Document No:

Document No:	Q016
Issue No:	5
Issue Date:	2024-08-01
Renewal Date:	2027-08-01
Originator:	Quality Development Manager
Responsibility:	Director of Quality Improvement

Assessment Policy Students/Apprentices

Purpose
- 1.1 Effective assessment assists staff to produce clear and achievable steps for students/apprentices to aid progression, embedding and using knowledge fluently and demonstrating competency of skill. Assessment must be completed in such a way that it does not burden staff, students/apprentices and managers and staff must understand its limitations and avoid misuse and overuse. Assessment must be meaningful and measured against criteria of the programme.
- 1.2 Leicester College is committed to providing a curriculum that enables students/apprentices to learn in a safe and non-discriminatory environment. We aim to provide learning that meets individual needs, supports progression, and optimises opportunity whilst meeting external regulatory and stakeholder requirements.
- 1.3 The policy provides a framework for assessment across the College to reduce the chance of individual groups being disadvantaged, addresses gaps in achievement and progression, by adopting a more consistent and objective approach to assessment.
Principles
- 2.1 The policy applies to all assessment activities within students/apprentices’ programmes of study at Leicester College.
- 2.2 You will be provided with the opportunity, where applicable, for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) to be identified to avoid repetition of learning and assessment or how to receive special considerations after an assessment has taken place.
- 2.3 Your additional support needs will be assessed to ensure reasonable adjustments are made to enable you to carry out your assessments.
- 2.4 You will be provided with information in a format that is accessible to your individual needs.
- 2.5 You will receive comprehensive guidance on the assessment process which gives specific regulations relating to your chosen programme.
- 2.6 You will receive regular formative feedback on your progress, this could be verbal face to face or recorded and/or written/online.
- 2.7 Your work will be assessed, and the quality of assessment assured through verification and moderation procedures. For some programmes externally set synoptic assessments and End Point Assessments (EPA) will take place.
- 2.8 You will be made aware of malpractice, with regards to plagiarism copying and collusion. Please refer to the Behaviour and Conduct Policy.
- 2.9 You have the right to a second opinion on any assessed work and must be made aware of the Assessment Appeals Procedure (Appendix 1), which should be part of the information supplied during your induction.
- 2.10 You will have an opportunity to provide feedback on your programme through a variety of student/apprentice voice channels. Your feedback is used to improve future assessment practice and inform improvement in teaching, learning and assessment in the College.
- 2.11 The assessment process will be regularly monitored to ensure that it does not indirectly discriminate against any groups of students/apprentices.
- 2.12 This Policy should be read in conjunction with the policies identified below, all policies can be found on the College website under corporate information
  - Internal Quality Assurance Policy
  - External Quality Assurance Policy
  - Student/Apprentice Induction and Tutorial Policy
  - Non-Examination Assessments Policy
  - Complaints Policy
  - Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar Policy.
  - Behaviour and Conduct Policy
  - Fitness to Study Policy
  - Records Retention Policy
  - Data Protection Policy
  - HE Academic Regulations
Procedures
- 3.1 Initial and Diagnostic Assessment
  - 3.1.1 It is expected that students/apprentices undertake an initial assessment during their induction period at the college. The format of the initial assessment can be varied. Suggested formats include diagnostic tests, performance assessments, observations, self-assessments, surveys, and questionnaires.
  - 3.1.2 These assessments will allow the teacher to build a picture of a student’s prior knowledge, aptitude, and motivation as well as helping to identify any potential barriers to learning. These are used in the construction of initial targets and learning strategies for students.
- 3.2 Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
  - 3.2.1 RPL is a student/apprentice centered, voluntary process. You should be offered advice on the nature and range of evidence considered appropriate, to support a claim for credit through RPL, and be given guidance and support to make a claim. The award of credit through RPL will not be distinguished from any other credits awarded.
  - 3.2.2 RPL must normally be through the same Awarding Organisation (AO).
- 3.3 Student/apprentice Key Information
  - 3.3.1 To allow you to focus and plan your time effectively, assessment plans will be shared with you during induction.
  - 3.3.2 You will receive a copy of the Assessment Appeals Procedure during your induction to the programme. You should keep a copy in your files for reference.
  - 3.3.3 Support and Guidance (Reasonable Adjustment and Special Consideration)
    - 3.3.3.1 Reasonable Adjustment is principally one of making reasonable adjustments for a student defined as disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010. A reasonable adjustment is agreed at the pre-assessment planning stage and is any action that helps to reduce the effect of a disability or difficulty, which places the learner at a substantial disadvantage. An adjustment will not be reasonable if it affects the reliability or validity of assessment outcomes, or it gives the learner an unfair (i.e. not reasonable) assessment advantage over other learners undertaking the same or similar assessment.
