Assessment Security Policy

Policy Introduction

As an accredited training provider, Multiverse are approved to deliver exams and assessments on behalf of a number of third-party awarding organisations. In order to maintain this approval, awarding organisations and the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) require that any assessment material used in their assessments remain secure at all times in order to prevent malpractice.

The external assessment lead at Multiverse is responsible for establishing the key principles that must be adhered to in order to ensure the security of assessment materials. The assessment team and all parties involved in the administration and delivery of Multiverse assessments have a duty to ensure that these principles are adhered to in order to maintain the integrity of the assessments being delivered. Any concerned member of staff has the duty to report any suspected breaches of this policy to the external assessment lead, even if they are not directly involved in the delivery and administration of assessments.

Key Principles

In order to ensure the security of assessment materials, there are number of key principles that must be adhered to. These principles are developed by the external assessment lead and may be amended or developed following appropriate consultation.

These key principles can be found below (this list is not exhaustive):

1. The locations used for storing exam materials must be secure
2. Exam materials must remain locked when in transit
3. Only staff who require access to exam material in order to fulfil their roles should have it
4. Staff who have knowledge of assessment content will not share this information with apprentices
5. Staff who have knowledge of assessment content are not permitted to act as the sole invigilator for these assessments
6. All users of online exam systems will have their own unique, secure login details
7. Login details for online exam systems will not be shared
8. Apprentice’s photo ID will be checked before they are permitted to complete an exam
9. Any rough paper or material used in an exam must be destroyed once the exam is completed
10. Any locally saved files will be removed once an online exam is completed

Malpractice

Failure to adhere to the assessment security principles may represent a breach of the security of assessment materials. Any breaches to the security of assessment materials would represent malpractice, even if not intentional and would therefore be dealt with in accordance with the Multiverse Malpractice and Maladministration Policy.

Any suspected breaches of assessment security should be reported to the external assessment lead. Any disclosures should include where the breach has occurred, who has committed the breach and the details of the suspected breach.

Investigating Malpractice

Once reported, the external lead will investigate the suspected breach and will decide whether a breach has indeed taken place. If a suspected breach is confirmed by the external assessment lead, they will decide on what actions need to be taken in relation to the breach.

These actions may include internal actions taken in accordance with the Multiverse malpractice procedure or the reporting of the breach to the external awarding organisation. Awarding organisations may undertake their own investigations into a breach of assessment material security and act on these accordingly.

Actions taken by an awarding organisation in relation to breaches of assessment material security are at their discretion and the decision of the awarding organisation is final in any instance unless there is a belief that an awarding organisation has failed to apply their own procedures correctly in making a decision in which case an appeal may be made in accordance with the relevant awarding organisation’s appeal procedure.