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Directorate of Vocational Reviews​​​

​The Directorate of Vocational Reviews (DVR) is responsible for evaluating and reporting on the quality of vocational education and training provision, identifying strengths and areas for improvement, spreading best practice and offering policy advice to key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Misspelled WordLabour and the Ministry of Education. The Directorate also works in partnership with other Directorates within the BQA when needed such as when reviewing technical schools. 
 
Reviews are based on the published DVR’s Review Framework , and carried out on the providers’ premises by teams of carefully selected and highly trained reviewers. All providers are invited to nominate a senior member of their staff to participate in the planning of the review, and to represent them during review team meetings and follow on action planning after the review.
 
The DVR Review Framework and Guidance sets out the evaluation requirements for the reviews of vocational education and training provision in Bahrain.  The review framework used reflects on the development of the local experience in the review process and responds to feedback received from providers.
 
The review framework includes a set of quality assurance criteria underpinning five Main Questions focusing on: learners’ achievements, the quality of teaching and training, the quality of Misspelled Wordprogrammes in offer, support and guidance, and leadership and management. The review team also judges the overall effectiveness of the provision which evaluates the effectiveness of the provider in raising learners’ achievement, meeting the full range of learners’ and stakeholders’ needs and its capacity to make improvements to its provision. For each Main Question and for the overall effectiveness, the institute is given one of the following grades:
1.     Outstanding
2.     Good
3.     Satisfactory
4.     Inadequate
 
The review cycle starts with the institute receiving its first notification indicating that it will be subjected to a review and being invited to attend a training workshop on how to conduct a self-evaluation and how to fill the Self-Evaluation From (SEF). The second notification formally states the dates for the submission of the SEF and the supporting documents, and the dates of the review visit. In making judgements about the quality of an institution’s provision, reviewers examine a wide range of review evidence. This includes an analysis of the provider’s SEF and other relevant management information, data on learners’ achievement, observations of lessons or training sessions and interviews with stakeholders, these including staff, learners, employers and parents. At the end of the review visit, the review team will provide the institute with their preliminary judgments and findings. The outcome of the review is a report published on the BQA’s website, after it goes through BQA’s  internal approval procedures.
Independently of the outcome of the review, institutes are expected to submit an action plan addressing the recommendations stated in the review report. For institutes receiving an overall judgment of satisfactory or better, the cycle ends upon their submission of the action plan. Institutes deemed to be inadequate are subjected to up to two monitoring visits. The monitoring visit evaluates progress against the recommendations identified in the review report. The monitoring visits outcomes are Misspelled Wordcategorised into three levels: A - sufficient progress, B – in progress and C – insufficient progress. Monitoring visit’s reports are published alongside the review reports on the BQA’s website.    
 
Vision
To be the catalyst for continuous improvement within vocational education and training in the Kingdom of Bahrain, enabling comparability with worldwide standards and meeting local stakeholders’ needs
 
 
Mission  
To monitor and report on the quality of vocational education and training and to work with relevant stakeholders to promote performance improvement 
 
 
DVR values  
 
·          respect the contribution and skills of each member of the DVR team, encourage their personal and professional development and value and celebrate their achievements
·          adhere to the Code of Conduct in all our work
·          be open, transparent and professional in our dealings with providers and stakeholders
·          promote continuous improvement and a culture of self-evaluation and accountability in our dealings with providers and stakeholders.
 
Main principles:    
 
The following principles are key to the review process.
 
·          A focus on the learner : the learners’ experience, achievement and skills development are at the heart of the review process.
 
·          Continuous improvement : review is a key driver in an overall process of self-evaluation, action planning, and ongoing development.
 
·          Provider involvement : the provider participates in all stages of the review process, through self-evaluation, and through the nominee, in planning and managing the review, and shaping judgements. Review is about ‘doing with’ not ‘doing to’.
 
·        ​Openness and transparency : the review team’s emerging judgements and areas for development are shared with the nominee during the review process. ​



Preparing For A Successful Vocational Review​ Link: