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qualifications. They may also be earning good money, which might explain the lack of assessors coming from certain industries. Sam Taylor, head of The Assessors Guild, says that the right experience and training is essential for anyone with designs on becoming an end- point assessor. “If you are a highly competent person from industry
but have no assessment qualifications, then a one-day course is not going to help you become an effective end-point assessor,” she says. “If you have an assessor qualification, then a
one-day EPA course is absolutely perfect. But you need to gain that recent work experience which, in some ways, can be more of a challenge.” This combination of assessment expertise, industry experience and the skills end-point assessors require to make “high stakes” judgements of apprentices’ KSBs is set to change the role of assessors. Bewick has talked of end-point assessors as forming a new and distinct community of professional practice. Hilary Read, who runs Read On Publications and is the author of many books and training materials for assessors, also thinks the assessor role will
“change beyond recognition”. While she thinks that most EPAOs are doing a good job in training assessors from industry, she is less convinced of the preparations under way in training providers. “I think there is a lack of detailed understanding among middle managers and curriculum leaders about the apprenticeship changes,” says Read. “As such they are not in a position to advise their trainers and assessors.” Brockenhurst College, in Hampshire, is surely one of the exceptions, being the only general further education college on the list of approved EPAOs at the time of writing. As such it delivers on- programme elements for local employers and offers an end-point assessment service. The crucial thing, says Dan Power, the college’s assistant principal in charge of apprenticeships, is that under the rules the college cannot end-point assess apprentices who have been on college programmes, or
act as an EPAO for any employer to whom they also provide on-programme training. “I see it as a no-brainer. Some EPAOs are struggling
to build sufficient numbers of end-point assessors but our end-point assessors already work for us.” he says. Brockenhurst hand-picks staff who will undergo training to become end-point assessors and, crucially, all those selected have up-to-date industry experience. Brockenhurst is the EPAO for Fuller’s Brewery. One of Brockenhurst’s local partner employers is
Alan Thomson is editor of InTuition.
Berthon, a boatyard, marina and marine services company. Brockenhurst provides some of the on-programme elements in the apprenticeships offered by Berthon, which means it cannot also act
14 ISSUE 34 • WINTER 2018 inTUITION
SO YOU WANT TO BE AN END-POINT ASSESSOR? Five key things you need to know.
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5
Apprenticeship standards are linked to jobs and the knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) required for competence in that job. However, most apprenticeship standards also embed qualifications, including maths and English.
As an end-point assessor you need to be trained, and sometimes qualified (depending on what it says in the particular assessment plan), in assessment practices. End-point assessment organisations (EPAOs) ought to provide this training for their assessors.
As an end-point assessor you need to have relevant and recent experience of the job or specific role that you are hoping to assess. Depending on your employer, this may mean taking responsibility for organising your own time back in industry or work-shadowing.
You cannot end-point assess the same learners you teach or coach. If you are a freelance assessor it may mean juggling contracts.
Training providers and their teachers and trainers must work to the relevant apprenticeship standards and work closely with employers and EPAOs, where possible, to ensure that the off-the-job training they deliver meets the requirements of the standard.
For an in-depth guide to end-point assessments, including an end-point self-assessment tool, and full information on the apprenticeship reforms, visit the Education and Training Foundation website and click on Apprenticeships under the Supporting You tab on the home page. To access the register of end-point assessment organisations (EPAOs) visit
goo.gl/kd3Kvs
as an EPAO for the company. The first Berthon boat-building and marine engineering apprentices, on a four-year apprenticeship, will reach their EPAs in three years’ time. The company will also offer apprenticeships in marine electrical, where the standard is still in development, as well as yacht spraying and rigging. The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) will be Berthon’s EPAO, once the institute has completed the registration process. Developing these highly specialised and technical
apprenticeships has been challenging for the company as it fought for funding to cover the qualifications that sector employers wanted to include in the standards. Despite the challenges, Keith Longman, the Berthon
Yard manager, who chairs three trailblazers in boat building, marine engineering and marine electrical, says that the hard work has been worth it as the new standards will deliver “fit-for-purpose” apprenticeships. “It has also brought our industry together and we
are trying to get training providers across the country to work more collectively too in order to deliver the on- programme parts of apprenticeships,” Longman says. That, perhaps, is the next challenge for training
providers.
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