Rockschool

Vocational qualifications

Centre handbook

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Contents
1. Introduction page 3

2. Approved centre status page 3

3. Roles and responsibilities page 4

4. Registering learners with Rockschool page 5

5. Assessment page 5

6 Reasonable adjustment and special consideration page 8

7. Accessing Data and Information page 8

8. Online Submission of Marks page 8

9. External Moderation and Quality Assurance page 8

10. Awarding and certification page 10

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1. Introduction

This Centre handbook is designed to help centres to understand the requirements for offering
Rockschool vocational qualifications, along with practical guidance on issues such as
assessment and quality assurance. This handbook should be read in conjunction with the
relevant specifications for the qualifications offered by the centre.

2. Approved centre status

Centres who are approved by Rockschool have demonstrated that they meet the requirements
for centre management, assessment and quality assurance.

2.1 What is a centre?

A centre is defined as an organisation undertaking the delivery of an assessment (and
potentially other activities) to Learners on behalf of an awarding organisation. Centres are
typically educational institutions, training providers or employers. 1

Rockschool deals with two main types of centre.

For graded examinations in music performance and the performance arts, Rockschool deals
with examination venues. These are places where external examinations are held.

For other qualifications, Rockschool deals with centres. These centres carry out a number of
assessment activities themselves, which Rockschool moderates to ensure that assessors are
carrying out their jobs properly and assessing to the correct standards. How Rockschool
moderates centres is explained in the Centre Handbook.

2.2 The centre approval process explained

Centre approval is a two-stage process.

Stage 1

Any centre wishing to be approved by Rockschool should complete an application form (in
Appendix 1 of this document) and send this to Rockschool, along with any supporting
documentation required. This can be sent by e-mail or posted to Rockschool at the address
given in the Contacts section.

On receipt of the application form, a Rockschool member of staff will check through to make
sure that all the information has been supplied by the centre. If information is missing, the
member of staff will contact the centre to ask for it to be submitted before the check is complete.

Stage 2

Once the form has been checked, Rockschool will contact the centre to set up a site visit. The
purpose of this visit is to check that the centre has appropriate resources to carry out the
assessment of its qualifications and to carry out required quality assurance processes.

Rockschool will send a representative to the centre who will carry out the site visit. This will be
agreed in advance with the centre representative and is explained in the site visit section
below.

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Conditions of Recognition (published by Ofqual September 2013)
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After the site visit, the Rockschool representative will report on whether they feel the centre
should be approved or not.

Rockschool will let the centre know within 14 days of the site visit whether it has been approved.

2.3 Centres with Direct Claims Status or centre approval with another
awarding organisation
If a centre wishing to apply to Rockschool already has approval or Direct Claims Status with
another awarding organisation regulated by Ofqual, they need only complete Stage 1 of the
process.

3. Roles and responsibilities

3.1 Centre roles
Main centre contact

This is the person who has responsibility for managing the assessment and quality assurance
processes at the centre. The main centre contact acts as the centre co-ordinator with
responsibility for centre management and administration, including the control of candidate
evidence and records, requests for the certification of candidates, liaison with centre staff and
acting as a point of contact for Rockschool.

Assessor

An assessor makes judgments about a candidates performance in relation to the assessment

and grading. Assessors must be suitably qualified and must attend periodic standardisation
meetings convened by the centre to discuss standardisation of judgments.

Assessors and candidates must confirm in writing that the evidence presented is authentic and
that the assessment was conducted in accordance with the assessment requirements of the
qualification

Internal Verifier

The role of the Internal Verifier is to:

Regularly sample evidence of assessment decisions made by all assessors across all
aspects of VQ assessment in order to monitor and ensure consistency in the
interpretation and application of standards within the centre sampling includes direct
observation of assessment practice
Maintain up-to-date records of sampling activity and ensuring that these are available
for the purposes of external moderation
Establish procedures to develop a common interpretation of the assessment and
grading criteria between assessors
Monitor and support the work of assessors within the centre
Facilitate appropriate staff development and training for assessors
Provide feedback to Rockschool moderators on the effectiveness of assessment
Ensure that any corrective actions required by Rockschool are implemented within
agreed timescales.

