(For UK Centres Only)

Contents

Introduction 3
Support 4

Reminder for 2018-2019 5

Getting started 6

Registering as a Lead Internal Verifier 7

Subsite and Consortium registrations 9

Induction training 11

Accessing standardisation materials 12

Accessing online standardisation - BTEC (QCF) Lead Internals Verifiers only 14

Maintaining your registration (including accreditation for QCF) 16

Withdrawing your registration 17

Quality Nominee view 17

Glossary of terms 19

2
Introduction
OSCA is the online platform which provides standardisation materials to support Lead
Internal Verifiers for entry level through Level 3 BTECs in their role within centres.
Standardisation ensures that your centre Lead Internal Verifiers understand the standards
and processes which Pearson expects to be maintained in all BTEC centres. A Lead
Internal Verifier designated to lead a Principal Subject Area at a centre is required to
register on the OSCA system in order to access standardisation materials.

Centres will also need to register Lead Internal Verifiers for BTEC (NQF) programmes, if
these are being delivered at your centre. This is in addition to registering or re-registering
Lead Internal
Verifiers for existing BTEC (QCF) Principal Subject Areas. For a given Principal Subject
Area, centres may choose to register the same member of staff or register two separate
people for these roles.

The standardisation process for BTEC (NQF) and for BTEC (QCF) Lead Internal Verifiers
differs in a few important respects outlined below:

Lead Internal Verifiers for BTEC (NQF) programmes:

● Standardisation materials downloaded from OSCA must be used to standardise

themselves and their team of assessors and internal verifiers within their centre

● The Lead Internal Verifier must indicate on their OSCA homepage when their team has
been standardised.

Lead Internal Verifiers for BTEC (QCF) programmes:

● Standardisation materials downloaded from OSCA must be used to standardise

themselves and their team of assessors and internal verifiers within their centre

● Lead Internal Verifier must additionally complete an online standardisation exercise

● Online standardisation is offered in a specified ‘window’ during the course of the year

● Successful completion of online standardisation will allow accredited status for that
programme group and all lower levels within the Principal Subject Area for the current
academic year plus the following three years.

This document provides a step-by-step guide to using OSCA.

3
Support
Quality Assurance Handbook 2018-19

The Lead Internal Verifiers chapter of the Quality Assurance Handbook 2016-17 contains
essential guidance on quality assurance, the roles and responsibilities of BTEC Lead
Internal Verifiers.

The Handbook can be accessed on our website.

Centre Induction podcast

Centre Induction is a one-off training event designed to introduce BTEC Lead Internal
Verifiers to standardisation for BTEC entry level and levels 1-3. All Lead Internal Verifiers
are advised to view the podcast appropriate to the BTEC qualification that they cover (i.e.
QCF or NQF) as it contains detailed guidance on the role. The podcasts can be viewed on
our website.

OSCA exercise calculator

If you are unsure which QCF Principal Subject Area you should register for in order to
cover a given qualification delivered at your centre, you can use the OSCA exercise
calculator tool to help you.
The OSCA calculator can be found on our website: OSCA Calculator

Customer Services
If you have any queries regarding using OSCA, please contact our Customer Services
Team.

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Reminders for 2018-2019
For 2018-19 OSCA will continue to cover all of our BTEC Entry Level and level 1
programmes as well as our BTEC First and National programmes, including QCF, NQF
and new RQF qualifications. When going into OSCA the tabs on the left hand menu will
reflect this.

● Induction Materials – this tab gives you access to the training videos for BTEC Lead
Internal Verifiers.

● Standardisation Materials – this tab was formerly known as “Practice Exercises” and
now allows access to all BTEC QCF, NQF (including RQF) Lead Internal Verifier materials
available, to be used to standardise teams within your centre.
N.B- There materials are standalone standardisation materials. These are not linked to the
QCF Online Standardisation test.

● Online Standardisation – this tab was formerly known as “Standardisation Exercises”

and allows access to the BTEC QCF Lead Internal Verifier online standardisation
exercises that must be attempted in order to gain OSCA accreditation. BTEC NQF
(including RQF) Lead Internal Verifiers do not need to take an online standardisation
exercise as part of their role, they will only need to download and use the materials found
in the ‘Standardisation Materials’ tab as mentioned above.

Your ‘Registrations’ homepage is now sub-divided into BTEC (QCF) registrations and
BTEC (NQF) registrations.

5
Getting started
Access to OSCA is through your Edexcel Online (EOL) account.

1. Log into EOL at www.edexcelonline.com

Select OSCA from the left hand menu of the EOL homepage.

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2. From the drop down menu, select the BTEC option and click ‘Select’.

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3. Your OSCA homepage features Announcements and Your Messages tabs.

The ‘Announcements’ tab has important updates from us to our Lead Internal Verifiers.

The ‘Your Messages’ tab is a record of any email that OSCA has sent to you.
To read any of the messages in full, click on the ‘Expand’ (the ‘+’ button) next to the
message.

