Frequently Asked Questions - Assessment
Uncomplicated answers to complicated problems

1. "What awards can I assess with my existing A1 and also the new revised A1 (L&D9DI)?”

• PDA – S/NVQ Units
• Customised awards
• S/NVQs
• Core Skills – Workplace based only

You will achieve your Assessor award using the area of competence in which you are currently working and qualified. However, if you have provable competence in other subject areas then you can also assess in these.

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2. "What can’t I assess with my A units or the new L&D9DI?”

Whatever you assess, you must have Occupational Competence in that specific subject area.

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3. "Can I use in-house competence systems to achieve my Assessor award?”

Yes, as long as the evidence is valid and sufficient to meet the requirements of the standards and is generated by real work activity in the workplace.
SQA’s Accreditation Unit has issued guidelines on this (Accreditation Guidance Note 10). Additional guidance can be downloaded from SQA’s Website:
www.sqa.org.uk/learninganddevelopment, publication title: Assessment and Internal Verification of Non-SVQs

4. “Does my candidate to have completed their entire award before I can complete my A1?”

No. As long as your candidate has done a substantive amount of their award, which will have enabled to cover all the minimum evidence requirements within your award, then you can achieve the award.

5. “When working towards my assessor award, do my assessment decisions have to be countersigned by a qualified assessor?”

There are two (correct) answers to this question:

• SQA generally does not require all decisions by non-qualified assessors of SVQs to be countersigned.

• However - whether all decisions (prior to the assessor-candidate achieving their A1/A2) need to be countersigned is a matter for the Assessment Strategy for that occupational area.

6. “Is there a course I can go on to upgrade my D Units to the new Assessor award?”

No. To achieve your Assessor award, you have to complete the whole qualification, whether or not you hold D units.

It is not mandatory to achieve a further assessor award if you already hold your D units, but it is mandatory for you to work to current assessment standards when assessing candidates. This can be proven by undertaking an assessment CPD course – please contact us for full details.

7. “I am assessing competence in a training room situation – can I achieve an assessor award using this environment?”

YES - there are NEW Assessor and Verifier awards (“Carry out the Assessment Process” and “Internally Verify the Assessment Process”) which will allow you to achieve an Assessor or Verifier award within a simulated environment. Please contact us for full details.

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8. “Can customised awards be used to achieve a nationally recognised assessor award?”

YES – the type of assessor Award you achieve will depend on where these customised awards are assessed – please contact us if you are unsure of which assessor award you need to achieve.

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9. “I am told that to achieve my assessor award, the evidence must “come from the workplace” – but whose workplace is this, mine or my candidates?”

The requirement is that the evidence being assessed by the assessor-candidate must come from the workplace of candidates being assessed.

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10. “Do I need to achieve both of the new Assessor awards (L&D9D and L&D9DI)?”

No. The award that you require depends on what the individual assessment strategy stipulates. Simplistically, if you are only using observation and some questioning (e.g. in most Level 1 award) then 9D is sufficient. However if you are using other types of assessment methods (witness testimony; APL; work products; professional discussion etc) then you require an 9DI If you undertake L&D9DI you do NOT need the other assessor award.

11. “What is Competence Assessment?”

Competence Assessment is the measurement of an employee's performance against an agreed set of standards for work-based activities.

 

Frequently Asked Questions – CPD (Continuing Professional Development)
Uncomplicated answers to complicated problems

1. “Who is responsible for planning and monitoring Assessor & Verifier CPD?”

Responsibilities for CPD lie in a number of areas:

• The centre is responsible for including CPD arrangements in its Internal Verification Strategy. It is advisable to plan CPD in advance to ensure minimum Assessment Strategy requirements are met
• Assessors and internal verifiers are responsible for managing, maintaining and recording their own CPD.
• External verifiers are responsible for monitoring CPD activity within centres.

2. “How many hours of CPD does an assessor or verifier have to undertake?”

CPD activity should not be determined by a number of hours but by the appropriateness of the activity to the individual and their development needs.

The minimum requirement is for two activities a year for an assessor and the same for an internal verifier. These activities should be built into the centre’s Internal Verification strategy.

3. “How should evidence of CPD be recorded?”

Assessors/verifiers are usually responsible for organising and recording their own CPD. Evidence should be retained in a file/portfolio for presentation during external verification visits.

However, just putting evidence of course attendance into a portfolio does not provide evidence of development as this should include a reflection on ‘why am I doing this?’ and subsequently ‘what impact has it had on what I now do and/or say as a result?’

Please contact us for help and a template if unsure of how this should be recorded.

4. “How can I demonstrate that I am now working to new assessor standards, as required by the awarding bodies?”

This can be proven by undertaking a CPD course in either Assessment or Verification – please contact us for full details.

 

Frequently Asked Questions – Verification
Uncomplicated answers to complicated problems

1. “Is there a requirement in the Internal Verifier award for the internal verifier to be in direct contact with the awarding body or the external verifier?”

It does not require the verifier-candidate to be in direct contact with the External Verifier or Awarding Body. He/she can achieve this element by ensuring they take appropriate responsibility for organising External Verifier Visits i.e. through communicating with the SQA Centre Coordinator.
He/she can also prove through documentation (sampled during the EV process) how they fulfil other parts of their IV role.

3. “Can I work towards my Internal Verifier award if I am not a qualified assessor?”

The awarding body prefers that you have been working as an assessor for a year before working towards your V1. However, the assessment strategy of the award you will be verifying should have the definitive answer.

4. “The requirements for the Interal Verifier award indicate that the internal verifier needs to be involved in work usually carried out by the SQA Co-ordinator. In this situation, how can the internal verifier-candidate generate the appropriate evidence?”

To help meet external verifier requirements in a meaningful way, the internal verifier-candidate could work with the Co-ordinator or persons responsible for quality assuring the award(s) to be externally moderated. For example:

• Discussing with the Centre Co-ordinator how internal assessment will be externally checked in their occupational area, and agreeing suitable times etc.
• By collecting information on assessment decisions they have verified in their occupational area prior to the visit.
• Providing useful background information prior to a visit i.e. information on how previous action points set by the external verifier have been met etc.