Optometry Schools
Council Statement on
maintaining assessment
quality during the
COVID-19 crisis
(3/4/20)
1. The Optometry Schools Council (OSC) represents the collective views of UK institutions providing GOC accredited optometry programmes.
2. The measures brought in by the UK Government in March 2020 have resulted in the ceasing of all face-to-face teaching and assessment in our institutions. The current circumstances pose a particular challenge for optometry where much of the teaching and assessment takes place in a clinical/practical environment.
3. In these extraordinary times we echo the recently published Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) guidance in encouraging the General Optical Council (GOC)’ to consider their ability to be flexible in their requirements, given the scale of the problem the higher education sector is contending with a. These are unprecedented times which require pragmatic solutions. The GOC should also be mindful that high level decisions on assessment format are taken at an institutional and not programme level.
4. Public protection and student welfare (GOC Education Standards 4.1 and 4.2) are at the core of the principles outlined in this document.
5. Alternative assessments should still undergo quality assurance, but that this may have to take a different, expedited form to normal given the situation and the limited time available.
6. Alternative online assessments should:
6.1 Allow demonstration of the relevant module/unit and programme learning outcomes
6.2 Adequately assess the breadth of student learning
6.3 Adequately assess the depth of student learning
6.4 Seek to minimise potential for academic malpractice
6.5 Be equitable – bearing in mind difficulties students may have in accessing the internet and devices/study spaces at home. These factors rule out strictly time limited online assessments.
6.6 Be proportionate – bearing in mind the impact that the emergency has had on both student and staff wellbeing
7. Alternative online assessments may not always be needed if assessment of necessary learning outcomes can be picked up in the following year of study.
8. Alternative online assessments may not be appropriate if a practical demonstration is required. In these cases, it will be necessary to pick up assessment of necessary learning outcomes either in the following year of study or in the pre-registration period.
9. There will be a variety of equally valid assessment item mixes which are able to satisfy the principles in this document. Including, but not limited to; open book exams, essays, multiple choice questions and oral assessments.
10. There will be a variety of equally valid approaches which are able to satisfy the principles in this document. For example variety in ratios of alternative assessments set during the present academic year compared with the number of outcomes carried forward to the following academic year and a variation between institutions in the duration of online assessment.
2. The measures brought in by the UK Government in March 2020 have resulted in the ceasing of all face-to-face teaching and assessment in our institutions. The current circumstances pose a particular challenge for optometry where much of the teaching and assessment takes place in a clinical/practical environment.
3. In these extraordinary times we echo the recently published Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) guidance in encouraging the General Optical Council (GOC)’ to consider their ability to be flexible in their requirements, given the scale of the problem the higher education sector is contending with a. These are unprecedented times which require pragmatic solutions. The GOC should also be mindful that high level decisions on assessment format are taken at an institutional and not programme level.
4. Public protection and student welfare (GOC Education Standards 4.1 and 4.2) are at the core of the principles outlined in this document.
5. Alternative assessments should still undergo quality assurance, but that this may have to take a different, expedited form to normal given the situation and the limited time available.
6. Alternative online assessments should:
6.1 Allow demonstration of the relevant module/unit and programme learning outcomes
6.2 Adequately assess the breadth of student learning
6.3 Adequately assess the depth of student learning
6.4 Seek to minimise potential for academic malpractice
6.5 Be equitable – bearing in mind difficulties students may have in accessing the internet and devices/study spaces at home. These factors rule out strictly time limited online assessments.
6.6 Be proportionate – bearing in mind the impact that the emergency has had on both student and staff wellbeing
7. Alternative online assessments may not always be needed if assessment of necessary learning outcomes can be picked up in the following year of study.
8. Alternative online assessments may not be appropriate if a practical demonstration is required. In these cases, it will be necessary to pick up assessment of necessary learning outcomes either in the following year of study or in the pre-registration period.
