Tutor/Assessors must be fully qualified and experienced in the subject area in which they are delivering, details of which must be provided to Gateway Qualifications as part of the Qualification Approval application.
Tutor/Assessors must be occupationally competent. This means that each tutor/assessor must be capable of carrying out the full requirements within the competency units they are assessing. Being occupationally competent means, they are also occupationally knowledgeable. This occupational competence should be maintained annually through clearly demonstrable continuing learning and professional development.
It should be noted that Associate Membership of the British Dyslexia Association (AMBDA) is needed for those tutoring the specialist elements for school age provision and AMBDA FE/HE for 'post-school' specialist elements. It should also be noted that specialist teaching and assessment must be either as detailed in the criteria for the BDA award sought and not a mixture of both.
‘Equivalent’ means that the tutor concerned must have successfully taken a course accredited by the British Dyslexia Association for AMBDA FE/HE during the past 3 years but who has not applied for the award. They must provide evidence (preferably in the form of a BDA CPD Portfolio) that their knowledge, skills and expertise are up-to-date.
Occupational knowledge should be maintained annually through clearly demonstrable continuing learning and professional development.
Tutor/Assessors must either:
hold or be working towards a recognised assessor/verifier qualification (e.g. D32/33, A1 or Award in Assessing Competence in the Work Environment);
have experience of assessing competence-based qualifications;
be under the supervision of an experienced and qualified internal quality assurer.
Internal quality assessor requirements
All internal quality assurance personnel must:
• be qualified in quality assurance; appropriate qualifications would include: Award in the Internal Quality Assurance of Assessment Processes and Practice, or as a verifier, (V1, D34). Centres must provide evidence of the training undertaken
• be occupationally knowledgeable across the range of units for which they are responsible prior to commencing the role
• maintain their occupational knowledge by actively engaging in continuous professional development activities in order to keep up-to-date with developments within the sector
What is the purpose of this qualification?
The qualification is designed to provide a route for continued professional development for teachers and other professionals working within one phase of educational provision – primary, secondary or adult who support learners with dyslexia and/or specific learning differences and barriers to literacy and numeracy acquisition.
Gateway Qualifications has worked with the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) to ensure that this qualification can be used by learners to gain the relevant BDA status on successful achievement of the qualification, subject to conditions of delivery and teaching practice being met.
What skills, knowledge, or understanding does this qualification develop?
The Level 7 Diploma aims to:
• develop learners’ ability to identify and assess the needs of learners with specific learning difficulties, using observation and evidence-based assessment and standard tests
• develop learners’ ability to write assessment reports and teaching programmes to inform and advise other professionals on learners with specific learning needs
• write assessment reports to advise external bodies (eg awarding bodies and LEAs) with regard to learners’ specific assessment needs
• develop learners’ professional values and commitment to professional standards.
• develop learners’ understanding of a range of specific learning difficulties affecting learning and cognition
• develop learners’ ability to plan, deliver, review and evaluate effective teaching programmes for learners with specific learning difficulties, both in individual and small group settings
• plan, deliver and evaluate programmes which include both literacy and numeracy, and to understand how difficulti
How is this qualification different from other, similar qualifications?
This is a specialist qualification which is a useful progression from the current Gateway Qualifications suite of Dyslexia qualifications.
The target group is likely to include:
• Classroom teachers and learning support staff in schools
• Learning support tutors and trainers in FE and/or basic skills training
• Qualified teachers who work as independent practitioners
• Learning support tutors in HE Institution
• Speech and Language Therapists and other health professionals working in an educational setting
• Chartered/graduate psychologists
Which sector does this qualification support?
Learners completing the Level 7 Diploma may advance to job roles which require the ability to:
• carry out diagnostic assessments for specific learning differences (dyslexia) and write assessment reports on learners’ educational needs, to inform Local Authorities other professionals, learners and parents/carers;
• carry out assessments and write reports on learners’ special assessment needs for schools, colleges, Local Authorities and awarding bodies;
• take an advisory role with regard to formulating and implementing school/college policies for both inclusion and effective teaching of learners with specific learning differences.
Which job roles does this qualification support?
Approved Teacher Status / Associate Membership (AMBDA (FE/HE)) may be awarded to Educational Professionals in Continuing, Further and Higher Education who have successfully completed a BDA accredited course and have a minimum of two years' teaching / tutoring /support experience in an institution of continuing, further or higher education with learners 16 years of age or over. However, if an applicant has had a minimum of two year’s appropriate previous professional educational experience in an earlier phase of education but is now working with learners 16 years of age or over, a letter, on headed paper, from the applicant's line manager to the BDA stating that they have successfully completed an academic year of full or equivalent part-time professional activity with these learners may be substituted for the two-year requirement.
Applicants for the award of ATS/APS must have successfully completed a BDA accredited course taught and assessed at a minimum of the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ) Level 5 (Foundation Degree) in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. The Gateway Qualifications Level 5 Diploma in Teaching Learners with Dyslexia, Specific Learning Differences and Barriers to literacy can be used to apply for ATS/ATP awards. For other equivalent levels see page 43 et seq. at:
In the case of all BDA awards, assignments at either FHEQ Level 5 (minimum for ATS FE/HE) or FHEQ Level 7 (minimum for AMBDA FE/HE) in England, Wales or Northern Ireland in the form of essays, case study and teaching and assessment reports should form part of the overall assessment. The Gateway Qualifications Level 7 Diploma in Assessing and Teaching learners with Dyslexia, Specific Learning Differences and Barriers to Literacy can be used to apply for the AMBDA FE/HE award.
Progression & entry requirements
There are no formal entry requirements for this qualification however they are designed for qualified practising and experienced teachers and other professionals who hold recognised professional qualifications. Although Gateway Qualifications promotes open access to all qualifications, in practice, learners who do not have a professional background in providing learning support may find it difficult to access opportunities to generate the full range of evidence required to achieve the full qualification.
Learners completing the Level 7 Diploma may also progress to job roles which require the ability to:
• carry out diagnostic assessments for specific learning differences (dyslexia) and write assessment reports on learners. educational needs, to inform LEAs, other professionals, learners and parents/carers
• carry out assessments and write reports on learners. special assessment needs for schools, colleges, LEAs and awarding bodies
• take an advisory role with regard to formulating and implementing school/college policies for both inclusion and effective teaching of learners with specific learning difficulties.