End Point Assessment - EPA
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), your summative portfolio is prepared and ready for submission and you have completed the minimum apprenticeship length for your programme.
The End Point Assessment has four different components, as shown below:
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.
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 troubleshoot 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.
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.
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.
Your tutor will work with you to ensure you're prepared.