    - 3.3.3.2 The curriculum area working in conjunction with the additional learning support and exams teams, will arrange for the reasonable adjustments that should be made if you have been identified as requiring additional learning support, including securing resource and adjustments to assessments and exam conditions.
    - 3.3.3.3 Special considerations can be applied after an assessment, in circumstances where the student/apprentice was affected by incapacitating/terminal/temporary illness, terminal illness of a parent or dependant, recent bereavement of a family member or close friend, serious accident/injury, physical assault trauma, serious domestic crisis or indisposition at the time of the assessment. Awarding Organisation guidance should be adhered to under these circumstances.
- 3.4 Target Grades
  - 3.4.1 If you are on a full-time programme, a part time programme of 12 weeks or more, an adult or an apprentice, qualifications on entry will be entered automatically to ProMonitor on enrolment (not HE). Target Grades will be calculated and entered to ProMonitor by October half term, please see appendix 2 for target grade calculations.
- 3.5 Progress
  - 3.5.1 If you are on a full-time programme, a part time programme of 12 weeks or more, an adult or an apprentice, your progress will be reviewed at four points throughout the academic year, these are called Progress Points (PPs). At each PP, you will complete a formative assessment which will identify your current progress against your target grade which will be reviewed and recorded in ProMonitor.
- 3.6 English and Maths
  - 3.6.1 If you are on a full-time programme, a part time programme of 12 weeks or more, an adult or an apprentice, where appropriate, you will be assessed in terms of your level of English and math’s prior to commencement or during the induction period of your course.
  - 3.6.2 All assessments undertaken should highlight opportunities where you can improve your English (i.e., spelling, punctuation, and grammar) and math’s.
- 3.7 Equality and Diversity
  - 3.7.1 Staff will consider Religious and Cultural Festivals and try to avoid submission dates that may conflict.
- 3.8 Assessment Methodologies
  - 3.8.1 Staff are encouraged to use a variety of assessment methodologies, but these must be in line with published guidelines and criteria.
- 3.9 Assessment Submission
  - 3.9.1 Electronic submissions will be acknowledged automatically through the appropriate medium used to submit the evidence. For ‘Turnitin’ submissions a receipt will automatically be generated.
  - 3.9.2 Receipts will be issued to you when work has been submitted for assessment.
- 3.10 Assessment
  - 3.10.1 Assessment activities should include as the minimum, assessment criteria, date of issue, date of submission, date submitted, and date marked and returned
  - 3.10.2 Where assessment activity is recorded/videoed, this will be stored securely and deleted in accordance with the Records Retention Policy and Data Protection Policy.
- 3.11 Assessment Extensions
  - 3.11.1 Assessments will only be accepted within deadlines or agreed extensions. (Specific guidelines are applied to BTEC programmes).
  - 3.11.2 Extensions will only be permitted where there are extenuating circumstances, these would need to meet the AOs regulations and requirements please see Appendix 3 for website.
  - 3.11.3 Assessment provided for extenuating circumstances would be a new/different assessment activity and approved by the appropriate Director of Curriculum (DoC).
  - 3.11.4 Extenuating Circumstances include:
    - Hospitalisation
    - Immediate family bereavement
    - Court case/Jury Service
    - Serious illness
    - An on-going injury that may prevent you from undertaking assessments.
  - 3.11.5 The following list is not accepted as an extenuating circumstance:
    - Absence due to minor illness
    - A Doctor or Dentist appointment
    - Driving lesson or Test
    - Computer failure or loss of work within the last week prior to submission.
    - Other Student/apprentice having your work
    - Not having the appropriate kit/uniform for the assessment.
  - 3.11.6 Late submissions will not be accepted where you are aware of the deadline and had not previously agreed an extension.
  - 3.11.7 There are specific guidelines for BTEC qualifications, refer to the BTEC Centre Guide to Internal Assessment- please see Appendix 3 for website. On these occasions a ‘Request for Assessment Extension’ form must be completed by you, where the reason for the extension is discussed and recorded. This must be completed at least 24 hours prior to the date and time of submission, not on the day of submission. The extension will be agreed and signed by the Programme Area Manager (PAM) Lead IV and yourself.
  - 3.11.8 There are specific guidelines for HE level programmes, refer to the College HE Academic Regulations. In general, you have the right to draw to the attention of the College any personal extenuating circumstances which impair their ability to undertake an assessment, and request either an extension (short term) or deferral (longer term) of the assessment. Requests for extension or deferral on grounds of extenuating circumstances may only be made using the procedure outlined in the HE Regulations.
- 3.12 Marking
  - 3.12.1 In response to your work submitted for assessment, feedback should be provided to you verbally and in writing within three weeks of submission or four weeks for Higher Education (HE) as per the HE Academic Regulations.
  - 3.12.2 You should be given a date when you will receive feedback if it is to be beyond the three-weeks.
- 3.13 Feedback and Feedforward
  - 3.13.1 Written feedback and feedforward provided to you on your achievements should suggest ways in which improvements can be made, including clear and achievable next steps to embed knowledge and develop competency of skill.
  - 3.13.2 For BTEC programmes please refer to the BTEC Centre Guide to Internal Assessment, please see Appendix 3 for website.
