How assessment works
What happens to your work after you submit it: who marks it, who checks the marking, how long it takes, and what you can do if you think a decision is wrong. Every statement on this page comes from one of our published policies, and each section says which.
The two kinds of assessment we use
Which one applies depends on the qualification, and the page for each qualification says so. There is no third kind and no unadvertised exam.
What your work is judged against
Not against other learners, and not against your assessor's opinion of the subject. Your evidence is judged against the assessment criteria in the NCFE qualification specification for your units, and those criteria are on your qualification page before you enrol. Our assessors are required to make only decisions supported by sufficient evidence, and to tell you in writing what is needed before you start a unit.
Assessment at the school is held to five principles that our policy states in full: that it is valid, reliable, fair, transparent and sufficient. In practice the one you will notice is transparency. You should never be marked against a requirement you were not told about.
Source: DAIS-POL-016 Assessment and Internal Quality Assurance, sections 16.2 and 16.3.
Who marks it, and who checks the marker
Your assessor
A qualified assessor marks your evidence against the criteria and writes your feedback in the VLE. Assessors must hold, or be working towards, a recognised assessment qualification and must demonstrate current competence in the sector they assess. Every decision is recorded on the school's digital tracking system.
Internal quality assurance
A separate internal quality assurer samples assessment decisions, comparing them against the criteria and the qualification specification. Sampling is risk-based and covers every assessor and every unit, at a minimum of once per term for each active assessor. The outcome of each sample is logged and fed back to the assessor in writing. This is a check on the marking, not on you.
Standardisation
All assessors meet at least once per term to agree how the criteria are interpreted and applied, so that the same piece of work would receive the same decision from any of them. Attendance is compulsory and minuted.
NCFE external quality assurance
NCFE quality assures the centre externally. Their external quality assurer is given access to learner portfolios and assessor decisions, and to our internal quality assurance records. This is the check that sits outside the school altogether.
If your assessor and the internal quality assurer disagree about a decision on your work, that disagreement has its own procedure: the assessor responds to the written feedback within three working days, and anything still unresolved goes to the Head of Centre. If the outcome changes your grade, you are told in writing.
Source: DAIS-POL-016, sections 16.3 to 16.8.
How long feedback takes
These are the times we publish and hold ourselves to, not estimates. They apply from the point you submit.
| What | Within |
|---|---|
| General questions Message your tutor in the VLE | Within 2 working days |
| Assessment feedback Returned in the VLE or e-portfolio | Within 10 working days of submission |
| Technical problems Technical support email | Within 1 working day |
| Urgent welfare concerns Email to the Designated Safeguarding Lead | Within 1 working day |
Source: DAIS-POL-024 Online Learning and Digital Delivery. The same figures appear on every qualification page, and a test in our codebase fails if the page and the policy ever disagree.
Where AI is allowed, and where it is not
We teach artificial intelligence, so a blanket ban would be incoherent and a free-for-all would make the qualification worthless. Instead, every assessed task states its own permission level in the brief, and you will know which one applies before you start.
| Level | What it means |
|---|---|
| 0, No AI | No AI tools at any stage. The work must be entirely your own. |
| 1, Research only | AI may be used to find information or generate ideas. Everything submitted must be written by you. |
| 2, AI-assisted | AI may assist with drafting or coding. Use must be declared, and the final work must be substantially your own. |
| 3, AI-integrated | The task requires AI tools as part of what you produce. Full use is expected and must be documented. |
Submitting work at a higher level of AI use than the task allows is malpractice, and it is investigated as such. So is plagiarism, collusion, paying somebody else to do the work, and having somebody else sit an assessment as you. Written submissions are checked with originality-detection software, you sign a declaration of authenticity with every major submission, and your identity may be re-verified by live video at key points.
Sources: DAIS-POL-023 AI Use in Assessment, sections 23.2 to 23.4, and DAIS-POL-010 Malpractice and Plagiarism, sections 10.2 and 10.3.
