Learner Case Studies
Every Learner is Different
Over our 25 years of training, we have been extremely privileged to have worked with people from a huge variety of backgrounds; you can take a look at all of their stories and the reasons they became Assessors, IQAs, and/or Tutors with Brooks and Kirk.
Danielle
Childcare
Danielle was originally employed as a Nursery Nurse and worked her way up to the senior team, playing a big part in helping Apprentices with their work.
Kerrie
Early Years
Wanting to further herself in her career, give herself new challenges and build a future for herself, Kerrie decided to become an assessor in Early Years.
Victoria
Early Years
After 8 years in the Early Years sector, Victoria was looking for a change in direction. She decided that assessing was a logical and achievable way forward.
Betsy
Early Years
After 10+ years of experience in Early Years, it was time for Betsy to enter a familiar yet exciting new industry. Learn why she chose to acquire her CAVA qualification.
Case Studies
Kerrie
“I think Brooks and Kirk gave me the confidence to push myself out of my comfort zone. The course has helped me develop strong relationships with the settings and learners I work with. It has also given me the confidence to challenge and inspire students to be the best practitioners they can be!
I really liked that you provided learners and there were no time constraints.”
Ciaran
Education
Before moving into assessing, Ciaran was a Geography teacher and worked in Education for around 8 years. He was referred to us by his Leadership Team.
Kathryn
Education
When Kathryn’s two sons started going to school, she found herself with more spare time. This was when she decided to retrain as an Assessor.
Kathy
Adult Education
Kathy had previously completed the D32/33 back in 1996, which is the old assessor course, alongside her PGCE. She took the UPPA to update her knowledge.
Kat
Further Education Coaching and Teaching
Wanting to upskill in her own organisation by learning to assess and quality assure, Kat got in touch with the team at Brooks & Kirk.
Sobia
Primary Education
Sobia took up the Assessor course when she was on maternity leave from working as a Senior Level 3 Teaching Assistant in a Primary School.
Case Studies
Ciaran
“One of the benefits I found was the flexability of the course and that there were no times scales to do the tasks. Once I did submit work it was always reacted to quite quickly by the assessors and I always received feedback quickly. It was always specific and easily actionable. The workshop day impressed me, espescially steve. It was a well planned, logical and methodical course day and I know my colleague had the same opinion who attended the same day as me. By the end of the day I felt prepared to go out and do what is required.”
Andrew
Electrics and Engineering
Andrew updated his teaching qualification he had from the army 12 years ago, and now teaches in the Engineering department at his local college.
Ken
Gas
Stuck in a job working 60-70 hours a week, Ken wanted some flexibility in order to spend more time with his family. Ken started looking at the assessor route.
Paul
Mechanical/Electrical Engineering
Paul has spent many years both working with and managing apprentices, and wanted to upskill and gain knowledge for future challenges.
Case Studies
Andrew
“Fantastic experience, the feedback was fantastic and the ability to look back at the work given gave me clear details as to what to amend and how to move forwards“
“Its important not to knock the confidence of the kids of today and Brooks and Kirk definitely helped with the delivery of feedback. Keep them focused and retained; the feedback has the be right and the teaching I had will help me to do that. Certain teachers do not care, and you can see how they knock the confidence.”
Katie
Hairdressing
Starting as an Apprentice herself, Katie worked her way up to Assistant Manager in a hair salon, and is now a Hairdressing Tutor based in London.
Marco
Hairdressing
Marco used his time wisely during the lockdowns in the pandemic, and started looking at ways to upskill for when life returned to normality.
Maria
Beauty and Holistics
Maria used to be a healthcare assistant until 2010. She now works in the beauty industry, where she uses massage to help people with cancer.
Case Studies
Katie
“The knowledge and skills from the course has been useful, it’s given me an idea of what’s involved within teaching and assessing, preparing me for further training I’m receiving in my new job role. It was particularly useful because as part of my interview I had to do a 15 min microteach, thanks to the course I knew exactly how and what to do for it.”
Mahesh
Retail and Health & Social Care
Previously working in both Retail Management and Health & Social Care, Mahesh took a chance on becoming an Assessor with Brooks and Kirk.
Shantelle
Health & Social Care
Shantelle landed her first Assessor job at a college just weeks after qualifying! Before, she worked as a Care Assistant in Mental Health Services.
Valarie
Adult Social Care
Valarie has been working in Adult Social Care since 2004, and wanted to find a job that was flexible whilst retaining her current skills and knowledge.
