well I believe that QAG are members of this forum (its open to the public) - so they will be reading people's comments......
with regards
John
________________________________________
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Ian Litterick [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 21 November 2014 12:01
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: new QAG/BIS DSA report formats are like wading through 'treacle'
It has always been notable that the DSA has gone completely the opposite way to the Government's Regulatory Reform agenda. Much faster than the government has been abolishing quangos and simplifying forms, the DSA has been piling regulation upon regulation.
I wonder if anyone in the sector has ever brought this up with the people who handle regulatory reform?
Regards
Ian
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Conway
Sent: 21 November 2014 10:53
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: new QAG/BIS DSA report formats are like wading through 'treacle'
..... "inaccessible over long repetitive reports" ......which are probably never read anyway! Students don't read them, they hand them to me and say "what does all this mean?" very few get to the bitter end and realise they can claim the consumables allowance. Parents read the quotes and demand the equipment before SFE have approved it.
bearing in ind that the largest single group are those with reading difficulties - can neither BIS, QAG nor SFE understand how to communicate with these students who are being recommended all many of reading aids in a document they cannot read????
with regards
John
________________________________________
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Ursula Bilson [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 21 November 2014 10:36
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: new QAG/BIS DSA report formats are like wading through 'treacle'
Dear Dee,
Assessment of needs Reports. Thankfully DSA-QAG have no sway over diagnostic evidence.
It is also worth knowing that under the new Quality Assurance Framework we have to comply with in order to pas our audit has made it compulsory for a student to complete and return a pre assessment form BEFORE the assessment. A centre has to evidence that the assessor has read the form BEFORE to the assessment date otherwise we are not supposed to proceed.
Furthermore, BIS have instructed that for Students funded by Student Finance England the pre-assessment form is attached / embedded into the needs assessment report. As you will probably guess the student has to include specifications of any equipment they own that could be used for their studies.
As Ian said assessment centres are very unhappy the new format - all versions have many more. We have had 5 versions so far this academic year.
A recent report we sent out was 51 pages long - with pre-assessment form. We do not think that this makes a quality report -far from it. The QAG templates are terrible - boxes in box and no lines for handwriting and tiny font. We created our own version, for which we will probably be penalised. A sample report circulated by DSA-QAG was also terrible and did not help the situation.
Like Ian, I apologise for the inaccessible over long repetitive reports we are now being pressured into producing. I and other centres have fed back on these issues, but we are never listened to, and DSA-QAG never pilot anything before implementation.
Kind regards,
Ursula Bilson (Ba hons, Dip HE, MSc)
Assessment Centre Manager
Loughborough Regional Assessment Centre
Bridgeman Building
Loughborough University
Loughborough, Leicestershire
LE11 3TU
Phone: 01509 222771 / 228332
Fax: 01509 223933
Email: [log in to unmask]
Student-Led Group promoting positive mental well-being among all students at Loughborough University. Join us on our Facebook page
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dee Copeland
Sent: 20 November 2014 16:00
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: new QAG/BIS DSA report formats are like wading through 'treacle'
Hi,
Are you referring to diagnostic assessment reports or Needs Assessment reports?
Regards,
Dee
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ian F.
Sent: 20 November 2014 15:51
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: new QAG/BIS DSA report formats are like wading through 'treacle'
Can I be the first to apologise to DOs etc when you start receiving reports in the new formats - it's like trying to wade through treacle (polite way of putting it) getting a half-decent report written up in these formats and it seems like we've had new versions thrust upon us just about every other week at the moment!
Worst thing is they all appear to be revived versions of bits of formats we tried out years ago and gave up using because they didn't work (tables of checkboxes again, really!!).
WHen it was pointed out the report needs to be accessible to screenreader users we've now been given two versions to use (one to use when the student is a screenreader user) despite the obvious anticipatory duty requirement under the EA2010 for every version to be accessible in case it needs to be read for example by a blind disability officer or awards officer (unless they're never planning on recruiting any?)
It all seems to be designed to catch out poor assessors but just treats all of us like idiots, including those like me who've been doing this since the beginning of time (it seems) and have seen this cycle all before - all very depressing.
One colleague (of substantial experience) has recently resigned and I too am thinking this is just getting ridiculous and looking for a plan B (seriously - any ideas anyone??)
Anyway vent over, feel slightly better now. Back to wading through 'treacle'!
Ian Francis
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