I have been working as an NVQ assessor for a few years, assessing NVQs in Health and Social Care. Recently I was getting tired of the amount of paper work I had to deal with and the time spent with candidates was increasing because of the need to reference their evidence appropriately and meet up with funding requirements and organizational procedures.

Being a Health and Social Care worker in the past and a trainer at present, I can understand the burden the paper based NVQ places on candidates who are hands on individuals rather than academicians. Some learners are finding the NVQs difficult to produce written evidence.

My targets for completing cohorts of learners were becoming incredibly impossible to meet; therefore I knew I had to adopt another strategy as quickly as possible. I attended a training session that introduced me to a number of ways to improve assessment methods and behold it was the one thing I thought was going to be difficult to adopt that was presented as a simpler method – Electronic Assessment.

The outcome of the training I attended was really advantageous; presently as an NVQ Assessor I mix both kinds together, I mean paper and electronic assessment. I capture as much evidence as possible on digital Dictaphone and my Blackberry phone. I find this method very effective for witness testimonies, observations, professional discussions, reflective accounts and Questions and Answers. I find using electronic methods brings so many different and positive advantages to the assessment process, for example:

Witness testimonials, Professional Discussion, Reflective Accounts and Questions & Answers – I am able to capture quality evidence as I interview the witnesses; this could be the manager or other key people. The learner finds it time saving to sit down with me and have a conversation recorded on my Dictaphone as a professional discussion, reflective account or oral questioning session. I can steer a conversation in the direction I need to capture the maximum amount of evidence. Within a short time I have implemented this method; I’ve noticed witnesses are much more likely to provide a testimonial if they think their involvement will be a brief interview. When you ask witnesses to write long reports you will be putting them off and this can often make them feel that this is not their NVQ award so why are they been made to write reports. As it is not a witness or learner’s role to know the assessment process, there is a risk that their evidence would not fully cover performance or knowledge criteria the testimony was aimed at. This can lead to de-motivation and reluctance of learners gathering evidence using witness testimonies or reluctance to complete the qualification because of the writing involved.

Observations – I electronically record observations when I can and where confidentiality will allow. This allows the observation to be viewed/ heard by all involved in the process and reduces issues that could arise around assessor interpretation. In health and social care we do have a lot to keep confidential however some aspects can be either voice recordings or video recordings.

Work products – I reference all work products to the portfolio rather than being printed and put in the portfolio. This reduces the amount of paper used in the process and allows evidence to remain in its natural environment of the work place. For example policies and procedures followed by learners at work, supervision records, care plans, accident reports etc

A learner could either be using an e-portfolio or the traditional paper based portfolio and would still be able to produce evidence using these kinds of electronic methods. Capturing electronic evidence reduces the amount of time I need to spend working on evidence. Assessing the learner’s written work and dealing with insufficient evidence due to the learner not being able to express themselves in writing can wastes a lot of time. Using electronic evidence means I can spend more time making assessment decisions and capturing evidence rather than spending time typing or writing it into a report. It is also very important to reduce our carbon footprint and paper portfolios can contain a vast amount of paper.

Using electronic methods reduces paper usage and promotes an environmentally friendly image. This has filtered through to the NVQ assessment process as electronic evidence reduces the need for storage space in the office or in your home if you are a freelance Assessor. As an assessor this is an advantage to me as I do not have to transport heavy and large portfolios anymore which you agree with me is not a healthy exercise over a long period of time.

Capturing evidence electronically also enhances the quality assurance processes. All those involved in the process are able to validate and authenticate evidence as they are able to see and/or hear the live evidence which reduces potential issues; for example concerns regarding assessor assumptions.

At the beginning of this process of change I was not very sure it would work but as the days rolled into weeks and weeks into months, I’m sure getting better at it and my learners are very happy at the thought of a reduction in writing because they can provide evidence verbally.

At NVQMadeSimple.com we want to encourage verifiers, assessors and learners to embrace electronic assessments as it has definite advantages for us all in the coming years. If you would like to share with us your personal experience and opinions about electronic assessments for NVQ, please leave your comments below.

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The word reflective or reflection is derived from the word reflect. The Oxford dictionary meaning of reflect is “to think carefully and deeply about something”. The word “reflective” is an adjective used to describe the kind of report or writing you are required to submit for your NVQ. Therefore a reflective account can be understood as a real or true story of how you have carried out an activity at work or an action you took in the past and why you took the action.

