualification in Science (Level 3)  

603/6989/9 

Laboratory Science 

31 March 2023 – 19 May 2023  

T Level Technical Qualification in Science (Level 3)  

603/6989/9 

Food Science 

31 March 2023 – 19 May 2023  

 

Submitting student marks 

All student marks must be entered before the deadlines listed below. You can also view these in the Key Dates Schedule.  

Qualification name 

Qualification number 

Occupational Specialism 

Deadline for submitting marks 

T Level Technical Qualification in Education and Early Years (Level 3)  

(603/5829/4) 

Early Years Educator 

26 May 2023 

T Level Technical Qualification in Education and Early Years (Level 3)  

(603/5829/4) 

Assisting Teaching 

26 May 2023 

T Level Technical Qualification in Health (Level 3)  

603/7066/X 

Supporting Healthcare 

Part 1: Practical Activity Assessment (PAA) Core  

28 April 2023  

 

Part 2: Practical Activity Assessment (PAA) Option 26 May 2023 

T Level Technical Qualification in Healthcare Science (Level 3)  

603/7083/X 

Assisting with Healthcare Science 

19 May 2023 

T Level Technical Qualification in Science (Level 3)  

603/6989/9 

Laboratory Science 

19 May 2023 

T Level Technical Qualification in Science (Level 3)  

603/6989/9 

Food Science 

19 May 2023 

 

When submitting student marks, you should remember that: 

  • Any inactive students must be withdrawn. You can do this by emailing [email protected] 
  • If a student did not attend an assessment, you need to submit a did not attend (DNA). This can be done through the drop-down options on the Portal.  
  • If the assessment has different assessment window end dates, for example part 1 and part 2, marks must be entered before the assessment window closes for each part. 

For guidance on submitting marks, watch our video on how to submit provider marks for moderation. 

Viewing students selected for moderation and submitting evidence 

 

Information for T Levels in Health, Healthcare Science and Science 

Students selected for moderation will be displayed in the Portal on the dates listed in the table below. These dates are also outlined in the Key Dates Schedule.The below tables also outline the dates evidence must be submitted by. 

You can access checklists which detail the evidence requirements in the assessment material packs.  

For guidance on viewing students selected for moderation and uploading evidence, refer to our T Level System User Guide and watch our video on how to view students selected for moderation and upload evidence. 

If you’re delivering T Level Technical Qualification in Health (Level 3) 603/7066/X the same students selected for part 1: practical assessment activity (core) will be selected for part 2: practical assessment activity (option). Evidence for the core and the option must be submitted before the below deadline. 

Qualification name 

Qualification number 

Occupational Specialism 

Sampling plan available on Portal 

Deadline for submitting evidence for moderation 

T Level Technical Qualification in Health (Level 3)  

603/7066/X 

Supporting Healthcare 

27 May 2023 

31 May 2023 

T Level Technical Qualification in Healthcare Science (Level 3)  

603/7083/X 

Assisting with Healthcare Science 

20 May 2023 

23 May 2023 

T Level Technical Qualification in Science (Level 3)  

603/6989/9 

Laboratory Science 

20 May 2023 

23 May 2023 

T Level Technical Qualification in Science (Level 3)  

603/6989/9 

Food Science 

20 May 2023 

23 May 2023 

 

Information for T Level in Education and Early Years  

If you’re delivering this qualification, your Moderator will send you a sampling plan and a checklist detailing the evidence that must be submitted, in line with the dates listed in the table below. The table also outlines the deadline for submitting evidence for moderation.  

Your Moderator will send you a OneDrive link to upload the evidence. Please note that you no longer need to remove student marks from the student evidence. 

Qualification name 

Qualification number 

Occupational Specialism 

Sampling plan sent by Moderator 

Deadline for submitting evidence for moderation 

T Level Technical Qualification in Education and Yearly Years (Level 3)  

(603/5829/4) 

Early Years Educator 

5 June 2023 

8 June 2023 

T Level Technical Qualification in Education and Early Years (Level 3)  

(603/5829/4) 

Assisting Teaching 

5 June 2023 

8 June 2023 

 

Uploading evidence for sampling 

Once the Portal closes, at the end of the assessment window, learners selected for moderation will show in the ‘Bookings’ area of Portal the following day. You’ll need to log into the Portal to see which learners have been selected for sampling. This will be based on JCQ guidance which will be the learner with the highest mark, lowest mark and a range in between. 

The required evidence for each learner selected for sampling must be uploaded within two working days of this being available, excluding any bank holidays. Please note this will fall within half term holidays for some providers.  

You must ensure that adequate resource is available during this time to upload evidence required for moderation. If you won’t have adequate staff in over the May half term to upload student evidence, then you can submit learner evidence for all students once marks are submitted prior to the half term break (26 May 2023). 

A checklist detailing what evidence must be submitted will be available on the Portal when the assessment window opens, in line with the dates in the Key Dates Schedule. It’s advised that evidence for each learner is collated during the assessment in readiness to support the upload for moderation at the end of the assessment window. 

You should ensure that this evidence is stored in a central location with access made available to the staff who will be responsible for uploading it to the Portal for moderation. 

Further information can be found in our T Level Portal User Guide. 

Top tips for uploading files 

When uploading files, please remember: 

  • file names must include the student’s name and the name of the task 
  • where possible, files should be no bigger than 1GB 
  • up to 10 files, with an individual file size limit of 2GB can be uploaded at one time 
  • larger file sizes will take longer to upload 
  • files larger than 2GB will need to be compressed 
  • zip files cannot be uploaded. 

 

Our approach to moderation 

During moderation, the Moderator will review evidence for the sampled students and apply a mark for each student. The Moderator’s mark will be compared to the mark awarded by the provider and a final mark will be applied. 

If the provider’s mark and the Moderator’s mark are within tolerance, the provider’s marks will be applied to all students in the cohort. If the marks are outside of tolerance, we’ll apply a regressed mark to all student marks within the cohort. If marks are outside of tolerance and cannot be reliably adjusted, we’ll send a new sampling plan to the Programme Contact and request evidence for all students in the cohort. All evidence will need to be submitted within three working days of this contact, so please be prepared.  

Support following moderation 

On results release day, the below information will be available on the Portal for you to download. 

  • Final moderation report 

This highlights areas where you have performed well and areas for development as well as mark used per moderated component. The mark used will be one of the following: 

  • Provider mark – Confirms that the provider mark has been accepted for all students within the cohort. This means that the provider marks were within tolerance of the Moderator’s marks.  
  • Regressed mark – Confirms that the regressed mark has been applied to all students in the cohort. This means that the provider marks were outside of tolerance and in a consistent way (for example, all marks are higher or lower than the Moderator’s marks). 
  • Moderator mark – Confirms that the Moderator mark has been applied to all students in the cohort. This means that: 
  • the provider marks are outside of tolerance and in a consistent way, however moderator marks are available for all students in the cohort, or 
  • the provider marks were outside of tolerance and in an inconsistent way, for example some marks were higher and some were lower than the Moderator’s mark and the provider mark could not reliably be adjusted so the moderator sampled all students in the cohort. 
  • Chief Moderator (CM) report 

The CM report will provide an overview of the moderated assessment including examples of good practice and where further development may be needed. 

  • Student results slip for the T Level OS component 

This provides an overview of the results for all assessments completed as part of the occupational specialism, the student’s overall mark and overall grade. 

  • Results confirmation report for the T Level OS component 

This provides an overview of the raw marks awarded to each student for all assessments completed as part of the OS the student’s overall mark and overall grade.