One of the requirements of school registration with TASC is that each school must have documented and effective plans in place for the internal moderation of assessments of the TASC courses they deliver.

Internal moderation of assessments helps to ensure comparability of standards between classes and schools and ensure fairness in assessment for all students.

Principals should ensure all teachers of TASC courses have been provided with opportunities to participate in moderation meetings to build shared common understandings of the criteria standards in the courses they teach.

Senior Secondary Provision at the Department for Education, Children and Young People, on behalf of government and non-government schools, coordinates Moderation days for many courses in March and August each year.

The TASC Quality Assurance meetings for specified Level 2 courses also provide opportunities for teachers to discuss and assess student work.

In order to support teachers to develop their understanding of the criteria and standards, schools may also need to organise their own internal moderation activities for some courses. These meetings may be for teachers at their school or with teachers of the same course from other schools.

Note: Where a school has small enrolment numbers in a TASC course or there is a sole teacher of a course, it is recommended that the school form a partnership with another school or schools to undertake collaborative internal moderation of assessment.

View additional information on Standards for Within-Provider Within Course Comparability of Internal Assessment.

A information document outlining TASC’s expectations regarding ‘packaging’, ‘bundling’ and ‘concurrent delivery’ of accredited courses is available.

The key features of internal assessment of TASC courses:

  • Internal assessment of all criteria in all TASC courses is made by the teacher/school
  • Assessment must be based on evidence (student work) and the application of the criterion standards which are located in course documents
  • Teachers must only use these standards when making assessment judgements
  • Schools report the student’s final ratings against course criteria to TASC
  • Internal assessments in all courses are subject to TASC quality assurance processes.

Each school should establish and document their own moderation plans each year. These should be clearly understood by all teachers of TASC courses in the school and be made available to TASC on request.

Internal moderation activities should be based on teachers marking student work samples using the criteria and standards of the course. This should be followed by a discussion of discrepancies, noting any adjustments that need to be made to teachers’ assessments.

A school’s internal moderation of assessments plan should include:

  • a schedule of moderation meetings/activities for all the TASC courses the school delivers including teacher attendance at the DECYP organised moderation meetings, teacher attendance at TASC Quality Assurance meetings and school run moderation meetings
    • details of where records are kept of the activities undertaken and the outcomes of these meetings (include Years 11 and 12 website, TASC Quality Assurance meetings, school internal systems)
    • record sheet for moderation meetings
    • details of where student work samples (at agreed rating/award level) will be archived within the school
    • a scheduled review of the moderation processes to ensure their effectiveness.