Frequently Asked Questions
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To become an approved AOSH UK centre you must register interest on the website, using the ‘Register as a Centre’ tab / send an e-mail ([email protected])
A visit to your centre will then be arranged. An AOSH UK External Verifier (EV) will visit your centre to ensure that you have the appropriate resources, staff members and internal quality assurance procedures and policies in place to deliver and assess AOSH UK qualifications. Once a successful visit has taken place, you will receive notification from AOSH UK of your centre approval. If assistance is required at any time during the approval process, our friendly industry experts will be on-hand to assist you.
You must fully complete Centre Recognition Form and return it to your dedicated Account Manager at AOSH UK. The form includes information such as your centre details, centre policies and procedures you have in place, the qualifications you want to offer and your centre staff member’s details.
If you are going to use different assessment materials than the ones provided by AOSH UK, you must ensure examples are attached to the centre recognition form as evidence. You will also need to sign and date a copy of AOSH UK’s Centre Agreement.
By the end of the approval process, a centre should have the following policies in place:-
- Appeals Policy
- Complaints Policy
- Equality and Diversity Policy
- Exam Invigilation Policy
- Internal Verification Policy
- Malpractice and Maladministration policy
- Reasonable Adjustments and Special Considerations Policy
- Safeguarding Policy
If you do not have one or more of the policies listed, you can either develop your own or adapt the policies that AOSH UK have in place for centres to use.
The centre approval process will take a maximum of two weeks. This is from when you first register your interest in becoming an approved AOSH UK centre, to when you receive your centre approval certificate.
A centre that wishes to offer other AOSH UK qualifications must complete a Qualification Approval Form. This form will enable you to add additional qualifications to your centre profile.
A learner can request a replacement certificate by completing a Replacement Certificate Form and sending it to AOSH UK address.
A centre can complete a Replacement Certificate Form, on behalf of a learner. The form should be returned to a centre’s Account Manager at AOSH UK. Replacement certificates will be issued at a fee.
An internal verifier is employed by an approved centre. Their role is to maintain and improve the internal quality of assessment. IVs monitor assessment activities and judgements, provide advice, support and feedback to assessors and plan and undertake standardisation activities in the centre.
External Verification of assessment is in place to ensure that any qualifications delivered and assessed by an approved centre are done so to the correct standards. The function of external verification is to ensure:-
- Appropriate resources, including staff, are in place to support the qualification and underpin student achievement and/or performance
- Centre staff including assessors, tutors and IVs are offering a qualification to learners that meets the awarding organization assessment practice and procedures.
An external verifier works on behalf of an awarding organisation. They assess the quality procedures, administration, delivery and assessment decisions made within an approved centre.
An EV will normally visit your centre at a minimum of once a year. In addition to regular EV activities, AOSH UK reserves the right to carry out other pre-arranged or unannounced visits, in the interests of ensuring maintenance of quality standards.
During EV visits, an EV will assess the quality procedures, administration, delivery, staff and assessment decisions made within an approved centre. They will sample any evidence of learners work; undertake observations and interview centre staff members and learners. The EV will make judgements based on their findings during a visit. They will produce a report of their findings and send it to the Quality Assurance Manager at AOSH UK, who will then issue it to the approved centre.
You will receive the EV’s report form within 5 working days of external verification activities taking place.
A learner can make a complaint to their training provider (approved centre) by following the approved centre’s Complaints Policy. If they are not satisfied with how the training provider (approved centre) has dealt with their complaint, they can contact AOSH UK’s customer service team at [email protected]