Teacher assessed grades (TAG) should be considered to be an exception rather than the ‘norm’ for Functional Skills qualifications. Live testing remains available throughout the period and must always be the primary option. Adaptations to delivering live tests have been made so you must explore and exhaust all these options. Therefore, eligibility for a learner to be considered for a TAG has to be clearly established, by you, before any supporting evidence is considered.
A learner who has completed all their learning and is ready to take the assessment, could be considered for a TAG application provided you can demonstrate that normal assessment arrangements are not safe and that the learner cannot:
- access an assessment face to face
- access an assessment utilising adaptation
- delay the assessment
There is a timescale, known as a period of eligibility, by when assessment was due to take place. You have to be able to confirm assessment was due to take place:
- between 1 August 2020 to 23 April 2021 for Legacy English and maths, Level 1 and Level 2
- between 1 August 2020 to 31 August 2021 for ICT.
The timelines for requesting a TAG are below. Please note, they are different for Legacy English and maths and ICT. Results will be issued on-demand.
|
19 April 2021 to 21 May 2021 |
Request for TAGs submitted by centres for Legacy English and maths Level 1 and Level 2 |
|
19 April 2021 to 31 August 2021 |
Request for TAGs submitted by centres for ICT all levels |
|
On-demand |
Results will then be issued on-demand. If your centre is not selected for sampling and we do not need to request further details from you, the results for TAGs can be processed within 15 days. If we have to contact you for further information or to sample learner work, then the turnaround time will be impacted. |
The teacher/tutor will need to download:
- Functional Skills: Request for Teacher Assessed Grades form (including a Head of Centre declaration).
- Guidance on teacher assessed grades for Functional Skills.
- Pass descriptors for Level 1 and 2 English Reading, English Writing and ICT.
FAQs for teachers/tutors can be found here.
A Functional Skills TAG Request form must be completed for each individual candidate, you cannot complete one form for all candidates.
On the form, the teacher will need to provide the following information:
- Centre and candidate details
- Which components are being requested as a TAG
- Details and rationale for why the candidate is eligible for a TAG
- Details of what evidence is available for the candidate to support the TAG
- Details of the quality assurance process completed within the centre
- Where applicable, details of checks made against past centre performance
You will need a valid entry for all candidates your teachers/tutors have identified as a Pass and eligible for a centre assessment grade.
If you already have an unused entry in place, OCR will use this entry to process the teacher assessed grade once accepted.
If you do not have an entry available, OCR will make the entry on your behalf and invoice you as normal, you do not need to make the entry before submitting your request.
Do we need to request a TAG for candidates we consider would have failed?
You do not need to make a request a TAG for candidates you consider would have failed.
While we only require TAG requests for a pass, you should record any decisions where you decide the learner is not eligible for a TAG, as they can access live assessments or where a learner is not performing at a Pass standard. This ensures you have evidence in the event the candidate wants to appeal the decision.
Where you have deemed a learner not eligible for a TAG, it is important you have confirmed that any reasonable adjustments which are usually agreed for the candidate and/or access arrangements have been in place and considered in respect of evidence you have used in making your decision.
Do we have to send the candidate evidence to OCR with the TAG Request form?
No, you do not need to send the candidate evidence to OCR. However, OCR may request further information or to view the evidence as part of the external quality assurance process. If OCR requests to see the evidence, this does not need to be in its original form, it may be scanned versions of the evidence. More detail will be provided if we contact you.
Send the completed Functional Skills TAG Request form to your Head of Centre for sign-off.
A Head of Centre declaration is included on the form and must be signed by the Head of Centre or another member of Senior Leadership at the centre before submitting the centre assessment grades to OCR.
Can the Head of Centre sign the form electronically or must it be printed?
An electronic (or scanned) signature is fine. The form does not need to be printed and signed.
Do we also need to submit a JCQ Centre Policy for Functional Skills?
No, the Request for Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs) form includes the information we need for Functional Skills.
Once you have completed the Functional Skills TAG Request form, please email the form to VTQ@ocr.org.uk.
Your email should include:
- Your Centre number
- Completed Functional Skills TAG Request form, signed by Head of Centre attached
Our centre GDPR policy requires us to send information securely, what can we do?
You can password protect the teacher assessment grade request form and email the password separately to VTQ@ocr.org.uk. The form does not ask for all candidate demographics (eg Date of Birth), these must be available on Interchange.
We are submitting requests for multiple candidates, can we include on the same form?
No, one form is needed per candidate, as each candidate has to be confirmed as eligible. The information in section 2 of the form may be common between applications and can be copied into multiple forms. You can submit requests separately or more than one form at once.
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