Trinity College London is excited to announce that we’ll soon be making some important changes to Arts Award's quality assurance process. The changes will improve the assessment and certification process for centres, allowing them to focus more on the delivery of Arts Award for young people.
To support the upcoming improvements, adjustments to the booking process for all levels will come into effect from 13 December 2023. Centres wanting to book a moderation to take place from December onwards should check the moderation section of the Arts Award website for more information.
When implemented, the updated quality assurance process will mean that most centres will no longer be required to moderate every time they deliver the Explore, Bronze, Silver and Gold levels (NB Discover is not moderated). When making a decision on whether moderation will be needed, we'll take into account factors such as cohort size, previous moderation results and when the centre last ran Arts Award. Where moderation is not required, young people will be issued with their digital certificates once the adviser assessments have been submitted to the Arts Award team. Centres will be able to access links to young people's certificates via the centre portal.
Explore, Bronze, Silver and Gold levels will move to digital certificates and centres will be able to request hard copy certificates for an additional fee (see the Trinity website for more information about digital certificates). Please note, as part of the enrolment process, centres will need to provide an email address for parents or legal guardians of young people aged under 18 to enable us to issue certificates.
All centres will need to sign an updated centre agreement, to include refreshed terms and conditions, recognising the changes we are making to Arts Award.
Content of the award: The activities and assessment criteria for all Arts Award levels remain the same. However, we advise downloading the updated marking guidance and details of how to prepare portfolios for online moderation, which will be provided as part of the launch.
Arts Award Discover: Booking and certification arrangements for Arts Award Discover will remain the same and certificates will continue to be issued in hard copy and posted out to centres.
Portfolio building: Centres will still evidence young people’s work towards their Arts Award in an individual portfolio, assessed by a trained Arts Award adviser.
Further information will be shared via email and on the Arts Award website in due course.