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Registering as a Lead Internal Verifier
A nominated Lead Internal Verifier for your centre, you will need to register on OSCA for
the Principal Subject Area delivered at the centre.
N.B- If you are responsible for more than one subject area, it is possible to register as the
Lead Internal Verifier for more than one Principal Subject Area. In order to do this, please
carry out the following steps for each Subject area you wish to be the Lead Internal verifier
for.

1. Select ‘Registration’ to begin the registration process. If you are registering for the first
time and your centre has not previously registered a Lead Internal Verifier, then select
‘Click here’.

2. Select the Principal Subject Area that you are the Lead Internal Verifier for using the
drop down list and click ‘Next’.

Note: Principal Subject Areas which are part of the BTEC (NQF) suite will have ‘NQF
(Next Generation)’ in their title.

Any Subject area where there is a new Level 3 RQF National qualification will have ‘L3
NQF’ in their title.

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3. Programme groups under the Principal Subject Area that you have selected will appear
onscreen.

Select the appropriate programme group and then click ‘Next’.

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4. OSCA will confirm the programme group level that you are registering for and also the
programme groups that are covered by it. Please remember that when registering, you
must register for the highest level programme offered. E.g. If you centre offers
Construction at Level 1, you only register for ‘Level 1 and Entry Level’. If your centre offers
Construction at Level 3 and Level 1, you must register for Level 3 and in doing so, your
registration will cover Level 1.

Click ‘Next’ to continue.

Note: If your centre already has a registered Lead Internal Verifier, then you will not be
able to register until the registered Lead IV has withdrawn. It is important that the Lead IV
is withdrawn and not deleted by the exams officer.
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5. Read the Terms and Conditions of use and then click ‘I Agree’ to complete the
registration process.

You will receive confirmation of registration onscreen and by email to your registered email
address. A copy of this communication will also be available on the ‘Your Messages’ tab
of the OSCA home page.

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Subsite and Consortium registrations
OSCA allows you to register at subsite and consortium levels as well as centre level. It is
important that the relationship between subsites and members of a consortium for specific
Principal Subject Areas is clearly established before attempting to register as a Lead
Internal Verifier.

1. Subsite level registration

If your centre has subsites, you will be presented with the option to register for a single
subsite or multiple subsites. If you intend to cover all subsites then select the ‘Centre’
option.

Note: you can only register at centre level or subsite level not both.

Note: if another subsite already has a registered Lead Internal Verifier, then you will not be
able to register at centre level.

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2. Consortium level registration
If your centre is part of a consortium you must register at both consortium and centre level.

Note: only the lead centre can register a Lead IV for the consortium programmes. If you
are at the lead centre, OSCA will default your registration to cover both your centre and
the consortium, which you can choose to remove at this point.

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Note: If you are not at the lead centre you will not be given the option to register for the
consortium.
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*Failure to select all required locations within your registration will mean that your
accreditation will not offer full coverage and may cause delays in learner certification.

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Induction Training
Before downloading and using standardisation materials, Lead Internal Verifiers should
view the appropriate Centre Induction podcast for either BTEC (QCF) or BTEC (NQF) for
Lead Internal Verifiers. The podcasts provide support and training relevant to the role and
provide annual updates.

1. Select ‘Induction Materials’ from the menu on the OSCA homepage.

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2. Click on the ‘NQF BTEC Induction Materials’ link – this will direct you to the web page
which hosts the Centre Induction podcasts for Lead Internal Verifiers for both BTEC (NQF)
and BTEC (QCF) for Lead Internal Verifiers.

Note: If you do not have a BTEC (NQF) Lead Internal Verifier registration, you will not be
able to use this link. Instead, BTEC (QCF) Lead Internal Verifiers can access the podcast
by going to www.btec.co.uk/osca

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3. BTEC (NQF) Lead Internal Verifiers will need to indicate when they have viewed the
training podcast by ticking the confirmation statement on their OSCA induction materials
page.

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Accessing standardisation materials
All Lead Internal Verifiers must standardise their teams using the available standardisation
materials for BTEC NQF.
For BTEC QCF Lead Internal Verifiers, these materials are also an essential part of your
preparation towards attempting online standardisation. These materials also include
important information and guidance to help you prepare for online standardisation.

1. Select ‘Standardisation Materials’ from the menu on the OSCA homepage and select
the appropriate programme group from the drop down list.

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2. Click ‘View’ to download standardisation exercises and the accompanying Senior

Standards Verifier’s commentary and answers.

Note: registration at the highest programme level within the Principal Subject Area will also
give access to standardisation materials at lower levels (i.e. Level 3 registration will also
give access to Level 2 and Level 1 / entry level standardisation material).

Note: have previous years’ materials been made available but Lead Internal Verifiers must
ensure that 2018-19 standardisation material and guidance is used with their teams or in
their preparation for online.

