How to become an assessor for vocational skills
Blog written by Maxine Lock from Peritia Training who deliver courses for Training, Assessing and Internal Quality Assurance Qualifications.
This blog looks at the requirements for the following qualifications:
Do you work or do you plan to work as an assessor? If so this blog is for you. As you read you will learn about the various assessor qualifications that you can do and the options available for completing them. If you work as an assessor you may assess learners in their work place to see if they are occupationally competent or you may assess learners in other environments such as training centres or workshops to ensure that their vocational skills meet a set of assessment criteria. Assessors may also be the trainer and so support a learner right through their qualification. Assessors can work for a training organisation, a college or may be employed on a freelance basis.
Before becoming an assessor however, you need to decide your subject area and make sure you are considered occupationally competent in the area you intend to assess. For example I would not be able to assess a hairdressing qualification as the only experience I have in this area is giving my partner a once over with a set of clippers. The occupational competence required will be defined by the qualification specification of the subject that you plan to assess.
To become an assessor you will usually need to hold one of the assessor awards or certificate mentioned at the start of this blog. There are a number of different pathways that you can take depending on what you assess, how those assessments are done, where you assess people and the requirements of the qualification being assessed.
For all the pathways you will start with Understanding the Principles and Practices of Assessment - this is one unit which covers the theory of assessment. To complete this unit you will need to undertake some learning and then complete either a written assignment or a series of professional discussions in order to demonstrate and evidence your understanding.
This unit on its own does not allow you to assess learners. To do this you will need to complete one or more additional units. The additional units you need to take will depend on what you are assessing, or plan to assess.
Assess Occupational Competence in the Work Environment
If you assess people in their place of work to determine that they are competent to do a job then this is the next unit to complete. To do this you will need to develop a portfolio of evidence which shows that you can plan and carry out assessments of occupational competence. You will need to demonstrate that you can observe performance in the work environment and make appropriate judgements of their competence against the required standards. You will also examine products of work and again determine that they meet the standard expected by their workplace. Questioning the learner is another assessment method that you will use and need to provide evidence for. This evidence can be obtained by your assessor observing you undertaking assessments, having your assessor examine your products of work and through your assessor questioning you and recording your responses.
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In addition to this you will also need to provide evidence that you have used the following assessment methods: discussions with the learner, use of others (witness testimony), looking at learner statements and recognising prior learning.
For this unit you will need to complete a minimum of two assessments of two learners occupational competence, this means four assessments in total.
Assess Vocational Knowledge and Understanding
If you assess people's vocational skills in a non-work environment such as a workshop, a classroom or a training centre environment, then this will be the next unit for you to complete. As with the unit for assessing occupational competence you will need to provide a portfolio of evidence which demonstrates your ability to plan and carry out assessments. You will have to provide performance evidence for at least three of the following assessment methods: assessments of the learner in simulated environments, skills tests, oral and written questions, assignments, projects, case studies and recognising prior learning. The rest can be assessed using other forms of evidence. The performance evidence will be assessed by your assessor observing you carrying out assessments of learners and giving feedback. In addition to this your assessor will look at your products of work such as assessment plans and assessment reports. They will also ask questions or conduct a professional discussion where you can explain how you have carried out your role as an assessor.
To complete this unit and provide appropriate evidence you need to be able to carry out a minimum of two assessments of two learners skills, so this is four assessments in total.
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If you complete all 3 Units then you can achieve the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA). If you are just starting out in your career as an assessor I would recommend doing the full CAVA qualification to give you the best opportunities for gaining work.
So having decided what it is that you need to achieve you then need to find a course that will enable you to complete the required units.
There are a number of different ways to complete the assessor units including online, distance learning or classroom based.
For classroom based you might expect a week of theory sessions and then you will be supported to complete the assessments for the units that you are doing. This will include observations by your assessor of you carrying out assessments on your learners.
Online/ distance learning could also be similar to classroom based but the learning is delivered using an online classroom portal such as Zoom or Google classroom. You will usually be expected to log into the virtual classroom at a set time and the trainer will deliver the session. As with classroom learning it is usual for an assessor to actually visit you to complete observations for both unit 2 and unit 3.
For both of the above options you have the benefit of other learners to support and contribute to the learning environment. Chat rooms or forums can give support and help to answer questions about the course. Some people prefer this type of set up as it gives them a fixed schedule and helps to keep them on track. For some learners, however, the fixed timetable does not meet their needs or fit in with work or family.
A more flexible approach is to complete the course through an online platform, such as Moodle, where you log-in and work at your own pace. All the learning materials are accessed through the online platform and could include e-books, lessons, videos or audio. The written assessments can also be completed and submitted through the same platform. Guidance is given to enable learners to complete the portfolio of evidence. Observations can be done either face-to-face, where the assessor will meet with the learner and complete observations, examination of work products and have a professional discussion. Or the learner may provide video evidence of them carrying out assessments and then this is followed up by an online or phone discussion with their assessor.
How well this any of the above are done depends on the quality and working practices of the training centre delivering the course. As someone who works in both internal and external quality assurance I have seen variety of different approaches by training centres, some deliver just to meet the basic requirements, some are very sector specific and only work with learners in particular areas, while others are delivering and supporting learning and assessment through a variety of innovative ways. I would suggest that you seek recommendations from other learners, when choosing a course, but also consider which approach best suits you and your needs.
The approach taken by Peritia Training is to deliver online learning through Moodle. Learners can start at any time to suit them and then work through the learning at their own pace. Assessments are also submitted through Moodle so on completion of the course the learner has an e-portfolio to submit for moderation and then hopefully awarding of the qualification. We encourage each learner to take ownership of their assessor units. During the pre-course discussions the subject area of the learner is discussed so the assessor is aware of what the learner is going to be assessing. Our online courses are written so that as the learner works through the course materials they are constantly applying the content to their subject area. We find that this works really well for our learners, not only do they complete a qualification but they also fully understand how to apply assessment processes in their own work environment.
So once you have worked out which course is for you just click on Peritia Training and select the course you need. Hit the book now button and send us your contact details.