Internal moderation

The quality of national assessment relies on quality assurance systems operating in every institution where assessment takes place. Schools must have in place assessment policies and procedures to ensure that internal assessment is accurate, consistent, and to the national standard.

Schools adopt internal moderation systems to ensure:

• all assessment material is reviewed and modified where necessary prior to use
• consistency of assessment across classes
• samples of assessor judgements are verified for all standards
• benchmark samples of student work, which exemplify individual grades, are identified and retained
• assessment materials, including randomly selected student work, are retained for external moderation purposes
• advice from external moderation is followed up as required
• staff are using external collegial links to maintain a current understanding of the national standard.

Schools can adopt or adapt the Internal Moderation Cover Sheet to aid them in the internal moderation process.  This is available in two formats:

• Internal Moderation Cover Sheet (DOC, 67KB)
• Internal Moderation Cover Sheet (PDF, 122KB)

A consequence of moving to standards-based assessment is that teachers have established external links with subject advisers and colleagues in other schools. Distance can make active membership of professional associations difficult, but contacts can be maintained through email links as appropriate.

Because external professional interaction helps teachers to maintain a current understanding of the national standard, it is recommended that senior management in all schools continue to encourage and, if necessary, facilitate these contacts.