The national external moderation system makes sure that organisations with consent to assess are delivering assessment practices to a high standard.
Workforce Development Councils, such as Toitū te Waiora, conduct national external moderation to ensure consistency in assessments nationwide, across all types of providers. The results of external moderation are shared with NZQA.
The guidelines for external moderation are detailed in the Consent and Moderation Requirements (CMR) documents. If an organisation has consent to assess and moderate, they must adhere to the specific CMRs. Find the relevant CMRs for assessments by searching the NZQA directory.
There is no charge for national external moderation activities.
There are three types of national external moderation:
Further information and the full National External Moderation Plan is available here.
Toitū te Waiora aim to complete pre-assessment moderation reports within 20 working days.
To apply for pre-assessment moderation:
Materials that have been pre-assessment moderated by a TITO, and remain unchanged, are recognised as meeting the CMR requirements. If assessment materials are altered by the provider, they must be submitted to the relevant Workforce Development Council for pre-assessment moderation.
To apply for post-assessment and onsite moderation:
Providers can appeal moderation decisions made by Toitū te Waiora within 15 working days of receiving the moderation outcome report. Toitū te Waiora aims to complete appeals within 20 working days.
Organisations on an action plan will be contacted by Toitū te Waiora to clarify moderation requirements, including on-site or post-assessment moderation.
This Assessment Design Guide is to support new assessment designers and may also be useful for new assessors. It will step you through on reading and interpreting standards along with what must be considered when crafting assessment activities and marking guides.
You can access the Assessment Design Guide here: Assessment Design Guide
Tertiary education organisations (TEOs) that offer qualifications on the New Zealand Qualification and Credential Framework (NZQCF) must get their programmes approved by NZQA. To keep this approval, TEOs need to follow the Programme Approval, Recognition, and Accreditation Rules, which require them to have a strong internal system to check assessments.
A good moderation system makes sure assessments are fair, accurate, and consistent. It includes checking materials before they’re used (pre-assessment moderation) and reviewing assessor decisions after assessments (post-assessment moderation). The system should be clear, flexible, and provide regular feedback to help improve assessment practices. By designing assessments carefully and following effective moderation processes, TEOs can ensure their qualifications are high quality and meet both educational standards and the needs of learners and employers.
You can access the guidance here Guidance for good internal moderation.
If you are new to designing assessment materials, watch this short conversation. Writing judgment statements can be difficult if you haven’t done this before, and this will support your writing for your marking guide. These are a critical part of assessment, as they support consistent assessor decisions about the learner’s performance which in turns ensures that the assessment is conducted to meet the principles of assessment practice.
You can access the transcript here Evidence vs Judgement statement Video Resource transcript
For more information, contact us at [email protected].
