Completing Your Apprenticeship

Gateway

Once you’ve completed your on-programme training you will go through Gateway. This is where we agree with you and your line manager that you have acquired the knowledge, skills and behaviours set out in the Apprenticeship standard and are ready to undertake end point assessment.

End Point Assessment (EPA)

EPA is the process at the end of your programme for you to demonstrate to a third-party assessor that you have acquired knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSB’s) throughout your training set out in the Apprenticeship standard.

The EPA will be carried out by an End Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO). The EPAO is an impartial organisation which takes responsibility for the final assessment of the apprentice against the requirements of their apprenticeship.

Your Assessment

During EPA, you will complete the following:

You will be observed by an independent assessor completing 2 scenario demonstrations, relavent to your normal sphere of work. The scenario demonstrations with questioning will each take 45 minutes.

One scenario will require you to conduct data gathering operations, and the other will require data analysis and validation operations. At the beginning of each scenario, you will be given a scenario description accompanied by annexes containing any relevant documentation e.g. on data source locations, data set content descriptions, context on data provenance and purpose.

The independent assessor can ask questions throughout the scenario demonstrations and at the end.

This is a 60 minute in-depth two-way conversation between the independent assessor and apprentice. It allows you to evidence how you have met the KSBs for the apprenticeship standard. The discussion is underpinned by a portfolio of evidence, that you will complete during your apprenticeship.

Resources for End Point Assessment

There are templates and further docs available in OneFile under Resources/Junior Data Analyst/EPA preparation materials.

Top Tips …

Keep on top of recording evidence

Use an hour of your off the job time each week to update your OneFile journal weekly to log your OTJ training and activities.

This will save you from undertaking a big job at the end when you need to reach your 20% target to move into gateway.

Professional Discussion

It’s me, myself and I! The assessor wants to hear what you have done NOT what your team or organisation does in general. 

Take your time and give a full story for each question – what you did, how you did it, why you did it, who helped you

Be Confident

Do not panic that you are being observed. You are using the skills you have gained throughout the apprenticeship to demonstrate to the assessor how brilliant you are. Remember, you will not be at this stage unless it was clear you have the knowledge and skill to achieve it.

Be organised

Timings are key and you will have set tasks to achieve. Ensure you take a moment at the beginning to plan what you need to do and how long each step will take. This will help prevent you rushing at the end or forgetting an important step.