We have made some important changes to how we quality assure Arts Award. The changes to the quality assurance process will improve the assessment and certification process for centres allowing greater focus on the delivery of Arts Award for young people.
In practice, this will mean that the majority of centres will no longer be moderated every time they enter young people for Arts Award certification. For more detailed information, read our News and FAQs and check the Enter Young People section of our website.
Arts Award isn't just about engaging arts education projects. It's about recognising young people's progress and achievements – which is where assessment and enter young people for the qualification come in. This may happen at the end of the Arts Award process, but it's worth thinking about them from the start.
As an Arts Award adviser, you'll complete a simple marksheet with marks for every young person you enter for any level of Arts Award including Discover. You may want to find a method of recording the evidence that justifies your judgement for your own records and for possible moderation.
Your adviser's toolkit explains the requirements for the different levels of Arts Award to help you assess with confidence. We've also produced step-by-step guides to making an assessment and completing the marksheet, evidence checklists and an assessment criteria support resource to support you through the process.
Want more assessment tips? Take a look at our blog posts on delivering and assessing Explore, Bronze, Silver Unit 1 and Unit 2, and Gold Unit 1 and Unit 2.
Once you have entered your Young People for Arts Award we will confirm asap if you have been selected for moderation. In this case, before your young people can achieve Explore, Bronze, Silver or Gold Arts Award qualification, a trained moderator needs to confirm your assessments. They will look at a sample of them to check they're accurate and consistent.
Check out our Enter Young People pages for advice on what happens when you are select for moderation and how to upload work to the submission platform. For full guidance on planning ahead, download the Best Practice Guidebook.
When you fill out the evidence locator forms, for each part of the award, state specifically where in the portfolio the evidence used to make the assessment can be found eg file name, page/slide number, video/audio time code, try to be as specific as you can. Feel free to use our example forms to support you.
You'll receive provisional results shortly after the moderation, and your young people's digital certificates will be sent out 24-48 hours after that. Then it's time to celebrate your successes… and plan your next Arts Award project!
We have lots of useful blogs to help you prepare for Entering young people and moderation. Try checking out our post Our top tips for assessment and getting moderation ready.
If you need support with any part of the assessment or moderation process, remember we have the blog, free support sessions and webinars.
You can also get advice from the Arts Award support team by emailing artsawardenquiries@trinitycollege.co.uk or booking in a support call.