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End point assessment
The end point assessment includes
The end point assessment includes
End point assessment explained
Apprenticeship Standards include an End Point Assessment (EPA) at the end of the apprenticeship. The EPA is a process your NowSkills tutor will prepare you for.
To take your EPA, you will need to reach your apprenticeship gateway, the point where you have passed all required examinations (if exams are included in your apprenticeship) and your summative portfolio is prepared and ready for submission.
The End Point Assessment has four different components, as shown below:
Summative portfolio
Provides evidence against the Standard’s requirements, based on the application of your knowledge, skills and behaviours to work projects completed and forms the basis of you work based learning evidence.
Employer reference
Provides your employer’s perspective on how you have performed in the workplace and how you have applied your knowledge, skills and behaviours in work projects.
Synoptic project
This is a short project for you to complete which will be relevant to the Standard and allow you to showcase your skills. The synoptic project can last for 3 days of dedicated work.
The synoptic project is an opportunity for you to show all you have learned during your apprenticeship and help your external assessor understand your abilities and and make an accurate grading decision.
Interview
The interview with the end point assessor provides an opportunity for you to talk about your experience and showcase what you have learned.
Your NowSkills tutor will support and prepare you before your EPA interview.
End point assessment: summative portfolio
Your summative portfolio showcases the work you have done during your apprenticeship, presenting high-quality evidence from real-work projects and will show how you have applied the knowledge skills and behaviours demanded by the IT Apprenticeship Standard.
The summative portfolio is not evidence that the learning has taken place, but 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.
Apprentices 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 and is a discussion between the apprentice and the EPA assessor.
The interview will cover what the apprentice did during their apprenticeship and is an opportunity to showcase and apprentice’s full range of technical knowledge as well as the underpinning skills and behaviours.
The Apprenticeship End Point Assessment Grading Decision
Successful apprenticeship outcomes are graded Pass, Merit or Distinction.
Pass
For a pass, each of the three sets of criteria must demonstrate at least the expected (minimum requirement) level of quality.
Merit
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.
Distinction
For a distinction, each of the three sets of criteria must be significantly above the expected level of quality.
Apprenticeship End Point Assessment and grading: who does it?
Organisations 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.
