21 Jul Consultation Vs Moderation Vs Validation Part ll

In a previous blog article HBA Learning Centres discussed Consultation and how we at HBA deal with it.

One of the more confused subjects in VET is Moderation; you would be amazed at how many qualified people do not understand what it is.

If we stand back and consider the ASQA standards we note an RTO is to ensure there is consistent quality of training and assessment across the entirety of its operation. This means (in part) that any two assessors are going to reach the same assessment decision when faced with the same evidence. Now this may seem to be an easy thing to do and certainly if the question is “what does 2 plus 2 total?” there is only one correct answer (unless you are faced with my 12 year old son who will tell you it is 22) and that is 4. All assessors will easily reach the same assessment decision. Now suppose the question/activity is “Describe the use of and produce a Training & Assessment Strategy” this is a far more nebulous question/activity which allows for the use of personalised language (different people say the same thing by using different words) and we have to ensure all assessors are going to consider the evidence in the same way and reach the same assessment decision.

So how do we at HBA Learning Centres do that when we have assessors in our learning centres all over the country?

We have several different strategies we employ.

• Our Compliance team and Regional Managers consistently audit assessment feedback to Learners looking for any variations.
• We provide an Assessors Guide for every qualification we offer and in this guide are model answers as well as advice to be considered.
• We conduct national training on the subject which is led by a member of our management team.

Moderation is about quality control and it forms a major element of ensuring our learners are assessed accurately by all and any of our team of qualified assessors.