Apprenticeship End Point Assessment

End Point Assessment Explained

The Apprenticeship Standards include an End Point Assessment (EPA). This takes place toward the end of the apprenticeship, it encourages and enables apprentices’ progressions of professional developments. Additionally, the end-point assessment only takes place once any on-program classroom, online and vendor qualification learning has been passed.

The End Point Assessment takes place in four different parts, as shown in the diagram below:

End Point Assesment

Summative Portfolio

Provides evidence against the totality of the standard, based on the application of knowledge, competence and behaviours to real work projects in the work environment. This is key to ensure the validity of the final assessment decision.

Employer Reference

Provides the employer’s perspective on how the apprentice has performed in the workplace and how they have applied their knowledge, competencies and behaviours in work projects.

Synoptic Project

Provides evidence against a selected set of knowledge, competencies and behaviours against a pre-defined project undertaken in a controlled environment. This is key to ensure consistency and comparability, increasing the accuracy of the assessment decision.

Interview

Provides an opportunity for further evidence to be gathered and/or evidence to be explored in more detail against any of the knowledge, competence or behaviours. This also increases accuracy and validity.

End Point Assessment: Summative Portfolio

NowSkills puts together the summative portfolio towards the end of the NowSkills IT Apprenticeships. In the portfolio, apprentices present evidence from real-work projects. Furthermore, this is to illustrate the application of all the knowledge, skills and behaviours set out in the IT Apprenticeships EPA.

The summative portfolio is not evidence that the learning has taken place. Additionally, It is evidence that the apprentice has applied that learning in their working role.

The evidence will comprise a small number of complete pieces of work which, together, cover the requirements of the IT Apprenticeships End Point Assessment. They are able to showcase their very best work and the portfolio enables learners to demonstrate how they have applied their knowledge and understanding in a real-work environment to achieve real-work objectives.

End Point Assessment: Synoptic Project

The synoptic project presents evidence from a business-related project testing the application of a selection of the knowledge, skills and behaviours defined in the standard.

The project does not need to cover every competence but must cover a broad breadth of the competency outcomes, including the use of tools to problem-solve and trouble-shoot non-routine problems. It is designed to assess apprentices in a consistent way, irrespective of their particular workplace and their particular role within their company, and is therefore completed outside of day-to-day work pressures in a controlled environment.

End Point Assessment: Employer Reference

This part of the Apprenticeship End Point Assessment allows employers to provide feedback about the apprentice. This also looks at the quality of the apprentice’s work. Also, NowSkills will provide employers with guidance and if required a template that will enable the employer to make comments against the grading minimum standards and criteria as set out in the Occupational Brief. We will not ask employers to provide a rating.

End Point Assessment: Interview

The Apprenticeship EPA interview is the final part of the EPA. Hence, it is a structured discussion between the apprentice and their independent assessor.

Also, it covers what the apprentice did in terms of the standard of their work. This enables the EPA to include the full range of technical knowledge as well as the underpinning skills and behaviours.

The Apprenticeship End Point Assessment Grading Decision

The purpose of the Apprenticeship End Point Assessment grading is to differentiate. This is between those apprentices whose work is at the expected level of quality against the totality of the skills, knowledge and behaviours specified in the standard and those whose work is significantly above this expected level:

apprenticeship end assessment
  • For a pass, each of the three sets of criteria must demonstrate at least the expected (minimum requirement) level of quality
  • Merit consists of What has to be significantly above the level of quality. Also, one of either the How or the With Whom has to be significantly above the level of quality expected
  • For a distinction, each of the three sets of criteria must be significantly above the expected level of quality

The assessor takes a holistic judgment. This is of whether their assessments demonstrate that the apprentice is “significantly above the expected level of quality” in each of these areas.

Apprenticeship End Point Assessment and grading: who does it?

Organisation on the ESFA’s Register of Apprentice Assessment Organisations can undertake Apprenticeship EPA against the standard, for which they’re registered. Also, these organisations are responsible for delivering Apprenticeship End Point Assessments based on the specifications produced by the employers.

NowSkills would normally arrange a learner’s Apprenticeship End Point Assessment. If employers would like to make their own arrangements, please inform us during the first 6 months of the apprenticeship. Additional charges may apply.