Internal verifiers may not internally verify evidence they have assessed.

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3.2 Rockschool roles
Rockschool Head of Quality

The Head of Quality is responsible for ensuring that Rockschools processes and procedures
have been followed in the assessment and quality assurance of its qualifications. The Head of
Quality also receives information about appeals, complaints or malpractice and deals with
these according to Rockschools policies and procedures.

Rockschool Head of Exams

The Head of Exams works with the Head of Quality to ensure that the quality assurance and
moderation processes run smoothly and to train and monitor the moderators throughout the
moderation process.

Rockschool moderator

The Rockschool moderator samples a range of candidate evidence from the centre to check
that the assessment decisions are consistent within the centre and also across centres and
over time. The moderator makes judgments based on the assessment and grading criteria and
liaises with the centre to make sure that assessment and quality assurance procedures are
being carried out according to the centre approval requirements.

4. Registration of learners with Rockschool

Once approved, centres can register learners for the approved qualification (s).
Learners must be registered on the chosen qualification as soon as possible at the start of a
learning programme. No assessment should take place until they are registered.

5. Assessment

5.1 Assessing candidates to the required standards

Internal assessment is the process by which staff in centres are responsible for providing
assessment opportunities for learners and for assessing the work which learners produce to
ensure they have met the standards required by the qualification.

Tutors may use a wide variety of assessment methodologies and are encouraged to find the
mode of assessment which best suits the learner in terms of their strengths.

Tutors carry out the assessment using the appropriate unit template and assess the learner
against the individual assessment criteria for that unit. If a candidate is deemed to have met all
of the assessment criteria for the unit, they have achieved it. Please see individual qualification
syllabuses for detailed information about individual units.

5.2 Levels of support and guidance in assessment

Although units are written to encourage learners to carry out assessment activities
independently, it is expected that learners working at lower levels will need more guidance and
support than those working at higher levels. Typically, learners at Level 1 will be supported
through a high degree of tutor guidance, with tasks being clearly outlined, and prescribed to a
high degree. Through Level 2 to Level 3, learners will be encouraged to take increasing

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responsibility for their own learning process. Tasks will become increasingly learner led, with an
expectation of a higher level of initiative and self-motivation from the learner. However, it is
important that during the assessment the learner is able to demonstrate that they can reach the
standard required.

5.3 Types of Evidence

This is a list of the ways in which evidence may be produced. There is a range of options
offered in each case so that the tutor may adapt evidence gathering to individual learner needs.
It is recommended that the most appropriate medium for learner be used in order to maximise
success.

In general, the types of evidence required of learners may include:

Participation in public performance events (organiser and/or performer)

Written and recorded (performed) musical compositions
Assignments and/or musical project work
Reports identifying specific skill development
Business plans
Rehearsal and/or recording logs
Diagrams and Graphs
Illustrations/Screenshots
Recorded Discussions
Simulation
Tutor observation
Video evidence of discussion/performance/composition
Witness statement
Audio evidence

5.4 Authenticity
Tutors are expected to take all necessary steps to ensure that learners work is authentic and
original. It is accepted that tutors will supervise and guide learners who are undertaking work
which is internally assessed. However, for all internally assessed work, tutors must;

Exercise continuing supervision of work in order to monitor progress and to prevent

plagiarism
Be able to supply evidence of their continuing supervision and authenticate all work
submitted for assessment
Ensure that the work is completed in accordance with the programme requirements and
can be assessed using the specified marking criteria and procedures
Be satisfied that the work produced by the learner is their own work
Ensure that any material used which is not the learners own creation is acknowledged

5.5 Plagiarism

Achievement will be assessed on the standards of students own work. Any attempts to cheat
will be taken very seriously indeed and Rockschool will investigate any occurrences of
malpractice thoroughly (please see Rockschools malpractice policy on the website
www.Rockschool.co.uk).

Tutors must ensure that all evidence submitted is authenticated.