  - 3.13.3 You should be encouraged to make use of all opportunities to request feedback from staff by submitting drafts of your assessment activities before the submission date (not BTEC programmes). If permitted by the AO, staff will provide you with further guidance on how to improve your grade/submission. However, this would have to be a new/different assessment activity and approved by the appropriate DoC.
  - 3.13.4 All written assessments undertaken should highlight opportunities where you can improve your English (i.e., spelling, punctuation, and grammar) and maths skills in line with the College’s Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar Policy.
- 3.14 Plagiarism, Copying and Collusion
  - 3.14.1 Plagiarism is a form of cheating in which students/apprentices use the work of others and present it as their own, with or without consent. This can be in the form of words, images, ideas, opinions or discoveries.
  - 3.14.2 At the start of your programme you will be made aware of your responsibilities regarding malpractice (plagiarism and copying in particular) and the penalties which can be incurred if you breach the regulations. Please refer to the Behaviour and Conduct Policy.
  - 3.14.3 You must sign the Authentication Statement stating that the work is your own on submission of any work to be assessed.
  - 3.14.4 Copying involves using the unpublished work of others and presenting it as their own. It includes copying from another student/apprentice or lending another student/apprentice coursework, whether it was known it would be copied or not, also constitutes a breach of the regulations which can be punished by the loss of all marks for that section, unit, or component.
  - 3.14.5 Collusion is working collaboratively with other students/apprentices beyond what is permitted and deliberately submitting shared work as your own. Collusion occurs when two or more students/apprentices breach the regulation.
  - 3.14.6 Contract Cheating is purchasing of essays from a third party and passing them off as a student’s/apprentice’s original work is taken very seriously by both the College and the AO.
  - 3.14.7 All internally assessed work is covered which contributes towards final grades for all programmes offered by Leicester College for all AOs, including vocational and nonvocational programmes.
  - 3.14.8 If appropriate to the programme, you will be taught how to quote and reference your work accurately. This will include the use of quotation marks, how to write references and a bibliography (many AOs use the Harvard system) which includes referencing work from websites, journals, and other published documents.
  - 3.14.9 You will be monitored by tutors and given the support needed to minimise the risk of plagiarism or copying.
  - 3.14.10 The guidelines do not include official examinations where the examining boards’ own procedures will automatically apply and will be handled by the College’s examinations department.
  - 3.14.11 If you breach the regulations, you may be disciplined using the College’s Behaviour and Conduct Policy and the relevant AO will be notified.
  - 3.14.12 The HE Academic Regulations provide specific guidelines and procedures for academic malpractice at HE level
  - 3.14.13 In principle, once you signed the Authentication Statement stating that the work is your own and malpractice is suspected, the AO would need to be informed. Prior to this, any incidents would be dealt with using the College’s own procedures as outlined above.
- 3.15 Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  - 3.15.1 The guidance on AI has been created to support you to understand what AI is and the rules applied by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) and the Awarding Organisations for the use of AI tools in the generation of assessment submissions.
  - 3.15.2 The use of AI in your work must be identified, these include the use of AI chatbots such as:
    - ChatGPT
    - Jenni AI
    - Jasper AI
    - Writesonic
    - Bloomai
    - Google Bard.
  - 3.15.3 Examples of AI misuse include:
    - Copying or paraphrasing sections of AI generated content so that the work is no longer your own
    - Copying or paraphrasing whole responses of AI-generated content
    - Using AI to complete parts of the assessment so that the work does not reflect your own work
    - Failing to acknowledge use of AI tools when they have been used as a source of information
    - Incomplete or poor acknowledgement of AI tools
    - Submitting work with intentionally incomplete or misleading references or bibliographies.
  - 3.15.4 You must submit work for assessments which is your own. This means both ensuring that the final product is in your own words and isn’t copied or paraphrased from another source such as an AI tool, and that the content reflects your own independent work.
  - 3.15.5 You are expected to demonstrate your own knowledge, skills and understanding as required for the qualification in question and set out in the qualification specification.
  - 3.15.6 Any use of AI which means you have not independently demonstrated you own attainment is likely to be considered malpractice.
  - 3.15.7 You must sign an authenticity statement to confirm that AI tools were not used in the generation of your submission.
  - 3.15.8 If the use of AI is detected, the tutor will hold a professional discussion with you to identify if you have the same level of knowledge and understanding as presented within your submitted work. (JCQ, jcq.org.uk/exams-office/malpractice/artificial-intelligence/, 2023)
- 3.16 Assessment Referrals
  - 3.16.1 Where assessments have been referred, you will be given further opportunities to submit work to achieve a pass or higher, but this is dependent on the AOs requirements.
  - 3.16.2 For BTEC programmes refer to the BTEC Centre Guide to Internal Assessment. Please see Appendix 3 for website. For HE Programmes refer to HE Academic Regulations.

