Preparing for Applied quality assurance

Schools prepare and plan for Applied quality assurance, guided by the key dates for submitting evidence and participating in review meetings.

Gathering evidence and developing a submission

As part of the Applied quality assurance (QA) process, schools must gather evidence and submit it to the QCAA via the Applied QA application (app) in the QCAA Portal.

For all Applied subjects and Essential English and Essential Mathematics, schools must provide a copy of the two assessment instruments that were implemented in Unit 3. Stimulus provided to students should be uploaded with the assessment instrument.
Schools provide samples of student responses to assessment completed in Unit 3, as well as an annotated instrument-specific standard (ISS)/marking guide for each student response, to demonstrate how judgments were made. Where possible, schools should submit:

• an A, C and D standard response for both Internal assessment 1 (IA1) and the common internal assessment (CIA) for Essential English and Essential Mathematics
• an A and C standard response for each of the two Unit 3 assessment instruments for Applied subjects.

Please refer to the Applied QA submission information, published in the Syllabuses app, for more detailed information about the submission requirements, including maximum file sizes and a checklist of the expected materials.

Managing submission variations

The school has different options implemented for Unit 3

A school with multiple classes and, therefore, different options implemented for an Applied subject, chooses one option for the submission and provides the assessment instruments and associated student responses samples for that option only.

The school offers a compressed Applied subject

Students studying a compressed Applied subject will not have completed Unit 3 assessment at the time submissions are due for Applied QA review meetings. The school provides evidence from Unit 2 for the cohort that is exiting the subject in the current year.

The school has implemented access arrangements and reasonable adjustments

Schools should avoid selecting a sample that required a comparable assessment instrument.  However, access arrangements and reasonable adjustments (AARA) that do not require a comparable task (such as additional time or use of a scribe) are suitable for submitting as evidence of the school’s capacity to make judgments. This is because the response is marked using the same instrument-specific standards/marking guide.

Applied quality assurance FAQs provide further advice about gathering and submitting evidence.

Planning for Applied quality assurance review meetings

Applied QA review meetings are held online. The subject meeting dates are provided in the Applied QA app once the event opens . One teacher from each school participates in their nominated review meeting.

If a school has more than one campus, each campus is required to participate in the scheduled Applied QA review meeting and is responsible for preparing the required submissions for their campus.

At each review meeting, reviewers:

• use the Applied QA app to access their Microsoft Teams meeting link and itinerary
• are trained by the syllabus Principal Education Officer (PEO) to conduct reviews using the Applied QA app
• conduct independent reviews of school submissions and provide feedback on assessment instrument design and the school’s application of the instrument-specific standards/marking guide to the student response samples.
• participate in a consensus meeting to draft the Advice to schools.

Resources to support preparation and planning

The following resources are available in the QCAA Portal for school use:

• Applied QA submission information (see QCAA Portal > Syllabuses app > Resources > Quality assurance)
• Applied subject Quality assurance tool (see QCAA Portal > Syllabuses app > Resources > Quality assurance)
• Quality management system and School assessment policy resources (see QCAA Portal > Noticeboard app > Internal Assessment and Certification resources for schools).
• Applied QA app quick steps for all stages and user roles in the Applied QA app (see QCAA Portal > Help > Applied QA)
• Tips for using MS Teams during review meetings (see QCAA Portal > Help > Applied QA)
• Troubleshooting in the Applied QA app resource to support reviewing submissions in the Applied QA app (see QCAA Portal > Help > Applied QA)
• Assessment literacy courses (see QCAA Portal > Learning Hub).