If you work in further education, you may have 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 EPAOs 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.
If you want to become an End-Point Assessor, then we would recommend enrolling on to our End-Point Assessor course bundle. Alternatively, if you already hold a valid assessor qualification, then we would recommend our online EPA CPD course. If you have any questions, please get in touch on 01205 805155 or email us at training@brooksandkirk.ac.uk.
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.
