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Delivery and Awarding of qualifications
Condition D9 of Qualifications Wales Standard Conditions of Recognition relates to Welsh-medium qualifications. This Condition makes provision for the following:
- availability of Regulated Qualifications in Welsh
- publication of a Welsh-medium qualifications policy statement
- promoting and facilitating the availability of Welsh-medium qualifications, and
- establishing arrangements to secure compliance.
In addition to Condition D9, Agored Cymru has a duty to comply with other Conditions relating to the development, delivery and awarding of qualifications through the medium of Welsh:
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Condition |
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A5 |
Ensuring the ability to develop, deliver and award qualifications |
A5 ensures that the Awarding Body has the capacity to undertake the development, delivery and award of qualifications which it makes available, or proposes to make available, in a way that complies with its Conditions of Recognition; and that it takes all reasonable steps to ensure that it undertakes the development, delivery and award of those qualifications efficiently. This includes ensuring that its staff has the bilingual skills to meet the demands of the qualifications that it offers. |
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E6 |
Submitting qualifications to QiW |
E6 ensures that information about qualifications that are included on the QiW database is accurate and up to date – including details of the language medium of the qualifications. |
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G2 |
Language of assessment |
G2.1 ensures that all Learners taking qualifications in Wales are assessed in Welsh and/or English. |
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G2.4 ensures that where an awarding body make available a qualification in more than one language, it takes all reasonable steps to ensure that assessments in different languages ensure a consistent Level of Demand for Learners. |
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G3 |
Use of language and stimulus materials |
G3 ensures that the language must be appropriate, clear and easily understood and should enable Learners to demonstrate their level of achievement. |
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H2 |
Centre Assessment Standards Scrutiny |
H2 ensures that where evidence generated by a Learner in an assessment for a qualification made available by an awarding body is marked by a Centre, the awarding body must have in place clear and effective arrangements to undertake Centre Assessment Standards Scrutiny of the assessment. This condition requires the awarding body to plan in advance its CASS activities, allocating appropriately skilled staff including language choice of the learner. |
Some centres that Agored Cymru works with in Wales, for example Further Education Colleges, may be subject to the Welsh Language Standards (“Standards”)1 . These standards require learners to be informed that any written work submitted as part of those centres’ own assessments or examinations may be submitted in Welsh, and that work submitted in Welsh must not be treated less favourably than written work submitted in English.
As an awarding body working with centres subject to the Welsh Language Standards, Agored Cymru is required to have due regard to this legislation and seek to facilitate a centre’s compliance with the Standards. As such, Agored Cymru is required to provide a mechanism for centres to enable them to notify it of any learners who wish to take a qualification in Welsh.
1 Standard 90 and 90A of the Welsh Language Standards (No. 6) Regulations 2017 - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2017/90/schedule/1/part/1/made
From 1st September 2024, Agored Cymru has a regulatory duty to provide a mechanism for all centres to record and submit data on Learner language preference. This relates to all qualifications and all regulated units.
Agored Cymru has included functionality to its website and systems that will enable centres to identify learners’ preferred assessment language at the point of registration and at the point of claiming results. From 1st September 2024, it is a mandatory requirement for centres to use this functionality.
The guidance below is intended to support centres with using this mandatory functionality.
.png "Image showing a laptop with the Agored Cymru website open")
An additional column should be added to the format of your learner registration files to accommodate the Preferred Assessment Language (PAL) of each learner. The options we expect and the values we use for each of them are included below, but you can include whichever values you hold for these options as long as they are used consistently, as we will map them to our own. For example, you might use Eng, Cym, and Bil, or E, C, and D.
It is vital that you let us know the first time you submit learner registrations with the Preferred Assessment Language column included, so that we know which column to look at, and so that we can map your values to ours.
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ID |
Code |
Description |
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1 |
En |
English |
|
2 |
Cy |
Cymraeg |
|
5 |
D/B |
Dwy/Bi |
When using the Class Awards page for Direct Results Entry, you will now see Actual Assessment Language drop down list alongside the Learner Summary table for the selected learner. The selected option is saved each time a new learner is selected, or when the Save for later button is used, just like any unit achievements.
![Screenshot showing the dropdown menu on the claim sheets with the Actual Assessment Language options in abbreviated forms [En] for English, [Cy] for Cymraeg, [D/B] for Dwy or Bi](https://hubspot.agored.cymru/hubfs/AAL4.png "Screenshot showing the dropdown menu on the claim sheets with the Actual Assessment Language options in abbreviated forms [En] for English, [Cy] for Cymraeg, [D/B] for Dwy or Bi")
The AAL column in the learner grid indicates in abbreviated form any Actual Assessment Language selections that have already been saved.
Claim Sheets have not changed, other than to update the label for the existing field to Actual Assessment Language.
![Screenshot showing the options once chosen in abbreviated forms [En] for English, [Cy] for Cymraeg, [D/B] for Dwy or Bi on the Agored Cymru website](https://hubspot.agored.cymru/hubfs/AAL3.png "Screenshot showing the options once chosen in abbreviated forms [En] for English, [Cy] for Cymraeg, [D/B] for Dwy or Bi on the Agored Cymru website")
Communication channels
Queries regarding assessment, quality assurance and award of all non-access qualifications/units.
Queries regarding the delivery, moderation and award of Access to Higher Education qualifications/units.
Queries regarding administration and how to register learners and submit claims.
Queries regarding the identification and development of new and existing curriculum opportunities.
Queries regarding content, review and development of qualifications/units.