Validation policy and procedure

Purpose of the policy

This policy and procedure sets out Allara’s approach to the validation of its assessment practices and judgements. These include maintenance of a documented plan, which describes who will lead and participate in the validation activities, and a validation schedule for each training product on the scope of registration for TTG and WGL. This policy and procedure also outlines how recommendations for improvement to the assessment tool, process and or assessment outcome arising from validation assessment outcomes will be acted upon.

Definitions

Allara – Allara Investments Pty Ltd, trading as Allara learning and is inclusive of; Tactical Training Group Pty Ltd, RTO provider No: 91054 (TTG) and W G learning Pty Ltd, RTO Provider No: 91178 (WGL).

TTG - Tactical Training Group Pty Ltd, RTO provider No: 91054 (TTG)

WGL– W G learning Pty Ltd, RTO Provider No: 91178 (WGL)

Scope

The policy applies to all of Allara Learning’s (Allara) operations inclusive of Tactical Training Group Pty Ltd, RTO provider No: 91054 (TTG) and W G learning Pty Ltd, RTO Provider No: 91178 (WGL). It applies to all stakeholders involved in the validation of training products on the scope of registration for TTG and WGL.

Validation Plan

Each training product is to be validated at least once every five years, with at least 50% of products validated within the first three years of each five-year cycle. High risk training products will be evaluated on a 12 month cycle from the date of their original release.

Validation Schedule

Allara will maintain a validation schedule in Monday.com reflecting Allara’s current scope of registration . The schedule is a five year plan for the validation of training products and Units of Competence. The schedule sets out who will be involved in each validation, due dates, completion dates and high-level summaries of the validation outcome. When a new training product is added to the schedule, it will be adjusted to ensure it continues to meet the validation timing requirements.

High Risk Training Products

High Risk Training Products will be validated on a 12 month cycle as opposed the standard validation cycle. If a training product has any of the following characteristics it is high risk:

any training product identified by ASQA as high risk;
licensed/Regulated Courses:
- Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA); and
- Responsible Conduct of Gambling (RCG); and
- Food Safety Supervisor (FSS).

Order of validations

The order of validation activities listed within the Validation Schedule will be determined by a hierarchy of selection:

High risk products
Highest volume of enrolments in a qualification
Highest volume of enrolments in a unit of competency
Requirement to address changes in technology or workplace processes.

Statistically valid random sample

The statistically valid sample of completed learner assessments will be calculated using the tool made available from ASQA: https://www.asqa.gov.au/resources/tools/validation-sample-size-calculator

Random sample selection process

The following are the steps required to select a random sample:

Identify trainers/assessors
For each trainer/assessor identify the different employers (apprenticeship or traineeship)/program (Jobseekers)
For the above, produce an alphabetical listing, sorted by surname of the students whose work was assessed and sample at least one from every 5th letter until the sample size requirement is met
Where RPL is used for the relevant unit, and no RPL completions have been gathered in the sample, additional RPL samples will be added to the assessment judgments.

Note: ASQA’s expectation is that a minimum of two (2) units of competency should be sampled when validating a qualification.

Validator and validation participants

Validation for each of Allara’s training products will be led by someone who has:

a TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (or its successor); and
in-depth knowledge of training packages and who has a minimum of three years’ experience in the Vocational Education Sector; and
vocational competencies and current industry skills relevant to the assessment being validated; and
no direct involvement with the training or assessment of the unit of competency being validated.

Participants in the validation process will include the Lead Validator plus:

Someone who holds the relevant qualification and current industry skills relevant to the assessment being validated;
Someone with current knowledge and skills in vocational teaching and learning;
Someone who delivered/assessed the training product being validated, if they do not determine the validation outcome for any assessment judgements they made.

Note: An individual may hold one or more of the requirements listed above.

Participants may also include:

Employers or employer association representatives;
Other industry bodies;
External RTO representatives.

Effective validation

Validation must only consider the assessment evidence collected, retained and recorded in support of a validation decision for the selected assessment samples.

Reviewing assessment practice

Validation determines if assessment tools have produced the intended evidence. Validators must look at the evidence in the sample, and determine if it is valid, reliable, sufficient, current and authentic. In reviewing assessment practice, validators should consider whether they satisfy the following ASQA guidelines:

Comply with the assessment requirements of the relevant training product
Ensure the principles of fairness, flexibility, validity and reliability
Have been designed to produce valid, sufficient, authentic and current evidence
Are appropriate to the contexts and conditions of assessment (this may include considering whether the assessment reflects real work-based contexts and meets industry requirements)
Are appropriate in terms of the level of difficulty of the tasks to be performed in relation to the skills and knowledge requirements of the unit
Provide sufficient instruction to clearly explain the tasks to be administered to the learner (if the assessment samples demonstrate the evidence provided by each learner is markedly different, this may indicate that the instructions are not clear)
Give sufficient guidance as to the evidence to be gathered from the learner
Outline appropriate reasonable adjustments that could be made to the gathering of assessment evidence
Provide sufficient instructions for the assessor on collecting evidence, making a judgement, and recording the outcomes of the assessment (assessment samples should validate recording and reporting processes)
Are supported with evidence criteria to judge the quality of performance (if the assessment samples demonstrate the judgements made about each learner are markedly different, this may indicate that decision-making rules do not ensure consistency of judgement)
Adhere to the requirements of Allara’s assessment system.

Reviewing assessment judgements

In reviewing the assessment judgements, validators should consider whether the learners’ assessment evidence is consistent with the following ASQA guidelines:

Complies with the assessment requirements of the relevant training product
Demonstrates that the assessment was conducted with fairness, flexibility, validity and reliability
Is valid, sufficient, authentic and current
Is completed in accordance with the assessment instructions and conditions of assessment
Meets industry benchmarks
Is comparative and consistent across multiple assessors.

Validation outcomes

Throughout the validation cycle, the outcomes of the validation will be documented and a validation report will be prepared to document outcomes.

If deficiencies are identified during validation, the highlighted deficiencies and recommendations required to achieve compliance with the relative unit of competency and training package will be rectified and implemented as part of the Allara’s continuous improvement process.

If critical validation issues are identified, look for error patterns for example if the assessor is making invalid judgements which could indicate the assessor requires further training in competency-based assessment.

When changes are made to the assessment practice and/or instruments these will be documented on the Continuous Improvement Register and will be implemented across all training products on scope.

When revisions are made to individual assessment tools quality checks and review of the revised assessment tool will be undertaken prior to its implementation. The revised assessment tool will be version controlled and only current versions will be available for use.

Records Management

Allara's records management processes are used to retain the following validation evidence:

The person leading and those participating in the validation activities (including their qualifications, skills and knowledge);
The sample pool;
The validation tools used;
All assessment samples considered;
The validation outcomes; and
Any rectification required.