Guidelines for temporary adjustments to DELTA Module Two in

response to COVID-19

Due to the on-going restrictions caused by COVID-19, Cambridge Assessment English are
allowing temporary adjustments to the assessment of teaching practice for DELTA Module
Two (DM2) on current courses which have been interrupted and new courses starting up to
May 31st 2021. These temporary adjustments will be reviewed regularly and may be removed
or changed. All other award requirements remain unchanged. Please refer to the DELTA
Module handbook and DELTA Module Two Manual.

There are four documents provided to support centres and candidates regarding these changes.

1. Guidelines for temporary adjustments to DM2 Assessments (this document)

2. Minimum requirements for running assessed lessons online
3. Minimum requirements for remote observation of face-to-face lessons
4. FAQs about DM2 temporary adjustments

It is important to refer to all of these documents when applying any changes. It is also important to
check the support site regularly for any updates to these guidelines.

Course delivery

As always, a range of delivery modes is appropriate for courses preparing candidates for Module Two.
These may include face-to-face courses and blended courses (Delta Handbook p66). For the
temporary adjustments, courses may also be run fully online.

If a centre chooses to deliver teaching practice online, they must be prepared to invest significant
tutor time in researching online modes of delivery and in setting up suitable teaching practice
programmes and environments.

Candidate options

Outlined below are the four possibilities for current and prospective DELTA Module Two candidates:

• complete an interrupted course by teaching online or via remote assessment of face-to-face

classes
• pause an interrupted course until it can be completed face-to-face
• start a new course online up to May 31st 2021
• start a new course face-to-face as conditions allow.

Full details and requirements for teaching online and remote observations can be found in the
minimum requirements documents. It is essential that centres make clear to candidates the
consequences of undertaking or moving to an online course which includes assessed lessons of online
teaching or remote observations. Centres must ensure that their candidate agreement is updated to
reflect these changes in the course content and delivery.

Please see the Cambridge English Support Site here for details of what should be included.

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Candidates are advised to consider undertaking an assessed online lesson only if they are very familiar
with teaching groups online and are confident that they stand every chance of teaching a lesson to
the best of their ability.

Once candidates have understood the changes and agreed to continue or start a course with an
online or remotely assessed element, they should sign to confirm that they:

• have understood any changes to a current course and the impact it will have on them
• have appropriate technical equipment, connectivity and IT skills
• are aware of the risks involved in relying on connectivity during assessed lessons, and the
possibility of having to prepare additional work as outlined in the accompanying
documentation
• choose to complete the course online.

If a candidate does not wish to do a fully online course, then the centre should allow the option of
waiting until teaching practice can be conducted face-to-face.

Assessed Teaching

Temporary arrangements for COVID-19 will allow assessed teaching to take place in the following
contexts:

• In face-to-face, socially distanced classrooms with an observer in the room

• Online, in a virtual classroom with an observer online
• Remotely, with a candidate and learners in a face-to-face classroom and an observer
watching a live stream.

NB: ‘Observer’ refers to both the tutors and external assessor.

It is therefore possible for a candidate to have a number of different modes of assessed teaching
represented in their portfolio.

There are no changes to the current assessment criteria, as these are broad enough to apply to all
contexts. However, centres must ensure that the minimum requirements (see below) are complied
with in order for the assessment to be valid.

Cambridge English will continue to monitor the use of online teaching practice to ensure it is being
assessed appropriately with the current criteria.

Practical arrangements

Information regarding the practical arrangements for the temporary adjustments can be found in two
separate documents:

• Minimum requirements for running face-to-face lessons which are assessed remotely
• Minimum requirements for running online assessed lessons.

Candidates are advised to be prepared for the possibility of technical issues. They should have an
alternative lesson plan ready to deliver as a normal unassessed lesson with their class in case the
assessed lesson needs to be postponed at short notice. This means that the original assessed lesson
plan and accompanying documentation may be used on a different date.

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Assessment for all modes of teaching
It is anticipated that assessments dependent on internet connections may experience some short
interruptions in quality. In order to guide observers in their decision-making process and to ensure
parity reliant on internet connections and those who are observed live, it will be helpful to consider
the overarching principle.

Overarching Principle

To allow the observer to award the correct grade for this candidate on this occasion

In order to award the correct grade, the observer must have seen enough evidence for the grade to
be awarded without doubt. If difficulties arise or the lesson is interrupted, the assessor or tutor has
two options available to them:

1. If it is clear that no matter what the candidate did/would have done during the interrupted
section of the lesson, there could have been no change of grade, then the grade may be
awarded.
2. If the lesson is nearing the upper-end of a grade boundary and there is interruption in the
connection, the assessor may feel that evidence for the higher grade has been missed. In this
case, the candidate will be given the benefit of the doubt and a new assessed lesson will be
scheduled.

Candidates must be made aware that interruptions to the lesson which mean the observer does not
have enough evidence to award a grade may mean that a new lesson with new accompanying
documentation is required. More detailed information on this and other possible issues and their
outcomes can be found in the FAQs document.

Please see the requirements documents for more details concerning what candidates and observers
need to have in place before online or remotely assessed lessons can take place.

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