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About the course

This Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement qualification is intended for those who wish to gain an understanding of the principles and practices of assessment without any requirement to practice as assessors.

What does it mean to study at Level 3?

You will be assessed at the same level as someone completing A-Levels. Achievement at Level 3 reflects the ability to identify and use relevant understanding, methods and skills to complete tasks and address problems that, while well defined, have a measure of complexity. It includes taking responsibility for initiating and completing tasks and procedures as well as exercising autonomy and judgment within limited parameters. You will be expected to use references and reflect an awareness of different perspectives or approaches within your area of study or work.

Course Duration

The course duration is 12 weeks. This is the only part of the website that will automatically lock you out when your course access lapse. Please pay attention to the date and time when your access is scheduled to lapse. It is your responsibility to apply for an extension following the procedures in place should you wish to exceed the standard course duration.

Progress Indicator

The progress indicator displayed above only measures your progress generated by clicking on the resources located on the right-hand side. The counter will record any clicks even those made within seconds. Your course completion is only determined when you meet all course requirements which will involve being fully assessed, and meeting all learning outcomes and assessment criteria. You will also need to submit your completed portfolio of evidence for both internal and external quality assurance as highlighted above.

Ground Rules

You are expected to demonstrate how you have met at least 84 Guided learning Hours by the end of the course. You are expected to be fully active and demonstrate learning throughout your enrolment. We regularly host a number of online web conferences which are advertised under “Events”. Unfortunately, face to face contact is currently limited due to the ongoing pandemic. In the meantime, you are encouraged to supplement your learning by requesting tutorials and utilising the resources provided.

Learners should bear in mind that the course is not just about submitting assignments. You will need to focus on both participating in course activities and completing coursework. Assessors might withhold your assessments if your course participation is below expectation. There should be evidence of learning which will also be used by our quality assurance team to cross-reference the authenticity and reliability of your work. More information regarding ground rules is located under “Getting Started”.

Induction

Prior to starting your course, you will need to attend an induction. This has to be either face to face or online. Dates and times are published under “Events”. It is your responsibility to book an induction session in order to fully understand how your course is delivered, assessments, deadlines, ground rules and how to use this site. If you are in a hurry to get started, please contact your assessor to request a mini-induction. We will try whenever possible to be flexible and implement a holistic approach. Please ensure you are actively involved during all stages of your learner journey starting from the initial plan, discussing prior learning, negotiating deadlines and meeting your needs.

Fair and Healthy Assessments

We operate both fair and healthy assessment policies and procedures. Our fair assessment is based on the principles of assessments that have to be reflected when decisions are made. This involves ensuring that your evidence is sufficient, current and authentic. The assessments will need to be valid, reliable, fair and fully reflect how learning outcomes and the criteria have been met. We provide a reasonable course duration for you to work safely and demonstrate your competency. While we support learners to work fast track, this should not compromise the quality of evidence and place a burden on safe working procedures.

The assessment environment has to be conducive to ensure that the quality of assessment is not compromised by making harried decisions or assessing too much work within a short time. Our policies and procedures are framed in line with other initiatives such as the safe management of learners.

Our healthy assessment policies are underpinned by the need to ensure that assessors work in a healthy environment. There are feedback timescales that have to be adhered to to ensure that sufficient time allowance is given without putting any pressure on assessors.

There is currently a seven-working days feedback turnaround period for question 1. Another seven for question 2. Seven days is also needed to assess question 3. If you decide to submit all 3 questions at once it can take up to 21 working days to assess and provide feedback. In order to receive formal feedback you need to ensure your evidence is submitted at least three working days before the next appointment (support session). It can take up to 14 working days to assess your practical evidence.

Assessments

This course is assessed by a portfolio of evidence which has to be submitted for both internal and external quality assurance. You will need to complete 3 Questions for Unit 1. These are assessed by both a written account and a recorded discussion.

To achieve the practical units you have to put into practice all the theory learned from unit 1. You have up to a month to carry out and meet all learning outcomes associated with units 2 and 3.

You need to support and assess at least two learners using a range of assessment methods. You should use the practical units template to respond to the 20 questions and signpost your evidence. Each supporting evidence should clearly be labelled and submitted along with the template.

In brief, to achieve unit 2 as a minimum there must be evidence of you carrying out an observation, examining products of work and questioning. To achieve unit 3 you must use any of the three methods (assessments of the learner in simulated environments, skills tests, oral and written questions, assignments, projects, case studies and recognising prior learning.

All assessment decisions are subject to quality assurance. You are only fully signed off after successful internal and external quality assurance.

The assessment strategy for all course tasks is for you to have up to three attempts to meet the assessment criteria. Your assessor will ask you to highlight your work in Green to indicate this is a second attempt. You will be asked to highlight your work in Blue to indicate this is your third attempt. If you have not managed to fully address the assessment criteria after three attempts this might indicate you are struggling. The assessor might ask you to have another attempt, vary your assessments or refer your work to our quality assurance team.

Contact

All communication with your assessor (including when submitting coursework) will need to be on this platform to ensure there is a clear audit trail. You will need to email (contact@etutor.org.uk) if you require admin or IT support. The course-dedicated day for the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement is Wednesday when all assessments and support are usually expected to take place. Tutorials can take place on any day (including evenings) as long as you have booked at least a week in advance.