Appendix 1

Student/Apprentice Appeals Procedure
- This procedure applies to all students/apprentices at Leicester College and is designed to support students/apprentices who wish to seek a review of an assessment decision.
- Assessment should be undertaken in line with the national standards and relevant AO and College procedures. Staff should ensure that they adhere to these prescribed procedures and that they are explained to students/apprentices.
- All academic appeals relating to HE should follow the guidance provided in the LC HE Academic Regulations.
  Stage One: Review with the Tutor/Assessor
- A student/apprentice wishing for a review of an assessment decision should, in the first instance, speak to the member of staff /assessor concerned within five working days of formal feedback being provided.
- The member of staff should give a full explanation of the assessment process and how the grading was determined within five working days following the student/apprentice appeal. This should be a formative process for the student/apprentice and the member of staff should justify the reasons for the grading and explain how the student/apprentice could more fully have met the assessment criteria.
  Stage Two: Independent Re-Assessment of Work
- If the student/apprentice is not satisfied with the explanation provided under Stage One and wishes to take the matter further, the tutor/assessor should ensure that the student/apprentice is has a copy of this Assessment Appeals Procedure, knows the names of the staff who may be involved.
- The tutor/assessor should complete sections one and two of the student/apprentice Assessment Appeal pro-forma (Appendix 4a) and the student/apprentice is in turn, should complete section three. The student/apprentice should submit the pro-forma to the relevant Programme Lead (PL), Apprenticeship Commercial Manager (ACM), Programme Area Manager (PAM) or the Director of the Curriculum Area (DoC) within ten working days of Stage One.
- The PL, ACM, PAM or DoC will arrange for the work in question to be independently re-assessed by the course’s Lead Internal Verifier or Internal Verifier or, where one is not available, by a second Tutor/Assessor. This re-assessment should take place within ten working days of the submission of the written request by the Student/Apprentice.
- The Lead Internal Verifier/Internal Verifier/Second Assessor will complete section four of the pro-forma, giving an independent assessment of the work and comments on the grading decisions made. This decision will be final.
- A copy of the completed pro-forma should be given to the student/apprentice is and the original assessor, and a copy placed in the student/apprentice file. Where the student/apprentice is found to have a valid complaint about the original assessment, the tutor/assessor should give the student/apprentice is an opportunity to re-submit the work by an agreed deadline within constraints of the AO.
  Stage Three: Further Action
- If the student/apprentice is dissatisfied with the outcome of Stage Two, they may use the College Complaints Policy, or where appropriate, refer to the Quality Development Manager to contact the External Verifier.
  Stage Four: External Appeal
- Before proceeding, the student/apprentice is must have exhausted the internal appeals procedure of the College. A student/apprentice who is not satisfied with the outcome of the stage three may then appeal through the College to the AO.
- This appeal must be sent in writing and be accompanied by all documentation from stages one, two and three to the Quality Improvement Team, who will then send to the AO and will facilitate arrangements where necessary.
- An investigation will be undertaken by an External Verifier/Quality Assurer appointed by the AO. On the receipt of the investigation findings, the appeal application will be considered by the AO Appeals Committee.
  This will lead to one of two decisions:
  - The Appeals Committee supports the decision of the Investigator.
  - The appeal may be rejected or upheld. Procedures For Externally Assessed Submissions.
- A student/apprentice is wishing to appeal against an assessment decision made by an AO (for example, in examinations or during moderation or verification processes) should liaise with their PL/ACM in the first instance.
- The College will support requests of remarking of work, scripts to be returned and moderation to be checked when requested by individuals. However, students/apprentices should be aware that they would be liable for any fees incurred in this process.

Appendix 1A

Student/Apprentice Assessment Appeal Pro-forma for Stage Two
- If a student/apprentice remains dissatisfied with an assessment decision after having taken it up with the tutor/assessor concerned under Stage One of the Assessment Appeals Procedure, they should:
  - Ask the tutor/assessor to complete sections one and two of the form below.
  - Fill in section three explaining the reasons for the appeal.
  - Give the completed form to the relevant Programme Lead, Apprenticeship Commercial Manager, Programme Area Manager, or the Director of the Curriculum Area within 10 working days of the end of Stage One.