Guidance

DAO direct claims policy

Updated 17 November 2022

Scope

The Defence Awarding Organisation (DAO) provides an accreditation service by which individuals can gain formal recognition of their achievements and, by gaining a qualification through a rigorous quality assurance process, employers will have confidence that their employees have reached an agreed level of skills and knowledge.

The DAO develops and provides nationally and internationally recognised qualifications from levels 2 to 7 on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF). The DAO approve centres to deliver its regulated qualifications through current education and training programmes; and is responsible, reporting annually, to the Office of Qualifications and Examination Regulation (Ofqual).

Providing qualifications involves the development, delivery and awarding of qualifications, including setting assessments and quality assuring the assessment process to ensure that assessments are fair, valid and carried out in line with defined processes. This policy relates to approved DAO Centres that have achieved good quality assurance reports, a ‘low risk’ status, high confidence rating and qualify for Direct Claims Status (DCS). DCS allows Centres to sign-off certification claims without having to wait for a visit by an External Quality Assurer (EQA).

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to:

• State DAO approach to DCS.
• Provide guidance to Approved Centres.

Definition

DCS is reviewed on a qualification-by-qualification basis and is awarded to Centres who award licence to practise RQF qualifications and meet all the mandatory quality assurance criteria’s, i.e. robust internal quality assurance (IQA) arrangements, have consistently achieved a ‘high or broad confidence’ rating as an outcome of EQA visit.

Direct Claims Status (DCS)

Obtaining DCS is an earned right for an Approved Centre; however, when DCS is awarded it allows the respective centre to:

• Claim certification for a DAO qualification without having to wait for an EQA visit.

• Receive one EQA visit periodically every 12 months; based on DAO periodic risk-based approach to EQA visits, however, Centres may request, as necessary, 2 or more EQA visits; and DAO have the right for short-notice/unannounced visits if required

Approved Centres will be expected to retain proof that assessment and IQA had been completed for ALL qualifications/units for which DCS has been claimed; this must be available for monitoring review during the EQA visit. Each DCS approval is reviewed during and after each EQA visit is completed, i.e. through the EQA reporting tool.

How DAO approves Direct Claims Status

As stated above, The DAO Approved Centres are awarded DCS based on achieving a ‘High or Broad Confidence’ rating following EQA visits. Centres who are awarded DCS must have:

• Worked with DAO for at least 2 years.
• No sanctions and no unaddressed action plans in place.
• Centre Assessment Standards Scrutiny (CASS) Strategy approved for each DAO qualification delivered.

The DAO Centres must consider how they undertake assessment and determine achievement and capture this within the Centre Qualification Self Assessment (CQSA) form. The CQSA allows DAO to approve the current assessment methods and scrutiny implemented by the Centre under CASS requirements.

The DAO must have confidence Centres fall within the CASS strategy and that all reasonable steps have been taken effectively to determine whether or not:

• An assessment remains, or was, fit for purpose
• The criteria against which Learners’ performance is differentiated are being, or were, applied accurately and consistently by Assessors in different Centres, regardless of the identity of the Assessor, Learner, or Centre.

Other factors that areas that need to be aware of regarding DCS are as detailed:

• The Centre’s IQA arrangements of the qualification had been externally quality assured by EQA and found to be satisfactory.
• Where the qualification is assessed via a portfolio, 10% are to be sampled (across a spread of all units) by an EQA and meet all requirements.
• The Centre must have appropriately experienced and qualified delivery staff in place (Assessors and IQAs), for the individual qualification being considered for DCS.
• A satisfactory observation of training had been conducted by an EQA of one or more assessments of the qualification.

Ongoing conditions for DCS

Centres awarded DCS will be asked to sign an agreement specifying the ongoing conditions they will meet. They will also provide specimen signatures, on request, for all Internal Quality Assurers who will sign DCS certification claims. The following list of conditions attached to DCS must be agreed by a member of the senior management team at the Centre.

The Centre must keep records relating to Learners for whom direct certification has been claimed for at least 3 years from the date of the claim. The records will include:

• Learner names
• Registration numbers
• Full details of assessment and internal verification and claims for certification

Random checks will be carried out by The DAO on any portfolios of evidence and assessment records of Learners for whom claims have been certificated. These may include assessment records and portfolios of Learners who have finished qualifications.

Where direct claims include requests for credit transfer or exemption, the assessor and IQA must confirm that original certificates have been verified as authentic and valid.

All learners including any who leave the Centre following certification must be asked to retain their evidence, portfolios, and assessment records in good condition for one year as they may be required for audit.

Approval is granted based on information supplied by the Centre to The DAO and its EQAs.

DCS may be withdrawn at any time if, in the opinion of The DAO, any of the above information given is no longer current, the conditions of this approval are not met or the quality of assessment and verification at the Centre is compromised.

Only qualifications approved for DCS that have signed agreements will be eligible for direct certification claims. Attempts by the Centre to claim certificates for other qualifications will be regarded as grounds for the withdrawal of Direct Claims Status from all qualifications.

Any additional premises belonging to the Centre where qualifications will be delivered under the same Centre name, Centre number and Centre Coordinator, must be listed on the agreement.

Certification claims made under the DCS agreement will relate only to Learners assessed at the Centre.

Certification claims will be signed off by an Internal Quality Assurers whose name(s) have been registered with The DAO.

k. The qualifications covered by DCS approval will require a minimum of one full-day EQA visit within each 12-month period.

Withdrawing Direct Claims Status

DCS is an earned and exceptional right for Approved Centres; however, there may be occasions when DCS is withdrawn. Typical examples when Approved Centre may have DCS withdrawn are as follows:

• An Approved Centre incurs a sanction (at any level).
• An Approved Centre is subject to a compliance/malpractice investigation.
• When an EQA visit has not been undertaken for 12 months.
• When an Approved Centre does not make direct certification claims for the qualification within a 12-month period.
• The DAO believes a Centre has fallen outside the approved CASS strategy.

Approved Centres that have attained DCS and subsequently incur corrective actions from EQA visits will not have their DCS removed provided there is no threat to the integrity of the assessment decisions and all corrective actions are completed within the time frames specified.

Review of the Policy

This policy will be reviewed annually and revised as necessary in response to customer feedback, changes in legislation and guidance from Ofqual.