Confirmation

Confirmation is the annual quality assurance process for ensuring the comparability of student results for summative internal assessments in General and General (Extension) subjects.

Watch the video: Confirmation — quality assuring school-marked assessments to learn more.

Confirmation process

The confirmation process involves QCAA assessors reviewing a selected sample of student responses to summative internal assessments for every subject in every school to check that teachers have used the instrument-specific marking guide (ISMG) accurately and consistently when marking their students’ work.

1. Teachers administer summative internal assessments that have been endorsed by the QCAA.
2. Teachers mark student work using an ISMG provided by the QCAA.
3. Schools internally moderate judgments within their school to ensure consistency of marks for each subject.
4. Schools submit provisional marks by criteria for all students to the QCAA via the Student Management application in the QCAA Portal.
5. The QCAA analyses the provisional marks to identify samples of student work that will be reviewed in the confirmation process.
6. Schools are required to submit the samples and annotated (marked) ISMGs to the QCAA via the Confirmation application in the QCAA Portal.
7. The QCAA allocates samples to trained QCAA assessors for confirmation who review student responses to check the accuracy and consistency of teachers’ judgments.
8. The QCAA checks the information from reviews before confirmation decisions are communicated to schools. Schools are sometimes required to submit additional samples for a confirmation decision to be finalised.
9. Schools can request a review of a confirmed result for an individual student if that student’s confirmed result is an anomaly or exception. Review requests are made via the Confirmation application in the QCAA Portal.

Confirmation is not about marking or remarking students’ work. It is a quality assurance process that is focused on checking the accuracy and consistency of the judgments made by teachers to ensure comparability of student results across Queensland.

Preparing for confirmation

QCAA is supporting schools to prepare for confirmation by:

• providing online assessment literacy courses that support the confirmation process
• providing training and resources on using ISMGs to mark and moderate judgements
• providing training and resources on using the Student Management and Confirmation applications
• recruiting and training QCAA assessors to support the confirmation process
• providing resources to help schools prepare, submit and upload identified samples for confirmation, including:
• Section 9.6 of the QCE and QCIA policy and procedures handbook
• Confirmation submission information available in the Noticeboard and Confirmation application in the QCAA Portal
• preparing for confirmation support resources — an information sheet providing advice on annotating ISMGs, confirmation workflow poster, confirmation calendar and school assessment policy resources — available in the QCAA Portal Noticeboard
• key dates for confirmation and answers to frequently asked questions.

Confirmation and AARA

Access arrangements and reasonable adjustments (AARA) — formerly known as special provisions — are provided to minimise, as much as possible, barriers to internal assessment for all students with disability or other emerging circumstances, such as illness or misadventure. These arrangements and adjustments are intended to support a student to show what they know or can do.

For more information about confirmation and AARA see Section 6 and Section 9.6.3 of the QCE and QCIA policy and procedures handbook.

More information

• See Section 9.6 of the QCE and QCIA policy and procedures handbook
• For questions about confirmation, email confirmation@qcaa.qld.edu.au, or phone (07) 3864 0491
• For subject-specific enquiries, contact the relevant learning area.