Teacher assessment moderation: standardisation and training process

Standardisation provides schools with assurance that LA moderation teams have the required knowledge to undertake moderation of key stage 1 (KS1) and key stage 2 (KS2) English writing teacher assessment (TA).

It ensures:

the consistency and accuracy of TA and its moderation across England
LA moderators are familiar with the KS1 and KS2 English writing frameworks for the 2021 to 2022 academic year

Each key stage is moderated annually (excluding 2020 and 2021). LAs are required to moderate at least 25% of maintained schools and 25% of academies and participating independent schools, that have opted into the LA’s external moderation process.

Approval to moderate

Standardisation exercises are used to gain STA approval to moderate and are undertaken annually. The usual approach to standardisation exercises was suspended for 2021 but is returning for the 2021/22 academic year.

STA approval to moderate English writing in 2022 will only be granted on successful completion of a standardisation exercise. Each moderator will have a maximum of 2 exercise attempts.

Moderator training

From 2021/22, there will be a change to how training is delivered. Face-to-face training events will be replaced with online self-guided training materials.

Initial training materials will be available on the Primary Assessment Gateway, from 1 November 2021. Further materials will be added in the 2022/23 academic year. The 2018/19 and 2019/20 standardisation training materials will also be available for use if required. LAs can use these materials to support their delivery of moderator training.

We recommend that LAs deliver training to their moderators before the moderators complete the standardisation exercise. This should preferably take place on separate days.

Activities
Dates
Moderation managers and lead moderators to complete KS1 and KS2 standardisation exercise 1.
29 November to 3 December 2021
LAs to return exercise 1 moderator responses to STA.
29 November to 9 December 2021
Exercise 1 commentaries available on the PAG.
10 December 2021
Pool moderators (and any moderation managers and lead moderators who did not successfully complete exercise 1) to complete standardisation exercise 2.
24 January to 28 January 2022
Exercise 2 commentaries available on the PAG.
4 February 2022
LAs to return names of successful moderators to STA (exercise 2).
4 February to 18 February 2022
Unsuccessful pool moderators to complete standardisation exercise 3.
28 February to 4 March 2022
Exercise 3 commentaries available on the PAG.
11 March 2022
LAs return names of successful moderators to STA (exercise 3).
11 March to 25 March 2022
STA to share KS1 and KS2 blank approval to moderate certificates with LAs for 2021/22 test cycle.
28 March 2022

2021/22 moderator training material overview

To help you work with the new training materials, we have provided a table which outlines what the training material covers in more detail. This should make navigation easier for users.

There will be a video focusing on the professional discussion, along with an accompanying transcript.

Table 1: key stage 1 training materials

Training exercise 1: writing effectively and coherently (greater depth standard)
Activity 1: considering the concept of composition in relation to a key stage 1 writer, who has been identified as working at greater depth
1a: clarity and purpose
1b: defining coherence in context
Activity 2: exploring writing in relation to the ‘pupil can’ statement, ‘The pupil can, after discussion with the teacher, write effectively and coherently for different purposes, drawing on their reading to inform the vocabulary and grammar of their writing’
2a: scrutiny of greater depth writing
2b: collating and considering evidence
Training exercise 2: independent writing and writing effectively and coherently (greater depth standard)
Activity 1: considering the learning opportunities that enable pupils to independently demonstrate their full application of writing skills
1a: independent writing
1b: independent writing
Activity 2: exploring pupil scripts which have been assessed as working at greater depth
2a: gathering evidence from writing
2b: collating and considering evidence
Training exercise 3: writing effectively and drawing on reading (expected and greater depth standards)
Activity 1: exploring the transition from writing simple, coherent narratives to writing effectively and coherently for different purposes
1a: work scrutiny – meeting the expected standard
1b: falling short of the greater depth standard
1c: collating and considering evidence
Activity 2: reflecting on writing which meets the expected standard, including a comparison of writing samples
2a: scrutiny of writing assessed as working at expected standard
2b: comparing writing at the greater depth and expected standards
2c: collating and considering evidence

Table 2: key stage 2 training materials

Training exercise 1: exploring evidence systematically (expected standard)
Activity 1: looking at a piece of pupil work to begin the process of deciding which statements it meets
Activity 2: looking more closely at a piece of work for evidence relating to a standard and identifying next steps
Training exercise 2: distinguishing between standards (expected and greater depth) and using exemplification material
Activity 1: looking at a second piece of writing to follow up lines of inquiry arising from consideration of a first piece of writing
Activity 2: looking at 2 additional pieces of writing to add to the picture of a pupil’s overall achievement
Activity 3: resolving remaining questions about which standard a pupil is achieving by considering exemplification material
Training exercise 3: exploring evidence systematically (greater depth standard)
Activity 1: distinguish between ‘working at the expected standard’ and ‘working at greater depth’ by considering how writing evidence validates a teacher assessment judgement
Activity 2: looking at a second piece of writing to follow up lines of inquiry arising from consideration of a first piece of writing
Activity 3: considering additional writing to add to existing evidence relating to the greater depth standard

Questions

If you have any queries about LA moderation, or moderator training and standardisation, please contact the national curriculum assessments helpline on 0300 303 3013 or email [email protected].