FAQs - Apprenticeship Assessments

Open Awards aim to complete gateway checks within five working days from receipt of the gateway declaration and authenticity form, subject to provision of all necessary information and ancillary evidence. Once gateway checks have been successfully completed, Open Awards will confirm this with the Provider.

This will depend on the standard assessment plan requirements. There will be a gateway declaration and authenticity form which must be completed between all parties to confirm the apprentice is ready for their End-point Assessment. There is normally a requirement to submit evidence of the apprentice meeting the required level of English and Maths. Some assessment plans require other evidence to be submitted such as portfolios, projects and/or evidence of qualifications completed. Please refer to the relevant standard EPA Handbook for more information.

The decision to determine when each Apprentice is ready to undertake End-point Assessment is referred to as ‘the Gateway’ and should involve participation from the employer, training provider and apprentice. Agreement, or ‘Sign-Off’, is required to demonstrate that the Apprentice has the knowledge, skills and behaviours required within the Standard and to inform the Assessment Organisation that the apprentice is ready for End-point Assessment. Employers are encouraged to register their apprentices with Open Awards.

Please note that Open Awards are only able to accept registrations from providers who are currently on the Register of Approved Providers (RoATP).

Open Awards requires at least three months advance notice of the potential gateway date.

Open Awards has prepared and made available sample assessment materials to help apprentices become familiar with how they will be assessed. These materials are likely to be used during the gateway to completion period, as employers and training providers prepare apprentices for their assessments.

Their purpose is to support familiarisation with the assessment process, rather than to inform gateway to completion decisions.

The role of the Assessor is to independently assess apprentices in line with the requirements of the assessment plan, providing an overall grade. All of our Assessors hold the stipulated qualifications and occupational competence as set out in the assessment plan.

Apprentices aged 16 to 18 at the start of their training who do not already hold a suitable equivalent qualification in either English or maths or both subjects are funded to achieve up to an approved Level 2 qualification in these subjects to complete their apprenticeship.

Apprentices aged 19+ at the start of their training can also be funded to study up to an approved Level 2 qualification in English or maths or both, if they do not already hold suitable equivalent qualifications and their employer agrees that this should be part of their training plan.

The Department for Education (DfE) publishes guidance on maths and English qualifications, including what evidence is accepted as a suitable equivalent qualification and what is deemed to be acceptable evidence of qualification achievement. This guidance can be found here.

Open Awards refers to this DfE guidance when determining what evidence of maths and English achievement we can accept.

If you would like more information about Open Awards Functional Skills qualifications in maths and English, please click here or contact us on 0151 494 2072 or enquiries@openawards.org.uk.

You can contact the team on 0151 494 2072 or at enquiries@openawards.org.uk to discuss the services we offer and see whether they are right for you and your apprentices.

If you know that you want to use Open Awards to deliver your assessments, please complete the expression of interest form. A member of the team will then contact you to discuss your requirements and the next steps.

There is no minimum number of apprentices or assessment requirements.

The training provider is responsible for selecting the Assessment Organisation and negotiating the price, unless the employer chooses to do so. A list of approved AOs can be found on the Department for Education’s Apprenticeship Provider and Assessment Register (APAR).

Apprentices receive their grades directly from Open Awards. Instead of waiting for a training provider or employer to relay the information, Open Awards sends grades straight to the learner’s email inbox. This creates a simpler, quicker and more transparent process.

The outcome for each individual assessment will be released within 10 working days of that assessment taking place. The overall grade will be released within 10 working days of the final assessment being completed.

Where a knowledge test forms part of the assessment, results are normally released within 2 working days.

• Strictly adhere to word limits. Check with Open Awards and standard-specific guidance carefully.
• Aim for as close to the upper limit as possible without going over.
• Use the full word count to provide rich, well-evidenced content.
• If struggling to meet the word count, consider:

– Expanding on analysis, reflection, or outcomes

– Including more real examples to demonstrate KSBs