If you were at a celebration on the new year’s eve for 2009 and you were asked you to write a reflective account on what it was like, you will try to remember the night and may start by saying it happened that I was at a party on this occasion, it was a glorious night with all sorts of lovely lightings and so on, the style of writing is in the past and it is specific to the question. That’s the same way your NVQ reflections should be.

It can be difficult to know what to write if you are not given a question or a topic; for example some candidates say I need to write a reflective account for HSC22, but this unit has 3 elements and in most cases what their assessor might have told them to do is to reflect on how they have handled an accident or emergency situation which is HSC22c. This suggests that a reflective account can be written for any unit within the NVQ or any element within a unit to prove that you understand what to do in a particular situation and why you are doing it in a certain way which should be in line with your organisational policies and procedures.

If you are asked to write a reflective account and you are not given a question or a topic you should boldly ask your assessor this question politely – “Please could you tell me what my reflective account should be about?” with this question your assessor will be able to give you areas of concentration on the specific topic you are to write about. Also when you are seeking for help or support this approach is better as you would rather say can I get support on “how you promote, monitor and maintain health and safety at work” than asking how can I write a reflective account on HSC32 when you actually meant to say how can I write a reflective account on ‘how I have handled an emergency situation’.

In one of our previous article titled “How to write a good reflective account for your NVQ” I described what your pattern of writing should look like but today I would like to be more specific on what will be expected of you in relation to some specific topics which you will commonly come across in your NVQ depending on the level you are undertaking.

The mandatory units at level 2, level 3 and level 4 are very much similar with regards to the topic only that the scope is wider as the level increases i.e. HSC21, HSC31 & HSC41 are Communication units, HSC22, HSC32 & HSC42 are Health and Safety units, HSC23, HSC33 & HSC43 are Personal and Professional Development units and HSC24, HSC35 & HSC45 are units on choice, wellbeing and protection of individuals at different levels.  

At level 2, you may be asked to write a reflective account on “how you have taken action to deal with an emergency at work”, at level 3 your question could be to write a reflective account on “how you have minimised risks arising from emergencies”. Your assessor might be more specific and ask you to write on a particular kind of emergency such as falls, serious burns, fire, serious cuts, severe bleeding, cardiac arrest, shock, loss of consciousness, epileptic seizures, choking or difficulty with breathing, poisoning, electrocution and more. There is a smart way to get around writing these accounts you need to locate which units or elements you are working on to provide evidence in this case it will be HSC22 and HSC32 respectively.

The performance criteria 22a, 22b, 22c or 32a, 32b, 32c as the case might be should be read through first. Remember according to the first article you need a guideline or step by step guide to how you should write this account. At level 2 use the performance criteria HSC22a.4, HSC22b.4,5,6 & HSC22c.1,2,3,4,5,6 as a guide and at level 3 use the element HSC32abc as a guide. Often your assessor may not be able to observe you at work on how you would handle an emergency case that’s why a simulation would be required but by using a reflective account you can provide additional evidence that you are competent at handling accidents or emergency incidents.

You will find a guide on how to write a reflective account on how to handle emergency situations and an example of a fully referenced reflective account at your required level in our new packages – Reflective Accounts for your NVQ Level 2 & Level 3.

Coming soon in the month of October, there will be new packages on different kinds of reflective accounts. These will be guides and detailed samples that are fully referenced. Look out for reflective accounts on both the mandatory units and optional units within Level 2 and Level 3. These are some of the topics that will be made available and more:   

• Reflective account on how you have communicated effectively with service users and others. HSC21 & HSC31)

• Reflective account on how you have maintained health and safety at work; and how you have taken action to deal with an emergency situation at work. (HSC22,HSC32)

• Reflective account on how you develop your practice as a healthcare worker. (HSC23, HSC33)

• Reflective account on how you have handled incidents of abuse or protected an individual from abuse (HSC24, HSC35).

• Reflective account on how you help individuals eat and drink.(HSC214)

• Reflective account on administration of medication.(HSC221 & HSC375)

• Reflective account on care planning and review (HSC328).

• Reflective account on personal care needs and hygiene.(HSC218)

And many more…

If you are interested in other topics please put your requests in the comment section and we will respond to let you know if there will be provision for your requests.

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What is APL/APEL?

APL means Assessment or Accreditation of Prior Learning. This should be proved by either a certificate of attendance or by records signed by the tutor or an authorised person at work but not necessarily from an awarding institution.  It could be a work based learning course or in house training session at work, whereby you were given a certificate of attendance which might state the content of the training or learning outcome.

It does not necessarily require that you have undertaken a formal assessment like a test at the end of the training; this is what is referred to as informal learning.

