End-Point Assessment

We often get asked if there is a difference between an Assessor and an End-Point Assessor. The answer is: yes, there is! Although there is some crossover between the two positions, they’re not quite the same. In this post, we’re going to take a more in-depth look at the difference between the two.

The role of the Assessor

An Assessor – whether an NVQ or On-Programme Assessor – is there every step of the way through a learner’s journey. They assess through the apprenticeship or course through a variety of assessment methods. They’re also there to offer support to learners when it comes to their assessment. The Assessor becomes familiar with the learners and is there for the long-haul. They may even take part in aspects of apprentice training, delivering learning material.

When using learning to drive as a metaphor, you can think of the Assessor as the driving instructor; checking you’re doing everything right and pushing you in the right direction when you’re picking up bad habits.

The role of the End-Point Assessor

The Independent End-Point Assessor (IEPA) is far less hands-on. The IEPA assesses on a one-off basis during the End Point Assessment – a new requirement for apprentices at the end of the apprenticeships. Using learning to drive as a metaphor, you could think of the IEPA as the person in the passenger seat during the final driving test.

The IEPA is someone completely unknown to the apprentice and unrelated to the learning institution. They assess against the course criteria without bias or prior knowledge.

What is an End-Point Assessment?

Once an apprentice has finished all on-programme aspects of their apprenticeship, they will have to face their End-Point Assessment. This may be a singular assessment or many depending on the course. Basically, the End-Point Assessment is a series of tests designed to showcase what the apprentice has learned and how well they’ve developed their skills. The EPAs answer the following question: Is this apprentice working to the industry standard?

The End-Point Assessor uses the results of these assessments to determine how well the learner has done on the course and whether they will fail the apprenticeship, pass, or pass with a merit or distinction.

The EPA a learner will face at the end of their apprenticeship will be detailed in the course’s Assessment Plan.

Do apprenticeships have both Assessors and End-Point Assessors?

Simply put, this depends on the course. When training for a BTEC as an independent qualification, there won’t be an End-Point Assessor, for example. However, for all apprenticeships, there will be both an Assessor during the learner journey, and an EPA at the finishing line.

Is there a difference in training to become an Assessor and an End-Point Assessor?

Only slightly…

To become an Assessor of any type, you must have completed a CAVA course. However, as there is a difference between the roles, there is obviously going to be a difference within the training. Check out our blog to find out how to become an Independent End-Point Assessor.

Taking an EPA workshop with Brooks and Kirk

Our new EPA Workshops are coming soon! Visit our EPA workshop page to find out more or get in touch today.

With the rise of End-Point Assessment over the past couple of years, a lot of misconceptions have popped up along the way. So, we want to clear up these myths and misconceptions so that we can all be on the same page when talking all things EPA!

Does the Level 3 EPA Award Qualify me work in End-Point Assessment?

In short, no.

The Level 3 Award in Understanding End-Point Assessment was developed by the awarding body and End-Point Assessment Organisation, Highfield. They are the only awarding body that offer this qualification and the only EPAO to require Independent End-Point Assessors (IEPAs) to hold this qualification…

The vast majority of End-Point Assessment Organisations will instead require require you to hold an industry standard assessor qualification; like the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (or equivalent).

Is End-Point Assessment replacing Internal Quality Assurance?

No, absolutely not.

Internal Quality Assurance is certainly still a necessity and it will not be replaced by End-Point Assessment. They are two completely different roles.

An IQA’s main responsibility is to quality check assessment decisions on learners completing qualifications. Whereas an IEPA is mainly responsible for carrying out assessments on an apprentice to determine whether or not they have passed their apprenticeship.

Do I need an IQA qualification to be an End-Point Assessor?

It’s certainly advisory, but it’s not actually an ‘across-the-board’ requirement.

It completely depends on two things; the requirements specified by the employer (EPAO) and the requirements set out in the assessment plan.

Some employers will just want you to have the Assessor qualification (CAVA), whilst some will also require you to have an IQA qualification as well. Furthermore, some Apprenticeships’ assessment plans specify that the IEPA must hold an IQA qualification, like the Level 3 Business Administrator.

Why can’t I find the End-Point assessment for an NVQ?

The reason you won’t be able to find an End-Point Assessment for any NVQs is because End-Point Assessments only happen in Apprenticeships. So you won’t find EPAs anywhere else. 

You can, however, find the End-Point Assessments for any Apprenticeship on the Institute for Apprenticeships website. 

Do I need to have experience in assessing before becoming an End-Point Assessor?

Nope. You don’t need experience in assessing before becoming an End-Point Assessor.