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3. BTEC (NQF) Lead Internal Verifiers will need to indicate when their team have been
standardised by ticking the ‘Standardised’ box on their registration page alongside their
active NQF registration.

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Accessing online standardisation
BTEC (QCF) Lead Internal Verifiers only
Online standardisation is offered in a ‘window' during the course of the year. BTEC (QCF)
Lead Internal Verifiers must complete the standardisation exercise for their chosen
programme group within this window.

1. Select ‘Online Standardisation’ from the menu on the OSCA homepage.

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2. On this screen you can see when the window is available and when it opens and
closes for your programme group.

Selecting the window that is open will take you to the standardisation exercise.

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3. Click ‘View Document’ to download the exercise as a PDF.

Click ‘Start Online’ under Lead Internal Verifier Answers and Commentary when you are
ready to enter your answers.

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4. The Exercise Status will change according to the progress you have made:
• Red indicates that the exercise has not been started.
• Amber indicates that the exercise is incomplete.
• Green indicates that the exercise is complete.

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5. Click ‘Submit’ if you have entered all of your answers.

Click ‘Save’ if you want to revisit or complete your answers at a later date.

Note: Once any part of an exercise is started, the exercise must be completed in full
before the close of the window, as only one attempt is allowed during the academic year.

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15
Maintaining your registration
(including accreditation for QCF)
In August, all Lead Internal Verifiers must reinstate their registration to ensure that it
continues to cover their Principal Subject Area. Without reinstating, the accreditation status
for BTEC (QCF) Lead Internal Verifiers will lapse and any future certification claims will be
at risk.

1. Select ‘Registration’ from the menu on the OSCA homepage.

The registrations screen will show you key details regarding your Lead Internal Verifier
registration and accreditation status.

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2. If you are an existing Lead Internal Verifier, your registration will ‘lapse’ and require
reinstating in August of each year.

Click ‘Reinstate’ and follow the onscreen instructions.

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3. Upon successful completion your registration status will change from ‘Lapsed’ to
‘Registered’ and any associated accreditations will be automatically reactivated.

Note: Lead Internal Verifiers are advised to reinstate their registration at the earliest
opportunity from August onwards. Failure to do so may cause delays in learner
certification.

16
Withdrawing your registration
You must only register one Lead Internal Verifier per Principal Subject Area for both BTEC
NQF and QCF per year. A registered Lead Internal Verifier should not be withdrawn during
an academic year.
When the registration lapses at the end of the year, a new Lead Internal Verifier can be
registered if required (i.e. from 1st August of the next academic year)

If however, you need to change a Lead Internal Verifier registration before the end of the
academic year, your Quality Nominee must send a request to [email protected]

Quality Nominee view

All Quality Nominees will automatically receive ‘OSCA 2 – VQ Centre Super User’ access
and be able to see all registration and accreditation details at their centre. It is their
responsibility to ensure that every Principal Subject Area delivered within their centre is
covered by a registered Lead IV, and that all QCF Lead IVs are accredited or scheduled to
attempt online standardisation.

1. Quality Nominees should be flagged for ‘OSCA 2 – VQ Centre Super User’ on their
EOL centre account page.

Note: please contact your centre EOL administrator if this box is not showing as ticked.
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2. Select ‘Quality Nominee View’ from the menu on the OSCA homepage.
This will display all Lead Internal Verifier programme group registration details for the
centre including the current accreditation status.

This view can be exported to an Excel spreadsheet by clicking ‘Export’.

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3. By clicking ‘Select’ alongside the name of the member of staff at your centre, you can
manage a user’s registrations in the event of an emergency.

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18
Glossary of terms
Statuses appear beside your Lead Internal Verifier registration details so that you can
quickly identify what the current status is and what, if anything, needs to happen next.
There are two kinds of status flags:

● Registration

● Accreditation

Registration Status

You are active as the designated Lead Internal Verifier in

Registered your centre for the associated programme group.

You are the designated Lead Internal Verifier in your

centre for the associated programme group but your
Lapsed registration is inactive and needs to be reinstated in
order to maintain the registration and any associated
accreditation.

You are no longer the designated Lead Internal Verifier in

Withdrawn your centre for the associated programme group.

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Accreditation Status

You are active as the designated Lead Internal Verifier

Not Attempted in your centre for the associated programme group.

You have attempted online standardisation and are

accredited for the associated programme group and all
Accredited lower levels. Provided the registration is active, your
centre has certification release for the associated
programme group and all lower levels.

You have attempted online standardisation but based

Accredited Subject to on the results we judge that you would benefit from
further support. A Standards Verifier will be allocated to
Standards Verification support you in gaining full accreditation through
sampling.

You have attempted online standardisation and have

also been accreditation sampled but we judge that you
Not Accredited would still benefit from further support. You will need to
reattempt online standardisation in the next academic
year in order to gain accreditation.

Not applicable – the programme group does not require

N/A online standardization or require an accredited status
as part of the quality assurance model.

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