APEL means Assessment or Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning. This does not necessarily refer to courses you have attended but could be learning and experience that has taken place over a period of time within the sphere of your work life, social life or domestic life that is relevant to your NVQ.

Generally mature students have acquired a range of expertise, skills and knowledge gathered from their job role, the community and their personal life experience. Using APEL as a method of assessment provides you with the opportunity to have your previous experience assessed and included in your NVQ.

Benefits of using APL/APEL

• It may mean that you do not have to repeat aspects of your NVQ units which you are already familiar with and have evidence to show for it.
• It may help to speed up your rate of study and complete your NVQ earlier than you may have thought, although this can be as time consuming as completing a workbook if you are unable to freely express yourself and complete the requirements for your APEL/ APL assessment.
• It’s a good reflection exercise to help you develop the ability to think about all you have done in the past that adds up to your competence and a free expression of how you have developed yourself professionally and personally.

 How do I know if I have “relevant” learning?

• You will need to ensure that any informal training or experience you wish to claim evidence of competence for is relevant to the units within your NVQ. This means it should address the unit, elements and the knowledge specification to a broad extent.
• You need to be able to judge and reference the evidence as similar to the standards within the units of the NVQ and also ensure the level is similar to the NVQ level you are working towards.
• You need to be able to demonstrate your experience or acquired learning.This could be through work products that you can show your assessor.

How do I provide Evidence using APL/APEL?

• Start by getting your curriculum vitae (CV), your job description, all your training certificates (of attendance or formal tests you completed during the training), supervision or appraisal reports or statements from employers and any work products.
• Write a personal statement outlining the relevance of your learning experience to the NVQ units (APEL). There is no set format for this personal statement. See how you can write one in the article “Why health and social care as a career?” although you need to work in agreement with your NVQ assessor on what to be covered.
• Reflect on your training in the past 2-5 years, select the relevant certificate you wish to include in your portfolio to use towards your NVQ, on each of these trainings write about:

1. How you did the training?
2. Why it was necessary?
3. What you learnt?
4. How it has been of benefit in your job?

Note:  APL is not complete if you do not write a reflective account on each of your training certificates to ensure it meets the standards within your NVQ. This means if you just insert copies of training certificates into your portfolio without any reflections it would not be used as a method of assessment. Read article on “How to write a good reflective Account for your NVQ”

Below is a list of common areas of training and their respective NVQ Units that have similar standards which you can use to reference your reflection.

• Basic communication skills training– HSC21
• Advanced communication skills training – HSC31 and HSC369
• Report writing skills training – HSC21 and HSC31
• Basic Life Support & Emergency First Aid training – HSC22 and HSC32
• Health and Safety and Fire training -HSC22 and HSC32
• Moving and handling training – HSC223 and HSC360
• Medication Awareness training – HSC221 and HSC375
• Safeguarding Adults (formerly known as POVA) training – HSC24 and HSC35
• Understanding Mental Health Difficulties training – HSC336
• Handling challenging behavior training – HSC336 and  HSC337
• Food hygiene training – HSC213 and HSC214
• Pressure Area Care training – HSC217 and HSC358
• Care Planning and Review training – HSC328

As an Assessor I tend to encourage my candidates to start with the unit – HSC23, HSC33 and HSC43 – “Reflecting on your development and Practice”, this will give candidates the opportunity to use APL/APEL as a method of assessment for a range of units before they get cumbersome with workbooks and other assignments. So dear reader, if you are an NVQ candidate, find out from your assessor how you can use your previous experience or training certificates to provide evidence for your units, you will be surprised to know that you can get credits for your NVQ and this will reduce the workbooks or assignments you need to complete.

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Perhaps your NVQ Assessor or tutor has asked you to obtain a witness testimony as part of your assessment plan to gather evidence of competence for your NVQ (National Vocational Qualification).

Are you wondering…

·         What is this all about?

·         Where do I get this from?

·         Who can I ask to write one for me?

·         Do I need to use some forms?

Well I would like to explain this in today’s article.

Firstly, who is a witness?

Literally, he or she is a person who testifies at a court hearing. As a witness, the person may have seen an accident, witnessed a crime, or be asked to describe the character of someone they know. As a witness they will be asked to answer some questions regarding their knowledge of a case in court.

Well in this case we are certainly not in a court of Law but in a work setting you need to locate someone who testifies in writing about you with regards to your work.

Secondly, what is a testimony?

This is evidence obtained from a witness who has made a statement or declaration of fact.

Using the 2 definitions above you can define

WITNESS TESTIMONY as an account of your work performance, which has been witnessed by another person.

