You Could Become an End-Point Assessor
Have you considered becoming an end-point assessor (EPA)? Data collected back in 2018 suggested that when apprenticeship reforms took full effect, there would be around 500,000 end-point assessments carried out annually. There haven’t been any recent figures announced, but that number alone suggests a huge increase in demand for end-point assessors.
What is an End-Point Assessor?
An End-Point Assessor is not a completely new role that has developed – it is very closely linked with being a traditional assessor. An ‘on-programme’ assessor, which is the correct term, applies to someone who supports an apprentice throughout their programme; helping to prepare them for the end-point assessment. End-point assessors play a similar role to that of Examiners, at the final stages of an apprentices learning.
If you would like a more in-depth insight into the role of end-point assessors, feel free to hop over to our other blog on this. For now, let’s have a look at the requirements of becoming an end-point assessor.
Requirements
This varies depending on the field in which you are looking to become an end-point assessor. However, the requirements should be provided within the assessment plan for the apprenticeship you are delivering. The emphasis here is on the word ‘should’.
Unfortunately, there are many assessment plans which don’t provide this information. The first port of call should be the GOV UK website where they have a section to search for apprenticeship standards. It is a bit of a lengthy process trawling through the documents; but at least you know you will find reliable information.
Choosing an Apprenticeship Assessment Organisation (AAO)
Once you have determined whether there is a requirement for an IEPA, you then need to find an AAO. Again the GOV UK website has a great, up-to-date list of end-point assessment organisations for you to choose from.
Make sure you have a cup of tea and some biscuits when you are carrying out this search; there are several stages to go through! Once you have found the register of organisations, you then need to look through the list of standards that each AAO can offer EPAs in. After narrowing down the list further, you need to hone in on those that are approved for the standards you are looking to assess. Lists will soon become your friend in this research stage.
What if I have no assessing experience?
Fear not, you can still become an end-point assessor if you have lots of industry experience under your belt. You will notice that not all assessment plans actually require the assessor to hold a qualification. Of course this is going against best practice; and we would always strongly advise that you take the time to study towards a qualification in your relevant field. If you would like more information about the assessor qualifications that we provide, feel free to have a browse through the website or drop us an email.
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.