End-point assessment

End-point assessment. It’s a term you’re probably hearing a lot right now if you’re involved in training and development, or work for a business that has to pay into the apprenticeship levy. So what is it? How does it work? And what does it mean for your business?

What is end-point assessment?

End-point assessment (EPA) is the way in which apprentices are assessed at the end of their programme. Previously apprentices were continuously assessed throughout their learning. With EPA, it means that apprentices now have their work and competence assessed at the end of their learning, against ‘apprenticeship standards’ established by groups of employers, educators and sector organisations known as ‘apprenticeship trailblazers’.

How does EPA work?

The things on which an apprentice is assessed are determined by something called the ‘assessment plan’. This is produced by the trailblazer group (the same group that defines what apprentices should learn). Assessment plans focus on the knowledge, skills and behaviours that an apprentice will have learned during their training (or the ‘KSBs’). The KSBs can be evaluated by a variety of assessment activities including examinations, assignments, interviews or observations at work. The assessment plan for each particular apprenticeship standard makes clear which methods need to be used during assessment.

When does the EPA take place?

Apprentices must complete their on-programme training first. They must also complete all the mandatory aspects of the apprenticeship standard they are learning, as well as any other work specified that will be assessed. This second part is known as ‘gateway’. Once gateway has been achieved, the apprentice can be put forward for their EPA by their employer or training provider.

Who carries out the EPA?

An independent end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) must be involved in the EPA of each apprentice, so that all apprentices following the same standard are assessed consistently.

Selecting an EPAO

The EPAO must be chosen by the employer and be an organisation that sits on the Register of End Point Assessment Organisations that is listed to deliver EPA in the apprenticeship standard being taken by their apprentice.

Unless stated otherwise by the assessment plan, employers cannot select an apprentice’s training organisation to be the EPAO.

Why choose Highfield?

As a government-recognised end-point assessment organisation that sits on Register of End Point Assessment Organisations, we provide unbeatable support when it comes to the new apprenticeship standards. For us to provide employers and training providers with a complete service, we:

generate assessment resources and guidance
engage with external quality assurance organisations
train and standardise assessors to ensure we provide high-quality assessment
have our own dedicated employer engagement team
understand both apprentice AND employer requirements
have a simple scheduling process, with a scheduling team on hand to support you
offer a digital dashboard that tracks every point of a learner’s journey and allows you to gather data, generate reports and action tasks

We are already working with scores of employers to help them with their EPA requirements, have already passed external quality audits, and have successfully completed thousands of EPAs to date.

Apprenticeship standards we cover

We currently support employers and training providers by offering EPA in the following sectors:

Business, Administration and Management Apprenticeship Standards