A1 assessor, A1 assessor course, A1 assessor award
Over the last three weeks, I have been asked many questions about the A1 assessor qualification. Common questions are:
Do you offer the A1 assessor course?
Can I do the A1 qualification online?
How much is the A1 assessor award?
and even
What is an A1 assessor award?
We have talked about the A1 assessor qualification lots of times on this site but I am using this post to bring all those together. This will then be a resource for anybody who has the same or similar questions.
So let us start by answering the first question. By doing this I think we will answer all the others as well.
Do Brooks and Kirk offer the A1 assessor course? The answer here is no and in fact, nobody does and here is why.
The A1 assessor qualification or to give it its correct title the Level 3 award in ‘Assess candidates using a range of methods’ was first offered in late 2002 and evaluated in 2004. It replaced the old D32 and D33 units and was a single unit qualification. I say was because it ceased to be offered in 2010. It also had a sister qualification the A2 or Level 3 award in ‘Assess candidates’ performance through observation’. This assessor qualification was also phased out at the same time.
The new assessor qualifications
Both A1 and the A2 qualifications had a direct replacement in 2010. The A1 award became the Level 3 Certificate In Assessing Vocational Achievement, often referred to as the CAVA. The A2 award became The Level 3 Award in Assessing Competence in a Work Environment also known as the ACWE.
Two new qualifications also appeared that year. They were the Level 3 Award in Understanding the Principles and Practices of Assessment, UPPA, and the Level 3 Award in Assessing Vocationally Related Achievement, AVRA. Meaning there was now four different assessor qualification.
Is the A1 Assessor Award still valid?
You may be wondering why people still talk about the A1 assessor qualification then if it is 12 years out of date? The answer to that is twofold. Whilst the qualification no longer exists it is still valid. If you took your A1 assessor course in 2006 and have been assessing ever since you will also have undergone a lot of CPD activities to keep your skills up to date. That is why it is still valid. However, if you took it in 2006 and have not been assessing the chances are you will need to refresh and update your skills and knowledge before you start assessing again. So the key to keeping your A1 qualification up to date is CPD.
Secondly, you still see the A1 a lot in job advertisements. Often this is because the person writing the job advert does not know that the A1 qualification ended 12 years ago. So if you see an assessor vacancy that states the applicant must have their A1 assessor award people naturally assume that that is the qualification they need to get.
For most people, the qualification they need to achieve is not the A1 assessor award but the Level 3 Certificate In Assessing Vocational Achievement. Incidentally, this is also the course you need for most End-Point Assessor vacancies you will see advertised.
Steve is a Chartered Manager and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.
He provides Educational Consultancy to the 19+ sector as well as being an Assessor, IQA, EPA and Digital Marketing Professional. When not doing any of these he finds time, every now and then, to write blogs and articles.