Safety Training Awards is the awarding organisation of The Swimming Teachers’ Association (STA) which is a membership organisation and a registered charity.
Safety Training Awards specialise in qualifications for the leisure industry and are regulated by Ofqual (England) and Qualifications Wales (Wales), and accredited by SQA Accreditation (Scotland). UK regulators require all awarding organisations to establish and maintain compliance with the regulatory conditions and criteria.
Further information relating to the qualifications awarded and the specific requirements for delivery and assessment are detailed within the qualification specification and assessment strategy documents which can be downloaded from the website.
Purpose
This policy applies to all Safety Training Awards vocational and academic regulated qualifications, assessed in UK and international approved training centres (ATCs), unless otherwise stated in the qualification specifications and/or agreed by the regulators.
For more information about regulated qualifications assessed using a sign interpreter, please refer to the Reasonable Adjustments and Special Considerations Policy on our website.
Policy
International course organisers must have been granted Approved Training Centre (ATC) status prior to registering and delivering any STA regulated qualifications.
All STA qualification assessments and supporting resources are produced in English.
All assessment evidence for STA regulated qualifications in international ATCs must be written and submitted in English.
UK regulators allow for assessments of learners to be carried out in other languages, the General Conditions of Recognition Condition G2.3 states “where it is one of the primary objectives of the qualification:
- For the learner to gain knowledge of skills in, and understanding of that language, or
- To support a role in the workplace, providing that proficiency in English is not required for the role supported by the qualification.”
When assessments have been carried out in another language, Safety Training Awards require all the assessment evidence to be translated into English prior to submission of the course results and paperwork. This allows STA to ensure that the assessments are accurate, and they meet the same standards of assessments carried out in English.
Safety Training Awards will allocate an external quality assurer (EQA) to conduct external quality assurance monitoring activities to ensure the assessment decisions are valid and accurate. All quality assurance monitoring activities and reporting will be carried out in English.
Once the allocated EQA and/or Safety Training Awards are satisfied that all assessment criteria have been achieved by Learners’ within international ATC’s, certification will be released and will be produced in English.
Translator Conflict of Interest Declaration
For the purpose of quality assurance, the ATC Co-ordinator is responsible for providing and covering the cost of a suitable translator. The person translating assessment materials should not have any conflict of interest, having any conferred interest in the outcome of the assessment decisions they are translating. The ATC Co-ordinator is also responsible for ensuring the translator assigned / employed is appropriately qualified and experienced.
Both the ATC Co-ordinator and the translator must complete a conflict of interest declaration (attached to this policy). Please retain a copy of the declaration form for the ATC records as evidence for quality assurance monitoring purposes.
Additional Information
Please refer to the Safety Training Awards website https://www.safetytrainingawards.co.uk/news/ to keep up to date with any news, updates, guidance and support regarding ATC processes and requirements. For any queries regarding administration activities within your ATC or any questions relating to operating as an ATC, please contact the Centre Management Team at STA atc@safetytrainingawards.co.uk.
Monitoring and Review
This policy and its procedures will be reviewed regularly for improvements as part of our quality assurance requirements. This will ensure it is fit for purpose, reflects the services we deliver to our ATCs and we provide services which are relevant to the requirements of individual needs.
Contact Details
Safety Training Awards
Please click here to view contact details for Safety Training Awards.
Last Updated: 12th August 2022