Assessor awards (assessing vocational skills)

Ensures assessors have the skills to evaluate candidates effectively against national standards in safety-critical railway roles

Course Overview

You will need to complete tasks in order to be awarded the Assessor Award certificate: an underpinning knowledge online assessment, assessments of candidates and assignments around standardisation and your company standards.

You will learn how to do this on the Assessor Award course, otherwise known as the City & Guilds Level 3 Award in Assessing Competence in the Work Environment, including Assessing Vocational Skills, Knowledge and Understanding. This is described in further detail below:

Booking Your Award

To book an Assessor Award training course or to enquire for further information, please contact bookings@assesstech.com, where a member of the AssessTech team will be happy to assist.

Approach

AssessTech conduct the initial training over two days in the classroom/via Zoom and also act as Internal Quality Assurers (IQAs) to conduct the candidate’s workplace assessments and mark all work, ensuring it meets the requirements of all parties:

Customer
AssessTech
City & Guilds

Benefits of AssessTech

AssessTech are in a unique position to provide this training for the following reasons:

AssessTech provide Competence Management Systems that are used widely within the Railway Industry and, as such, understand a wide variety of Competence Management Standards.
AssessTech has been instrumental in the adoption of developmental assessment methods within the Railway Industry.
AssessTech is a City & Guilds Centre.

Description of Training

Each new Assessor will receive the following:

Two days of classroom or remote/online training delivered by AssessTech, including: o Assessor Course Core Content (see section 4), including principles and best practice for assessment, as well as underpinning knowledge o Introduction to customer Competence Management Standards o Coaching on completing the Assessor Award to City & Guilds standards
An account on AssessBook to store all of the evidence needed to achieve the award with City & Guilds
Registration with City & Guilds
A simulated workplace assessment assessed by the AssessTech trainer during the two-day course which will contribute toward the award portfolio
A workplace assessment
Verification of the portfolio by AssessTech
Ongoing support from their AssessTech trainer
A City & Guilds Assessor Award and associated certificate, upon successful completion

Who is it for

This is a mandatory requirement for those involved in assessing competencies for safety-critical work and who are responsible for ensuring the quality of competence-based assessment (e.g. all those who are expected to conduct workplace assessment using nationally-recognised standards to measure staff competencies and skills).

Core Content

The core content covers the following:

Units 301/302 Assessing Competence in the Work Environment
Complaints and Appeals
Equal opportunities
Roles of individuals within the assessment process
Why do we assess?
The Swiss cheese theory
A ‘Just Culture’
Planning Assessments
Assisting the candidate to prepare for the assessment
Using performance criteria effectively within assessments
Conducting a developmental, holistic assessment
Collecting and judging evidence using a range of methods
Ensuring quality in assessing performance and diverse evidence
Incorporating a developmental grading system
Using NTS markers to enhance the assessment
The supporting of the candidate’s development within the workplace
80/20 developmental feedback
Recording developmental feedback
Producing concise honest assessment records to support the candidate
Use of Company Standards
CPD – RSSB Assessment best practise guide
ORR– Developing and maintaining staff competence
Use of eSystems for gathering and storing assessments
Assisting the candidate to take ownership of their competence
Standardisation activities
The mature assessment model

Level 3 Award

Successful candidates will achieve a City & Guilds Level 3 Award in Assessing Competence in the Work Environment, including Assessing Vocational Skills, Knowledge and Understanding. This comprises three units:

Unit 301 – Understanding the principles and practices of assessment
Unit 302 – Assess occupational competence in the work environment
Unit 303 – Assess vocational skills, knowledge and understanding

Unit 301

301 Understanding the principles and practices of assessment

The Level 3 Award in Understanding the Principles and Practices of Assessment (QCF) is intended for those who wish to gain an understanding of the principles and practices of assessment without any requirement to practice as Assessors. This qualification is ideal, therefore, for those individuals new to assessment and hoping to become an Assessor. In addition, it is beneficial for those whose role requires them to know about essential principles and practices of assessment, but never practice, for example, Programme Administrators and Managers.

There are eight learning outcomes to this unit. The learner will:

Understand the principles and requirements of assessment
Understand different types of assessment method
Understand how to plan assessment assuring the quality of assessment
Understand how to involve learners and others in assessment
Understand how to make assessment decisions
Understand quality assurance of the assessment process
Understand how to manage information relating to assessment
Understand the legal and good practice requirements in relation to assessment

How will this be achieved?

The evidence for this unit will be completed via a series of written responses to standardised questions. This should be viewed as a cementing of knowledge and best practice. The written task will be completed either within the class environment, or set as a project for the candidates to complete within their own time. It will be up to the AssessTech trainer to decide what is most appropriate to the candidate’s needs.

Unit 302

302 Assess occupational competence in the work environment

The Level 3 Award in Assessing Competence in the Work Environment is intended for Assessors who assess occupational competence in an individual’s work environment. It includes the following assessment methods (although not all of these require performance evidence):

Observation of performance in the work environment
Examining products of work
Questioning the learner
Professional discussion with the learner
Use of witness testimony
Learner statements and/or reflective accounts
Recognition of prior learning

There are four learning outcomes to this unit. The learner will:

Be able to plan the assessment of occupational competence
Be able to make assessment decisions about occupational competence
Be able to provide required information following the assessment of occupational competence
Be able to maintain legal and good practice requirements when assessing occupational competence

How will this be achieved?

The evidence for this unit will be completed via four practical assessments within the candidate’s work environment on two individuals e.g. (two assessments on two individuals). The reason we ask this is it will give the training Assessor a chance to develop their candidate within the work environment.

Unit 303

303 Assess vocational skills, knowledge and understanding

This unit is intended for Assessors that assess vocational achievement, specifically assessing candidates working towards NVQs.

There are four learning outcomes to this unit. The learner will:

Be able to prepare assessments of vocational skills, knowledge and understanding
Be able to carry out assessments of vocational skills, knowledge and understanding
Be able to provide required information following the assessment of vocational skills, knowledge and understanding
Be able to maintain legal and good practice requirements when assessing vocational skills, knowledge and understanding

How will this be achieved?

The evidence for this unit will be completed via four practical assessments within the candidate’s work environment on two individuals e.g. (two assessments on two individuals). The assessments must involve assessing candidates against NVQ criteria.