Unlike a lot of traditional assessor jobs where you find phrases like “experience in assessing required“, most IEPA positions are not as focused on the requirement for assessing experience. Instead, most EPAOs are far more concerned about prospective assessors having ‘current’ occupational experience. 

The End-Point Assessment Organisations we work closely with look for individuals who are even still working in their industry, or at least were up until very recently and then just get them to do the CAVA qualification. This then gives EPAOs the best of both worlds; a qualified assessor who has extensive and up-to-date knowledge and experience in their sector.

If there’s anything else you need to know about End-Point Assessment, take a look at our End-Point Assessment Knowledgebase. 

End-Point Assessment is a huge part of the Apprenticeship and Assessing worlds. If you’re a regular reader of our blog posts, you should know quite a lot about EPA by now. You may think that as you don’t want to be an End-Point Assessor, you don’t need to know about it. We believe otherwise. Any Assessor – including On-Programme Assessors – involved with Apprenticeships, in any way, need to know as much as possible about EPA.

On-Programme Assessors

As an On-Programme Assessor, it’s ideal that you know about End-Point Assessment. Whilst you won’t be taking your Apprentice through their actual EPA, you still need to have as much knowledge as possible about it. Your Apprentice will likely have a lot of questions about the EPA and you need to be able to support them and answer these questions.

Your candidates that are going through their Apprenticeships may also find it beneficial to have Mock End-Point Assessments. There’s no issue with the Mock EPA being conducted by yourself as the On-Programme Assessor; but it is obviously vital that you have the correct, up-to-date knowledge in order to prepare them efficiently. 

It would be especially beneficial for you to have EPA Knowledge if the company you are working for is on the register of End-Point Assessment Organisations. If this is the case, you need to know your stuff. Plus you never know; your employer might give you the opportunity to carry out an EPA – and it might be something you want to carry on doing. 

On the whole, it definitely doesn’t hurt to have the knowledge. It can open doors to many other opportunities in your career.

How Can I Gain The Knowledge?

Now, the number one way we would recommend to get to grips with End-Point Assessment is our Workshop. It doesn’t matter how much or how little experience you have in assessment; if you agree that having End-Point Assessment knowledge would benefit you, this workshop is perfect for you. We designed our comprehensive workshop to give anyone the opportunity to learn all there is to know about EPA, and put EPA skills into practice. Oh and best of all – it’s just a one day workshop. So there’s no work you need to do prior to or after attending. Phew.

If you are interested please take a look at our next End-Point Assessment Workshop. The locations and dates of our EPA Workshop vary, so if the date/location isn’t right for you there’s a good possibility there will be in the future.

For any further questions you may have about End-Point Assessment, please take a look at our EPA Knowledgebase Page.

We held our first End-Point Assessment Workshop in London just under a couple of weeks ago (19th July 2019) and we’re proud to say, it was a great success!

Over 40 people attended our workshop, to learn all there is to know about EPA and put those all important EPA-specific skills into practice. These attendees were experienced in a variety of sectors; to name just a few, there were individuals experienced in: Health and Social Care, Engineering, Management, Customer Services, Banking, Beauty… The list goes on and on.

Anyway, here’s how The EPA Workshop in London panned out…

Brooks and Kirk’s EPA Workshop

Our End-Point Assessment Workshop covers all of the aspects of End-Point Assessment that you, as the assessor, need to understand; from Assessment Plans and Apprenticeship Standards, through to grading assessments and standardisation. Not only that, but attendees get the opportunity to network with an End-Point Assessment Organisation actively recruiting as well as with other Assessors, IQAs and professionals. 

But before we even touched on End-Point Assessment, we got the EPA Workshop in London underway by telling everyone who we are and what we do. That looked something like this…

After the introductions were done and dusted, it was time to start talking EPA.

EPA Overview

Anyone who attended one of our Getting Started with EPA webinars would have been familiar with a thing or two after the intros.

With some delegates having years of experience in assessing, others having just started their journey to becoming an assessor and some currently working as apprenticeship assessors, it’s safe to say we had a mixed bag when it came to experience in assessment. So we made it our priority to make sure everyone was on the same page from the get go. To do this, we took a moment to discuss what has changed in Apprenticeships over the past few years.

This lead us nicely on to End-Point Assessments; and in particular, who delivers them. That’s where our headline sponsor, NOCN came in. 

End-Point Assessment Organisations

We delivered the EPA Workshop in London in partnership with NOCN. NOCN are an industry leading End-Point Assessment Organisation.

So who better to talk about EPAOs, than an EPAO themselves? 

What happened next?

