Changes to the Moderation of STA Tutors
Posted on 25th January 2016
With effect from 1st February 2016, STA will authorise the process of moderating of all tutors and examiners.
All STA Tutors are required by the STA to be moderated every 3 years both when tutoring and examining a course. In addition, HSE recommend tutors of First Aid at Work and Emergency First Aid at Work to be moderated annually; if an FAW/EFAW tutor is due to be moderated tutoring by STA as part of the 3-year cycle, this fulfils the HSE FAW/EFAW moderating requirement for the year.
Moderation must be carried out by an authorised, STA registered moderating or national tutor qualified in the relevant discipline for the course being moderated. These are:
- Swimming Teaching
- Baby & Pre-School
- People with Disabilities
- Aquacise
- Lifesaving
- First Aid
- Pool Plant
- Manual Handling
- Health and Safety
A Moderator may not moderate the same tutor more than 3 consecutive times. Moderators must be completely independent from the tutor; the following situations would be deemed to be not independent and are not permitted:
- Husband and wife
- Live-in Partners
- Members of the same family
- Line managers and their direct employees
The process that will be implemented is:
- STA will alert its tutors/examiners via email 6 months prior to the due moderation date
- The tutor/examiner will be responsible for notifying STA of any upcoming courses eligible for moderation
- STA will arrange the moderation and charge the appropriate fee (large organisations may have in-house moderating tutors that STA are able to authorise to moderate on its’ behalf)
A typical moderation will last 2 to 3 hours. Failure to complete the moderation requirements by the due date will result in the member’s tutor and examiner status being suspended. STA reserves the right to make unannounced visits to observe tutoring, examining and moderations. In addition, moderation visits may be made by the regulatory authorities and their requirements will need to be met.