Centres delivering Functional Skills English Level 1 and 2 must have a Lead Internal Verifier (Lead IV) for Speaking, Listening and Communicating. This person will need to register and complete the Online Standardisation for Centre Assessors (OSCA) to become accredited and to gain direct claims status. The OSCA training is designed to ensure that all centres are standardised to the same level so that all Lead IVs, Assessors, and Internal Verifiers understand how to assess and verify assessment decisions applying the national standards.
When can centres complete the Functional Skills OSCA activity?
The first OSCA window for Functional Skills opens in early September.
If your centre is delivering the qualification using a standard academic year model, with learner registrations in September, Lead IVs should aim to complete OSCA by 31st October to ensure assessment decisions are standardised before assessment takes place and enable certification claims to be submitted and processed without delay.
For centres who deliver using a ‘roll on, roll off’ delivery model, the OSCA windows are open between September 2026 and July 2027, with the final OSCA window closing on 31 July. This will ensure that all Lead Internal Verifiers can access the materials at a time that is relevant to the registration of their learners.
Once you have received accreditation for OSCA, this accreditation will last until 31 August of the following academic year. You will not need to complete OSCA for Functional Skills again within this period, and attempting to do so will result in an error message when trying to access the materials.
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