There is a good chunk of the day between discussing EPAOs and carrying our mock End-Point Assessments that we aren’t going to tell you about. Why? Well, if you are that keen to find out more about EPA, maybe you should book your place at the next EPA Workshop. Otherwise, it’s only for the eyes and ears of those that come along!

Anyway, back to the EPA Workshop in London…

Mock End-Point Assessment

Throughout the workshop, delegates have the opportunity to get involved with plenty of activities. Which is handy because let’s be honest, no body enjoys a ‘death by powerpoint’ kind of event! But the most important of all, is a mock End-Point Assessment. 

The mock EPA gives everybody the opportunity to put themselves in the shoes of an Independent End-Point Assessor. Here’s a quick snapshot of one of those mock EPAs taking place; and as you can see everyone was hard at work!

Oh and there wasn’t just one mock EPA, but three!

As you can see from the image below, two of our attendees kindly volunteered to take part in an Interview as part of one of the mock EPAs. Meanwhile, the rest of the room took notes and used our fancy interactive voting system to grade the ‘candidate’ on their performance.

Next EPA Workshop

If you think that this sounds like a CPD event you could benefit from attending, then head over to our EPA Workshop information page to find out when and where the next workshop is running.

Please bear in mind: The EPA Workshop is a Brooks and Kirk exclusive national event. So don’t hold back on booking a place because you would like a workshop closer to you. We have individuals travel from all over the country to attend these events, because you won’t find them anywhere else.

Alternatively, if you’d like to hear what delegates from the EPA Workshop in London had to say about this event before booking on, here’s a taste of some of the feedback we received.

Feedback from Attendees

By the end of the day, all of our wonderful attendees left with a much better understanding of End-Point Assessment and a certificate to prove it. This certificate also happened to count for 6.5 hours of CPD; making for a very useful addition to their CPD records. All we could do then was hope that everyone had enjoyed the day as much as they appeared to have. Cue the results from the feedback survey…

Unlike traditional NVQ assessor positions, if you want to find End-Point Assessor jobs, you can’t just go to any old college or training provider. Instead, you will need to go to specialist organisations that have been approved to deliver End-Point Assessments…

Who do End-Point Assessors work for?

At this moment in time, there are organisations all over the UK that are offering End-Point Assessor jobs; from professional bodies, to awarding bodies, to training providers. But they do all have one ‘name’ in common…

End-Point Assessment Organisations (EPAOs). EPAOs have all gone through the government’s application process and have been approved to offer End-Point Assessments.

These organisations can vary significantly; both in terms of the amount of apprenticeships they are approved to offer and their geographical coverage. So if you’re in the market for End-Point Assessor jobs, you need to find EPAOs that:

• Are approved to facilitate EPAs in apprenticeship standard(s) you are competent in;
• Will take on apprentices in geographical areas you can cover.

Less is More

I can guarantee you that there isn’t as many EPAOs as you may think there is as well. As of 1st August 2019, there were 245 approved End-Point Assessment Organisations. When you consider that between them, they need to cover every single apprenticeship standard across the country… 245 isn’t a massive number.

But in the long term, having a relatively small amount of End-Point Assessment Organisations will make it easier to standardise End-Point Assessment across the board. So in fact, in many ways ‘less is more’ when it comes to End-Point Assessment Organisations.

Tell me more about EPAOs

So, now you know who Independent End-Point Assessors work for, what’s next? Well, it all depends on what you are looking for now… 

For those of you who want to learn more about EPAOs, take a look at who End-Point Assessment Organisations are and what they do. 

Alternatively, if you are job hungry, here’s how to find End-Point Assessment Organisations. 

You could try searching for them one by one online. However, given that there are around 250 of them, it may take you a while.

Wouldn’t it be much better if there was just a list of EPAOs that you could filter, so that you could easily find the ones that are relevant to you? Well, there is and you can – thanks to the Register of End-Point Assessment Organisations.

How to find End-Point Assessment Organisations

Prospective Independent Assessors can use the Register of End-Point Assessment Organisations to find EPAOs that are suitable for them.

Admittedly, the register wasn’t developed and made publicly available for this purpose. It is actually more for employers who are looking to find an assessment organisation to facilitate the EPA for their apprentice(s). Using the information provided on the register, employers can choose any organisation that’s listed against the respective Apprenticeship Standard for which their apprentice is completing.

But anyway, enough about employers and how they can use the register. In this post, we are focused on how you,  a prospective Independent Assessor, can use the register to find an End-Point Assessment Organisation.

The Register of End-Point Assessment Organisations

To find EPAOs that deliver End-Point Assessments in apprenticeships you are competent in, you need to follow a 2-part process. However, you only need to do Part 1, if you don’t know the exact name of the apprenticeships you are interested in.