Functional Skills: what an invigilated assessment involves
At least five working days before the assessment you receive a technical checklist by email and on the VLE, giving the date and time, the platform and how to log in, the technical requirements, and what to do if something goes wrong on the day. We confirm your NCFE registration and check that the platform is working before the sitting rather than during it.
An invigilator supervises the assessment under NCFE and JCQ regulations, and the rules are explained to you at the start, including that you may not use other websites, notes or AI tools. Where remote proctoring software is used you are told in advance and your consent is recorded, and what it collects is handled under our data protection policy. If your internet fails during a controlled assessment, that is grounds for special consideration, not a mark against you.
Sources: DAIS-POL-015 Controlled Assessment, sections 15.3 to 15.5, and DAIS-POL-012, section 12.4.
If you need an adjustment
A reasonable adjustment changes how an assessment is delivered or submitted so that a disability, a learning difficulty or a health condition does not put you at a disadvantage. It never changes the standard you are held to. Adjustments we can arrange in an online setting include extra time on timed assessments, screen-reading and text-to-speech software, submitting in an alternative format such as an audio recording, adjusted font size and contrast, more frequent breaks, and a spellchecker where the qualification specification allows one.
Tell us at enrolment or as soon as the need arises, provide evidence such as a diagnosis, a medical letter or an educational psychologist's report, and complete the request form. The coordinator assesses it, records approved adjustments on the JCQ form, and tells your assessor and internal quality assurer. Some adjustments need NCFE's approval first, which we obtain on your behalf.
Special consideration is different: it is applied after an assessment when something outside your control affected how you performed, such as bereavement, serious illness or injury. You do not have to have asked for anything in advance.
Source: DAIS-POL-012 Special Considerations and Reasonable Adjustments, sections 12.2, 12.3 and 12.5.
If you already have the skills
Recognition of prior learning lets you use evidence you already have towards a unit: previous qualifications, work you have produced such as project documentation or code repositories, employer testimonials, professional records, or feedback from earlier assessed learning. The evidence has to map directly to the assessment criteria, be current and sufficient, and be your own. It cannot be used to claim a whole qualification without any new assessment, and every decision is sampled by internal quality assurance in the same way as any other.
Source: DAIS-POL-013 Recognition of Prior Learning, sections 13.2 to 13.4.
If you think a decision is wrong
You can appeal an assessment decision, an internal quality assurance outcome, a refused adjustment or special consideration, or an administrative decision affecting your registration, progression or certification. An appeal must rest on a specific concern about the process or the decision, not on being unhappy with the grade. It is reviewed by somebody who was not involved in the original decision, and raising one is never held against you.
Stage 1, informal review
Raise it with your assessor through the VLE messaging system. They respond within three working days, and the outcome is logged either way.
Stage 2, formal internal appeal
Submit the appeal form on the VLE, stating the decision, your grounds and any supporting evidence. Somebody not involved in the original decision reviews it and gives you a written decision within ten working days.
Stage 3, NCFE
If you are still dissatisfied, you can take it to NCFE. We give you their appeals policy and their contact details, and they consider appeals that have been through our internal stages first.
Source: DAIS-POL-001 Appeals, sections 1.2 to 1.4. A complaint about service rather than a qualification decision goes through our complaints procedure instead.
Getting your certificate
You are registered with NCFE before you begin any assessable unit, which is why we collect your Unique Learner Number early and help you obtain one through the Learning Records Service if you do not have it. When all your units are complete and the Lead IQA has confirmed the decisions are final, the examinations officer claims your certificate through the NCFE portal and you are notified digitally. The certificate comes from NCFE, not from us.
Source: DAIS-POL-008 Learner Recruitment, Registration and Certification, sections 8.4 and 8.6.
Still have a question
Ask before you enrol rather than after. Call +44 207 0990 956 between 9am and 6pm Monday to Friday, or email info@dataaischool.com, and we aim to reply within two working days. Every policy quoted on this page is published in full in our policy library.