| Date: |
10 Feb 2025 - 13 Apr 2025 |
Venue: |
Online
|
| Type: |
Scheduled (9 weeks) or On-demand |
Fee: |
From £265.50 to £345 |
| Course options: |
Monitored - £345 (Members - £310.50)
On-demand - £295 Incl. VAT (Members - £265.50 Incl. VAT) |
Register for Feb 2025 course or to start immediately book the A102 on-demand course.
Bookings for Feb course close 7 Feb 2025 at 12pm (UK time)
A102: Introducing Assessment Practice is a CPD accredited online course that will guide you through the assessment cycle from start to finish.
Upcoming courses
All courses are accredited for continuing professional development (27-30 hours of CPD), with certification and digital badges available on successful completion.
Over nine weeks you'll:
- Explore the uses, purposes and types of assessment and consider the principles of quality assessment
- Build an understanding of the key stages in designing and developing a qualification
- Learn how the assessment material creation process works, including learning outcomes, assessment objectives, mark schemes and assessment grids
- Understand the importance of standardisation and moderation of marking
- Discover tools to evaluate the quality of existing or planned assessments
- Practice the skills needed to describe and evaluate issues with the development of a qualification and the associated assessment materials and processes
- Scrutinise assessment materials from a variety of contexts
- Have anytime access to our virtual learning environment to learn flexibly in your own time.
- Connect and learn with other practitioners as you discuss key issues in assessment practice as you work through course action points.
Course information
- This introductory course would be particularly useful if you’re involved in educational assessment and/or developing qualifications, e.g. teachers, trainers, apprenticeship providers, examiners, assessment writers, and exam board staff. Because the course is online, it can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
- No previous knowledge or experience needed
- Average 3 hours per week over nine weeks
- Choice of delivery models:
- Monitored - Online group course delivered over 9 weeks featuring Monitor/Educator, discussion forum and journal
- On-demand - Online course with 9 weeks content available to work through at your own pace*
*Max of 150 days allowed
- Digital badge awarded and certification option.
- Explore the uses, purposes and types of assessment and consider the principles of quality assessment.
- Understand the key stages in designing and developing a qualification.
- Explain the assessment material creation process and the importance of standardisation and moderation of marking.
- Evaluate the quality of existing or planned assessments.
- Describe and evaluate issues with the development of a qualification and the associated assessment materials and processes.
| Week 1 |
Induction and introduction to the assessment cycle – as well as introducing the assessment cycle, the aim of the first week is for you to become familiar with the A102 website so that you are confident with the online learning environment. |
| Week 2 |
Exploring assessment - we'll explore the uses and purpose of assessment, types of assessment and when and where each type might be used. |
| Week 3 |
Designing and developing qualifications - we'll cover the key stages and look at the many factors that you need to consider when designing and developing qualifications. |
| Week 4 |
Assessment design - we will look at the factors to consider when designing an assessment that is fit for purpose, and understand the practicalities involved in producing assessments |
| Week 5 |
Assessment quality - we will look at the assessment writing process, focusing on the different components of questions and how to ensure they are valid, reliable and fair. |
| Week 6 |
Assessment in technical and vocational context - this week's focus will be on technical and vocational education, looking at how the approach can differ from traditionally academic subjects, the concept of competence and the different methods that can be used in assessment. |
| Week 7 |
Standardisation, marking and moderation - we'll cover the purpose and process of standardisation, marking and marker monitoring, and then finally, investigate moderation. |
| Week 8 |
Setting and maintaining standards - we'll discuss some key terms and definitions, how awarding (or grading) works, how the regulator influences standards in England and Wales and finally, how standards should be consistent and comparable. |
| Week 9 |
The three ‘R’s – Roles, responsibilities and regulators - we'll focus on the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders that have an interest in assessment. You'll be required to complete the course evaluation |
The course is open to everyone working day to day in the field of educational assessment and also individuals involved in developing qualifications, e.g. teachers, trainers, apprenticeship providers, examiners, assessment writers, and exam board staff. Because the course is online, it can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
The course covers the key stages in the assessment cycle, including: Uses, purposes and types of assessment, Designing and developing qualifications, Creating assessment materials – including learning outcomes, assessment objectives, mark schemes and assessment grids, Standardisation, marking and moderation, Setting and maintaining standards, and the three ‘R’s – Roles, responsibilities and regulators. You don't need any knowledge or experience to participate and the course is designed so you can follow it at a time and place which is convenient to you.
A102 is a great follow on to A101: Introducing the Principles of Assessment as it builds on the principles of assessment. However, please note that A102 is a stand-alone course; A101 is not a pre-requisite.
A102 is an interactive online course which means that alongside weekly lessons and video content, you'll also learn through participating in forum discussions with fellow students.
- Monitored - Online group course delivered over 9 weeks featuring Monitor/Educator, discussion forum and journal - £345 per person (Members fee: £310.50)
- On-demand - Online course with 9 weeks content available to work through at your own pace* - £295 Incl. VAT per person (Members fee: £265.50 Incl. VAT)
*Max of 150 days allowed
Bookings are taken on a first-come, first-served basis. We will confirm your place on the course once the payment has been received. Payment can be made by a credit or debit card (not incl. American Express) or by invoice.
This online course continues for 9 weeks. We anticipate that you would need to allocate an average of 3 hours per week for study time.
The course is delivered in English so participants are required to have sufficient competence in English to participate in the training. All participants should have English language competence comparable to Level B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). We recommend a minimum requirement of 5.5 on the International English Language Testing System. Further information may be obtained through the IELTS website.
INDEPENDENT USER
B2 Vantage or upper intermediate
- Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation.
- Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.
- Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
You will receive an email with joining instructions on the Friday afternoon before the course starts.
Please get in touch if you don't receive the email by the Saturday before the course starts and make sure to check any junk or spam folders first.
The A102 material is available from 5pm (UK time) on Fridays, but the week officially begins on Monday at 12:00 noon (UK time).
Statement of Participation (Certificate and digital badge)
- You must provide evidence of your learning and participation by logging into each of the week’s lessons, completing the activities, marking the activities as completed and posting weekly on the discussion forum.
Certificate of Achievement (Certificate and digital badge)
- In addition to the above, successful completion of an optional end of course assignment will enable you to claim a Certificate of Achievement.
This course is CPD accredited and earns 27 hours of CPD when the completion criteria are fulfilled. An extra 3 hours of CPD is awarded with an assignment pass.
Both our Statement of Participation and Certificate of Achievement are awarded by Cambridge Assessment and include the CPD accreditation logo and the University of Cambridge’s Board of Executive and Professional Education logo.
The purpose of the assignment is to provide you with an opportunity to reflect on all the topics covered in this course and to apply this learning to an assessment that interests you. The assignment will be used as evidence that you have worked through the course material and reflected on what you have been learning.
Remember, the assignment is optional. However, if you want to claim a Certificate of Achievement, successfully completing the assignment is a requirement. If you choose to complete the assignment, you have three weeks to submit after the course has finished.