9. There will be a variety of equally valid assessment item mixes which are able to satisfy the principles in this document. Including, but not limited to; open book exams, essays, multiple choice questions and oral assessments.
10. There will be a variety of equally valid approaches which are able to satisfy the principles in this document. For example variety in ratios of alternative assessments set during the present academic year compared with the number of outcomes carried forward to the following academic year and a variation between institutions in the duration of online assessment.
COVID-19: Joint
Statement from the
Optometry Schools
Council
and College of
Optometrists on
supporting final-year
students'
progression to the
Scheme for Registration
(18/3/20)
The OSC and the College of Optometrists are working together to minimise the disruption caused by COVID-19 to optometry education provision and to enable optometry students to meet the requirements to enrol on the Scheme for Registration in 2020.
We are developing plans, as a matter of urgency, to provide as smooth a transition as possible for graduating students, and for students on programmes that integrate university study and the Scheme. We are doing this in ways that uphold high education and professional standards and ensure adherence to GOC requirements.
We are working to put in place the following arrangements:
1. Students/new graduates with any deficits in their patient episode numbers and/or clinical competencies that cannot be addressed due to the current disruption to their undergraduate study created by COVID-19, will be supported by their university and the College to demonstrate fulfilment of these requirements during the early stages of their pre-registration placement.
2. The College and universities will work with other stakeholders, including supervisors, employers and College assessors, to ensure that all parties, including patients and the public, can have confidence in the modified arrangements and feel supported in contributing to their implementation.
3. Students who have outstanding patient episode numbers and/or clinical competencies in 2020 will be eligible for the award of an Optometry degree, providing that their degree performance is at 2:2 standard or above.
4. Universities will work with the College to explore how new graduates can appropriately be supported in their transition to the Scheme during this period of exceptional circumstance, recognising that there may be unavoidable gaps between individuals’ last contact with patients as undergraduate students and their enrolment on the Scheme.
The OSC and the College will share more detailed plans to progress the above as these are developed. We will particularly consider the situation and needs of students enrolled on degree programmes into which the Scheme for Registration is integrated, and of students who enter the Scheme via other progression routes.
The College is developing plans to support all trainees’ progression through the Scheme for Registration during the exceptional circumstances created by COVID-19. This approach is again to uphold high education and professional standards and to meet GOC requirements. These will be shared by the College in due course.
We are developing plans, as a matter of urgency, to provide as smooth a transition as possible for graduating students, and for students on programmes that integrate university study and the Scheme. We are doing this in ways that uphold high education and professional standards and ensure adherence to GOC requirements.
We are working to put in place the following arrangements:
1. Students/new graduates with any deficits in their patient episode numbers and/or clinical competencies that cannot be addressed due to the current disruption to their undergraduate study created by COVID-19, will be supported by their university and the College to demonstrate fulfilment of these requirements during the early stages of their pre-registration placement.
2. The College and universities will work with other stakeholders, including supervisors, employers and College assessors, to ensure that all parties, including patients and the public, can have confidence in the modified arrangements and feel supported in contributing to their implementation.
3. Students who have outstanding patient episode numbers and/or clinical competencies in 2020 will be eligible for the award of an Optometry degree, providing that their degree performance is at 2:2 standard or above.
4. Universities will work with the College to explore how new graduates can appropriately be supported in their transition to the Scheme during this period of exceptional circumstance, recognising that there may be unavoidable gaps between individuals’ last contact with patients as undergraduate students and their enrolment on the Scheme.
The OSC and the College will share more detailed plans to progress the above as these are developed. We will particularly consider the situation and needs of students enrolled on degree programmes into which the Scheme for Registration is integrated, and of students who enter the Scheme via other progression routes.
The College is developing plans to support all trainees’ progression through the Scheme for Registration during the exceptional circumstances created by COVID-19. This approach is again to uphold high education and professional standards and to meet GOC requirements. These will be shared by the College in due course.