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Plagiarism covers both copying, and copying or paraphrasing with only minor adjustments. A
direct quotation from a text must be indicated by the use of quotation marks and the source of
the quote (title, author, page number and date of publication). Information obtained from the
Internet should be clearly referenced.

5.6 Feedback
Please ensure that assessors provide the appropriate level of feedback and make sure that this
is included in the evidence submitted for moderation. If feedback is provided on the centres
own system or in a separate location from the RSL-ATM database please indicate clearly
where it is located. Moderators will be looking for appropriate assessor feedback which clearly
justifies the grade awarded for the unit

5.7 Guidance for Referencing Work

Please ensure that all evidence is appropriately referenced and labelled. Moderators will need
to access all work submitted and unclear labelling makes it more difficult and time consuming to
find the appropriate work.

5.7.1 Written Work

Written work includes screen shots, project logs, witness statements, images and graphics.

Each page must have the following written clearly at the top;
Candidate full name
Level
Unit code/Title of unit
Assessment Criteria/Learning Outcome Number

Example
Beyonc Knowles
Level 2
MUSPRA 201
2.1

5.7.2 Recorded work

If the work is produced on CD, video or mp3 file, please announce the following information as
part of the recording. This can be recorded as a separate track during the editing process.
Candidate full name
Level
Unit code/Title of unit
Assessment Criteria/Learning Outcome Number

Example;
Beyonc Knowles
Level 2
MUSPRA 201
2.1

This CD/video/mp3 file is the arrangement work of Beyonc Knowles, from the CMP 2 course
at Access to Music Brighton. This work has been produced for the Arranging Music (Styles)
Unit MUSPRA 201. Task 1 Produce 2 arrangements of a piece of music. This work is on track
6 and 12.

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6. Applying for reasonable adjustment or special consideration
Please read Rockschools policy for reasonable adjustments and special considerations which
is available on the website at www.rockschool.co.uk

Reasonable adjustments can be requested for learners with a permanent learning difficulty or
disability which means that they require particular circumstances or resources to be in place for
the assessment. Reasonable adjustments should be applied for in advance of an assessment
using the form available on the website.

Special considerations can be granted for any temporary disability or difficulty which affects
the learner on the day of the assessment. This should be noted by the assessor so that any
circumstances can be taken into account (for example a learner being taken ill during an
assessment or requiring assistance with the assessment because of a temporary difficulty).

Rockschool will only grant reasonable adjustments or special considerations where they do not
impact on the integrity of the assessment. All learners are required to meet the criteria and
standards set out in order to pass the qualification.

7. Accessing Data and Information

Learners and centres will be able to access information through the on-line registration system
which is password protected.

Learners will be able to look at their own records of unit registration and achievement but not
those of any other learner.

Centres will be able to view the information relating to all learners enrolled on each qualification
at that centre.

8. Online Submission of Marks

For some qualifications, centres will access a central secure learner database upon which the
marks will be entered. Centres are encouraged to update this on a regular basis to avoid heavy
workload at the end of the academic year. To find out about the dates for specific qualifications
please check Rockschools website and individual qualification syllabuses.

9. External Moderation and quality assurance

9.1 What is external moderation?
Moderators are appointed by awarding bodies to monitor the work of approved centres. They
are the link between the awarding body and the centre and hold responsibility for checking that
approved centres are complying fully with their contractual agreements with Rockschool to
deliver awards.

9.2 The role of the moderator

The moderator ensures that:
Systems and processes in centres are robust, consistently applied, lead to good practice in
record keeping, support, advice, assessment and verification of candidate and staff
activities, and meet Rockschool requirements.
Decisions on candidate achievement are appropriate and consistent across and within
centres.
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 Candidate assessments and verifications are monitored and sampled regularly.
Centres and their various assessment locations are visited if required, and the level, nature
and quality of their activity clearly and accurately documented

9.3 Sampling process

Rockschool will inform the centre of the evidence to be sampled by the moderator. The
samples will be random and will be based on the following sampling formula for each centre:

A proportion of learners in each cohort

Samples from each unit taken within the centre
At least 20% of all learners within a centre

The formula has been designed to ensure that the moderator is able to look at a sufficient
sample of candidate evidence to determine whether the assessment and internal quality
assurance procedures have been robustly applied.