Part 1

1. Go to the List of Apprenticeship Standards on the IfA website;
2. Using the ‘Keywords’ filter tool, type in a word that best describes the area you are occupationally competent in;
3. Identify which apprenticeships are relevant to you by clicking on them and reading the ‘overview of the role’ section at the top;
4. Copy the name of the apprenticeship (i.e. ‘Teaching Assistant’, ‘Steel Fixer’, ‘Adult Care Worker’ etc.).

Now you are ready for part 2.

Part 2

Just so you know, it is ideal to be on a desktop device with Microsoft Excel to do the following;

1. Go to the Register of End-Point Assessment Organisations page on the gov.uk site;
2. Look for the grey box (like the one below) and click on the link to the register;
3. Open the ‘Find and Replace’ function by pressing ‘Ctrl + f’;
4. Paste in the name of the apprenticeship and just keep clicking ‘Next’ to identify all of the EPAOs on that list that deliver that EPA.

And that is how you find End-Point Assessment Organisations!

There is one final point that you need to be aware of however. Hardly a day goes by where one EPAO or another isn’t applying to add another apprenticeship standard to their list. So, don’t treat the information on that register as ‘final’; there’s a good chance it may not be absolutely up to date.

So by now, you know what End-Point Assessments are. And, you’ve probably heard of End-Point Assessment Organisations (EPAOs); but may not exactly know who they are. We’re going to have a look into this, and also find out what End-Point Assessment Organisations actually do…

Who are End-Point Assessment Organisations?

Awarding Bodies, Training Providers, and Professional Bodies can become EPAOs. Each of these organisations must be registered on the EPAO register before they can carry out Independent End-Point Assessments with Apprentices. So, once approved and registered by the Government, any of the 3 groups can become an EPAO.

It’s important to know that only the organisations that are on the register are eligible to take part in the Apprentice’s End-Point Assessment. Whilst there might be a number of different people/organisations that are involved in the End-Point Assessment, only the EPAO needs to be listed on the register.

What exactly do End-Point Assessment Organisations do?

EPAOs are completely independent from the rest of the Apprentice’s NVQ. Their main responsibility is making sure that Apprentices’ all receive the same standards in their End-Point Assessments. So, in line with the assessment plan, EPA’s responsibilities are, to name a few:

• Design and develop the content of the End-Point Assessment;
• Check and verify that the Apprentice has completed any essential elements prior to the End-Point Assessment, including any mandatory qualifications;
• Carry out End-Point Assessments of Apprentices;
• Quality assure the End-Point Assessment they deliver;
• Stick to the external quality assurance arrangements;
• Make sure that End-Point Assessment is synoptic and independent;
• Identify and record when the Apprentice has passed the End-Point Assessment.

So, that’s summed up who End-Point Assessment Organisation are, and what they do. Keep an eye out for our next blog, where we’ll explain how you can find an End-Point Assessment Organisation…

So by now, you know that all of the information for specific End-Point Assessments comes from; the Apprenticeship Standards, and the Assessment Plan. You might be thinking ‘how do I find an Assessment Plan?!’ It’s pretty straightforward actually, but we’ll take you through a step-by-step process to finding one relevant to you.

Step 1 – Google Search

So first you need to go onto Google (or whatever search engine you use; Bing, Yahoo…) and type in ‘Institute for Apprenticeships’.

From here, you’ll need to click on their website; Institute for Apprenticeships.

Step 2 – Search for an Apprenticeship

You’ll then need to click on ‘Apprenticeship Standards’ at the top of the home page.

It will lead you to a page that looks like this;

Now you’ll need to find an Apprenticeship that you would be competent to assess in. You can see from the screenshot above that 3/4 of these qualifications have been ‘Approved for Delivery’. This box will need to be ticked on the Apprenticeship you’re looking for.

So once you’ve found the desired Apprenticeship, click on it!

Step 3 – Accessing the Assessment Plan

When you’ve clicked on the Apprenticeship (in our example, we’ve used an Early Years Educator) you’ll find the Apprenticeship Standards. Not quite what you’re looking for – but we’re getting there!

On the right-hand side of your screen, you’ll find a variety of options (you may need to scroll down, and if you’re on mobile, they will be at the bottom of your screen). These options look like this:

All you need to do is find and click on the box that says ‘Assessment Plan’ and bingo – you’ve got it!

That’s the three easy steps you need to take to find an Assessment Plan. Of course, if you find maybe that Apprenticeship isn’t right for you to be assessing, then just start the process again from Step 2.