Your Ultimate Guide to the Internal Quality Assurance Qualification
Table of contents
Introduction
What is an IQA Qualification?
Which IQA Qualification Should You Do?
How Long Will It Take to Become an Internal Quality Assurer?
How to Become an Internal Quality Assurer?
What are the Responsibilities of an Internal Quality Assurer?
What Roles Can I Apply for with an IQA Qualification?
Is the IQA Qualification the Same as the D34 or V1 Qualification?
How Are These Qualifications Structured?
What Should You Do Next?
The Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) Qualification enables you to evaluate assessors’ assessment in an organisation. The core responsibility of an internal quality assurer is to ensure that the assessments are valid, authentic, current, sufficient and reliable (VACSR).
In this blog, we’ll look into what an IQA qualification is, the roles and responsibilities of an IQA, how to become an internal quality assurer and much more.
What is an IQA Qualification?
An IQA (Internal Quality Assurance) qualification recognises that someone has undergone regulatory training to ensure the quality of assessment processes.
Typically, those who work in roles such as managers, quality assurance staff, or supervisors choose to pursue this qualification. The qualification can open various opportunities besides the lead IQA, such as a training manager, quality assurance officer or compliance officer.
This professional certification demonstrates an individual’s ability to manage the quality of vocational assessment within an organisation. If you have an IQA qualification, it shows that you’re qualified to manage the appraisal of assessment judgements and ensure they comply with the relevant regulatory frameworks and organisations.
Which IQA Qualification Should You Do?
Before you make a decision about which IQA qualification best suits your needs. You should first assess what your roles and responsibilities are in your organisation. This activity is essential because it will provide you with a clear path forward from this point. Below are the courses that you can check out:
1. Level 4 Award in Understanding Internal Quality Assurance of Assessment Processes and Practice (RQF)
This qualification suits managers and supervisors who have little to no experience in the industry. It equips you with a theoretical understanding of assessment principles and practices. The strategies you’ll learn here will be useful when you assume a managerial position. Additionally, If you aim to become an SIA trainer, it’s now mandatory for all training providers in the security industry to hold at least the Level 4 Award in Understanding Internal Quality Assurance of Assessment Processes and Practice.
2. Level 4 Award in the Internal Quality Assurance of Assessment Processes and Practice (RQF)
To enrol on this qualification, you must have access to two assessors. You can make up for this requirement if you’re open to volunteering in a local centre.
3. Level 4 Certificate in Leading the Internal Quality Assurance of Assessment Processes and Practice (RQF)
If you want to lead a team of internal quality assurers, you should do this lead IQA course. You must have access to two assessors, each with their own two learners.
How Long Will It Take to Become an Internal Quality Assurer?
You can complete an IQA qualification at your own pace. Since this qualification requires you to submit assignments – the sooner you manage to do that, the sooner you can graduate. Generally speaking, it can take you approximately 2-3 weeks to complete the Level 4 Understanding IQA of Assessment Processes and Practice, 4-8 weeks to complete the Level 4 IQA of Assessment Processes and Practice, and anywhere from 3-6 months for the Level 4 Certificate in Leading IQA of Assessment Processes and Practice.
Also, consider enrolling in our IQA courses. Our team includes certified assessors and quality assurers who will monitor your progress and provide feedback to help you maximise your learning journey.
Even while working a full-time job, you can still complete your IQA course by dedicating 3-4 hours daily to your learning. You’ll find it quite manageable.
How to Become an Internal Quality Assurer?
To become an internal quality assurer, you need to sit a regulated course on the subject, gain experience in the industry, and earn a certification to prove that you’re qualified to evaluate assessors. Here’s what you can do:
1. You Should Select the Right Qualification
Compare the qualifications against your level of responsibility in your organisation. For instance, if you have no experience as an IQA, you should ideally not enrol on the Level 4 IQA course straightaway. You should instead first do Level 4 in Understanding IQA — this will set the ground for you to build your concepts later on. But, if you have some IQA experience, you should upgrade and sit the Lead IQA course.
2. Gain Practical Experience
The IQA course takes you through the theoretical and, at higher levels, practical aspects, too. Still, for you to fully understand the industry dynamics, you should volunteer or find a job as a fresher just to understand how the IQA processes work.
3. Keep Yourself Updated and Continue to Grow
You need to stay updated to stay relevant. You can attend conferences, seminars, and workshops and track where your industry is progressing to structure your plans proactively.
What are the Responsibilities of an Internal Quality Assurer?
Internal quality assurers are typically responsible for looking after the products and processes of an organisation and ensuring that they are up to a certain standard. Their responsibilities also include:
1. Ensuring the quality of assessments – the assessments should be VACSR.
2. Reporting to the concerned stakeholders – this includes preparing documents for effective communication between the intended recipients.
3. Assisting with assessment processes – provide constructive feedback to assessors on how they can improve the overall learning experience.
4. Providing evidence to support decisions — offer specialised advice, create audits, and participate in external reviews to ensure quality standards are met.
What Roles Can I Apply for with an IQA Qualification?
With an Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) qualification, you can apply for various roles in several industries. These include Internal Quality Assurer, Internal Verifier, Quality Manager, Training and Development Manager, and Assessment Manager.
You can also work in education, healthcare, engineering, and other sectors that require quality assurance of processes and practices. The specific roles available to you will depend on your experience, qualifications, and the requirements of the organisation you are applying to.
Individuals holding an IQA certificate have the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure that the assessment of products within the organisation is conducted to a high standard. This way, they become a valuable asset for the organisation, as they help them meet the needs of their customers and the industry.
Is the IQA Qualification the Same as the D34 or V1 Qualification?
Yes, the IQA qualification is technically the same as relevant D34 and V1 qualifications. The IQA qualification was designed to replace the former Internal Verifier Award (D34) or the V1. It is now recognised as the current qualification for internal quality assurance in the UK.
Although the IQA qualification includes the same content as the V1 and D34 qualifications, it also covers a range of additional areas such as planning and assigning work, monitoring and maintaining the quality of assessment, and managing information.
How Are These Qualifications Structured?
There are three units:
- Understanding the Principle and Practices of Internally Assuring the Quality of Assessment
- Internally Assure the Quality of Assessment
Plan, Allocate and Monitor - Work in your Own Area of Responsibility
If you finish all three units, you’ll get an RQF certificate that allows you to lead a team of internal quality assurers. However, if you are working in the QA department alone, don’t have a team of IQAs, or are working under the lead IQA, just passing the first two units will still get you a certificate as an internal quality assurer. And if you’re new to this or just want to learn the basics of IQA, unit 1 should be enough. To pass Unit 1, you just need to submit essay assignments. You don’t have to demonstrate practical assessments, so anyone from any background can take this course.
What Should You Do Next?
You should look at this page and review the requirements for each IQA qualification. Then, compare where you stand in your current role at a company and see if the course suits you well.
You can reach out to our support team at Hurak. We’ve been in the education industry for 13 years now. We’ve trained many individuals worldwide during these years, which has made us really understand our learners’ needs. We ensure that we train our learners on standard practices so that the industry can have trained quality assurers.
Final Words
A lot of training providers in the UK offer IQA qualifications. Still, at Hurak, we’ve got a dedicated team that researches to put our best foot forward, making lives easier for our learners. Our IQA courses have manuals including guidance, examples, IQA rationale, strategy, etc. The best part is you won’t have to work on creating reports from scratch. They will give you a good starting point. We’ve also added filled-in templates so you don’t feel confused during the course.
This page has plenty of information, but if you’re confused about anything, we’re just a text away.