The moderator will review the evidence and make a judgment about whether their decision
matches that of the assessor in all cases within the sample. The moderator will then report
their findings formally to the Head of Quality.

9.4 Agreement or disagreement by the moderator

Moderators will make judgments based on whether they agree with the assessor in all cases,
most cases, some cases or no cases.

If the moderator agrees with the assessor judgements in all cases, the Head of Quality will
verify the report and release the results for that cohort of learners in that centre to be
certificated.

If the moderator agrees with the assessor judgements in most cases the head of Quality will
review any instances of disagreement and make a decision on appropriate action to be taken.
This could include the adjustment of marks for individual candidates in line with the moderator
judgments or requesting a further sample for moderation.

If the moderator agrees with the assessor judgments in some or no cases, they will inform the
Head of Quality of their review and their judgements where these do not agree with those of the
assessor. The Head of Quality will then contact the centre to request a further sample of
evidence which will be reviewed by the moderator. This process carries on until all evidence
has been sampled.

If the moderator still disagrees with the judgments made by assessors the Head of Quality will
hold the results until the Quality Assurance Committee meets to decide on a course of action.
This course of action could be:
Requesting a further moderation exercise carried out by another moderator to confirm the
judgments
Upholding the moderators assessment decision for candidates
Applying a sanction to the centre or to individual candidates in the case of non-
compliance or malpractice

Centres will be informed of the process by the Head of Quality and of any decisions or formal
outcomes.

9.5 Sanctions
Sanctions may be applied in cases where a review of assessment decisions uncovers a non-

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compliance by the centre or if a case of malpractice is found.

Please see the Rockschool Sanctions Policy on the website www.Rockschool.co.uk

9.6 Centre reports

The moderator will compile a Centre Report based on their findings. Copies of this report will be
passed on to the centre to which the report refers.

Each report will be written and submitted to Rockschool by the external moderation team within
ten working days.

In those cases where action plans are required, Rockschool will advise the centres what issues
need to be addressed and make recommendations of how this may happen. The external
moderation team may visit centres to ensure that these plans, if required, are being carried out.

9.7 Resubmission of learner work after moderation

Following external moderation all centres can access verified results from the online database.
Learners with unclassified units are permitted to resubmit those units.

Rockschool will inform centres of the eligible learners and units within 14 days of the conclusion
of external moderation.

Only units that have been completed prior to external moderation are eligible for resubmission.
All resubmissions will need to be assessed and graded online by the date stated in the current
Accreditation Calendar.

Resubmitted units can only achieve a maximum of a Pass.

Only those units identified by Rockschool will be accepted.
All units to be resubmitted will incur a further cost of 20 per unit.

All resubmissions must arrive at Rockschool by the date set out in the current Accreditation
Calendar. It is the responsibility of the centre to ensure the delivery of the units. No late entries
will be accepted.

Rockschool will notify centres of the results within 14 days of the closing date.

Certificates for resubmitted work will be distributed within 7 days of the results being published.

9.8 Archiving Learner Work

Each centre should create an archive of learner work for each of the qualifications offered by
that centre.

The purpose of archiving is to provide a record of learner work over time and to give internal
and external moderation teams a range of exemplars which cover the range of learner abilities
within each unit.

10. Awarding and certification

Once the Head of Quality has confirmed the assessment decisions made by the centre, the
results will be released for certification.

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Qualification achievement will be calculated based on the grades awarded for individual units.
Qualifications will be graded pass, merit and distinction.

In order to achieve a pass, candidates must meet the assessment criteria for every unit. If a
candidate does not pass all units they will not be able to claim a qualification certificate.
Candidates may request credit certificates for individual unit achievement.

For more information about the issue of certificates please see Rockschools certificate and
replacement certificate procedure on the website www.Rockschool.co.uk.

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