This clearly suggests that you can’t write one for yourself. You need someone who can testify in writing to say what they know about you, what they have seen you do or describe an activity you have carried out which should relate to your job description and also to the performance criteria of the units within your NVQ.

You can get a witness testimony from:

·         Your manager or supervisor

·         Your colleague at work

·         The individuals you work with

·         Your tutors or trainers.

Depending on your training centre’s policy, generally you would be required to obtain the witness testimony on a form given to you and you have to request that they sign what is called a Witness Status List – normally found at the front bits in your portfolio. Anyone who writes out a witness testimony must sign the Witness Status List and then your assessor will judge the evidence provided.

See an example; this is a witness testimony about how you handled an accident at work. Yours might be how you handled a disclosure of abuse from a service user and the words in your form would be different.

Witness Testimony

Candidate’s Name:____________________________________________________________

Witness Name:________________________________________________________________

Date of Incident/Accident:_______________________________________________________

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Often learners have asked me “how do I write a reflective account?” and my answer is you need to know what a reflective account is before you can write good one. Many learners have submitted an account to their NVQ assessor and have been disappointed when told they need to write it again. Let me tell you what might have happened – You probably wrote your account without a guide and therefore as lengthy as your account might have been you were told you haven’t met many performance criteria which are what your assessor is looking for. So let me tell you what a reflective account is.

A reflective account is usually a write up of how you have carried out part of your job in the past. It could be yesterday or a week, month or years ago as long as you use past tense. It maybe how you dealt with a health emergency, an abusive situation or how you have used a particular piece of equipment in the past.

Your account will be a record of events that actually happened. It must be reflected in your style of writing as what you did not someone else. 

For example – I did this and then I did that

It is NOT acceptable to write I would do this as this does not demonstrate that you have done it or have been doing it.

If possible write about why you took the actions stated.

For example –When I arrived at Mrs A’s home I put on my gloves and apron to ensure I protect t he service user and myself from infection…..

Throughout your account you must maintain confidentiality by using Mrs A, R or any other alphabet rather than using their actual names or addresses.

Think about a typical day at work or over a period of days and write a story on how you carried out those activities using the performance criteria of the units within your NVQ as a guide. This might include:

·         Assisting clients with toileting requirements. (HSC 218a)

·         Assisting clients with their personal hygiene. (HSC 218bc)

·         Preparing food and drink for clients. (HSC 213abc)

·         Assisting clients to eat and drink. (HSC 214abc)

·         Undertaking clinical activities. ( HSC 230ab)

·         Supporting others to undertake clinical activities. (HSC 361ab)

·         Supporting clients with cleaning or other domestic needs. (HSC 29abc)

·         Supporting clients to be comfortable (HSC 216ab)

·         Providing pressure area care. (HSC 217ab)

·         Supporting clients to move from one position to another (HSC 223ab, HSC 360ab)

·         Supporting service users to access and use services and facilities (HSC 330abc)

·         How you contribute to care planning and review (HSC 328abc)

·         Supporting individuals with specific communication needs (HSC 369abc)

·         How you administer medication to individuals (HSC 375ab)

This list is in exhaustive it applies to any unit title you have chosen within your NVQ.

There are many other activities that you might have been involved in which you should include in your account.

The way in which you carried out the activities is very important; here you will find yourself covering a good part for your mandatory units. This might include:

·         How you communicated with clients and others such as colleagues, relatives and other professionals.

·         How you treated people as individuals and showed them respect and dignity.

·         How you maintained a professional relationship with the different individuals. Did you have to deal with any conflicts, distress or challenging behaviour?

·         How you worked as a team.

·         How you monitored and maintained health and safety during the different work activities.

·         What information you passed on, how it was passed on and what records you completed.

Note: Your reflective account is expected to meet the standards of the NVQ usually the performance criteria and sometimes it will cover some knowledge specification.

 I believe if you make use of all the points I have mentioned, you will be able to construct a good reflective account at NVQ Level 2, NVQ Level 3 or NVQ Level 4 on your own.

In all our packages – NVQ 2 & NVQ 3 Mandatory and Optional units, we have fully referenced examples of reflective accounts and a guide to how to write your reflective account. You also have FREE access to our online support centre once you purchase any of the packages, if you need more help on writing reflective account or any other aspect of your NVQ I will advise you to purchase any of our packages relevant to your needs.

If this post has helped you in anyway please leave a comment, this will encourage me to do more and others to read too. I also welcome other NVQ Assessors/trainers to contribute in order to enhance good practice in our profession, thank you.

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