Loriann
Health & Social Care
Working within Health & Social Care, Loriann wanted to advance her career from a trainee to a fully qualified assessor & IQA.
Case Studies
Shantelle
“This course has taught me all I need to know about assessing individuals within both the working and learning environment (THE LEARNERS ARE PROVIDED) which was a major plus.
I completed this course within 2 months and have enjoyed the challenge. Once I received the qualification I was able to seek work within the health and social care field and within a week I was offered my first job within teaching. Hard work pays off…”
Greg
Food Standards
Greg has been a Meat Inspector since 2001. Nowadays, after completing his CAVA course, Greg trains and assesses trainee inspectors like he once was!
Case Studies
Greg
“As a whole, the course was good and a pleasant experience, and I would definitely go back to Brooks and Kirk for training.
I definitely feel the course enabled me to better assess and give feedback to my trainees.”
Derek
Locksmith
Derek and his wife wanted their training centre to become a Highfield Awards Training Centre, so Derek enrolled on our CAVA and IQA courses.
Edward
IT
Edward had been assessing for three years before coming qualified – but all of his work had to be countersigned by a qualified Assessor!
Geoff
Instrumentation, Control & Automation
Geoff is working in Equatorial Guinea training nationals in Control, Automation Instrumentation.
Lisa
Digital Marketing
Motorbike enthusiast Lisa used to work as a College Lecturer, and once she became a qualified Assessor landed herself a Digital Marketing Assessor position.
Lexie
Culinary
The idea of teaching new chefs was what inspired Lexie to become an Assessor. Now she works as a Chef Trainer and thinks it’s the best job she has ever done.
Jodie
Health & Fitness
Gym Instructor Jodie realised she had a passion for helping and teaching others when she became part of the Management Team at a fitness/leisure centre.
Melanie
IT, Digital, and Employability Skills
Before enrolling on her IQA course, Melanie was already involved in carrying out internal quality assurance. Her qualification added to her professionalism.
James
Motor Vehicle
In 2019, James suffered an accident which made it hard to do his physical job. Hence he came to us to pursue a qualification to begin his career in the FE sector
Thomas
Electrical Engineering
Wanting to become a fully qualified Assessor, Thomas was referred to Brooks and Kirk by his employer. He now hopes to become an Internal Quality Assurer.
Case Studies
Lisa
“The course was excellent. Although I have experience in some of the subject matter from doing my PGCE, there was plenty of new material relevant to apprenticeships and I certainly needed the refresh. The online materials in the virtual learning environment were so easy to use and the course was really well structured…”
Case Studies
Elizabeth
“The CAVA developed my knowledge and understanding of assessment and gave me the opportunity to practice the practical side of assessing to achieve the qualification.
My training at Brooks and Kirk has been very well managed; the resources are easy to follow and well structured. The tutor support is there if I need it and the assignment feedback is turned around in a good amount of time. I like that I get prompted to engage with the course if it is noticed I haven’t logged in for a while – this does help!…”
Sue
Financial Services
Looking to become a Freelance Assessor, Sue completed the Assessor course after working in the Training and Development sector.
Darren
Financial Services and Advice
Darren thought about becoming an IEPA, but had not considered it due to his workload. However, after careful consideration, he chose to pursue a CAVA qualification.
Case Studies
Sue
“What I liked about Brooks and Kirk is the fact it is all online because I prefer working online rather than classroom based. As I can go at my own pace and fit it around my own work. So for me it was a perfect marriage. When it came to the first task I found it a bit daunting. Obviously I have looked after trainers in the past but as it was quite formal it was hard to get my head around. I contacted Rod and he was a big help…”
David
Hospitality and Management Consultancy
David worked in a variety of sectors including Catering, Education, and Management Consultancy.
Janet
Leadership & Management
Even though she had already been carrying out assessments, Janet wanted to formalise her career as an assessor, so she came to Brooks and Kirk.
Lisa
Retail Management
After 16 years in Retail Management, Lisa decided to leave her job and become an Assessor, and now works as an End-Point Assessor.
Mary
Leadership & Management
After 30 years in Senior Leader roles, Mary decided to retrain as an Assessor as she wanted more flexible, freelance work whilst using her years of experience.
Case Studies
Janet
“For me, it worked really well. The videos and the information that was provided, all the pointers enabled me to do it. I was fairly comfortable in the subject, and having been assessing for quite a while I felt quite comfortable with writing assignments. So, in some ways it was relatively straightforward for me.
But it was really interesting, because it was exactly the direction that I wanted to go in…”