Guidance

The below serves as a general summary to the EPA process. Note that there is detailed information in the EPA preperation module.

Introduction

Well done – you’ve reached the End Point Assessment! You are now ready to demonstrate the application of your skills at this final stage of earning your software development qualification. The endpoint assessment process is reasonably straight-forward, but does benefit from a bit of planning. By the end of this unit, we will be ready for EPA.

What does the EPA process look like?

The End Point Assessment begins when you have completed your training, your employer confirms they are happy for you to start EPA, and you have completed the gateway English/Maths prerequisites required of you, if any.

The EPA will take from 3 to 6 months, but the off-the-job requirement on your time will be very low for most of this time.

The EPA is intended to validate your skills and knowledge as a software developer, and will be a holistic assessment of all the things you have learned over the course of the programme. The EPA consists of two assessment methods:

• An on-the-job, work-based project (with a meeting where you will be questioned on the project)
• An interview based on your portfolio

The work-based project will see you performing a variety of software development related tasks, as part of your job. It’s intended to be your normal day-to-day work, but in some cases it may be necessary to pick up a couple of extra tasks that you might not have ordinarily done, in order to demonstrate a few more competencies.

It will last for up to 9 weeks, at the end of which you will be questioned by an assessor. We will cover this project in more detail shortly.

The portfolio is the collection of evidence that you have been gathering throughout the apprenticeship. It is intended to be a source of documentation to demonstrate that you have achieved the KSBs. It is important to know all of your portfolio – even the parts completed at the start of this course. You should also look for KSBs that you have not been able to cover inside your portfolio and be prepared to talk about these.

Some time after entering EPA Gateway, you will also do a one hour interview with an assessor. This is the professional discussion underpinned by your portfolio. This will be a conversation about various aspects of your work, where you’ll get the chance to talk about your experiences using your software development skill set and principles on your job. We will cover this professional discussion in more detail shortly.

Work-based project

The work-based project will allow you to demonstrate a large proportion of the knowledge and skills on the programme.

There will be a list of activities/competencies you will want to demonstrate during the work-based project. Using this list as a reference, you will create a plan for a project that includes enough tasks for you to demonstrate your ability across the relevant activities.

This assessment will involve writing a report on your work-based project over 9 weeks. It is very likely that your work-based project can be “business as usual”, and that you won’t have to take much time out of your job or role to fulfil the assessment criteria. We recommend working on your work-based project over 8 weeks, taking half a day each week to gather evidence and write your report, and use the final 9th week to focus on finishing off your report and collecting any outstanding evidence.

The project can be the development of a single application from scratch, or it can be a collection of software development tasks you will perform across a variety of projects (the sum total of these tasks should still cover the list of desired activities for the work-based project).

The project can be entirely covered by the work you do as part of your existing role, but you may wish to work with your manager to find part-time opportunities within other teams and projects (or do some work on an entirely new project) in order to cover any required activities that are otherwise harder to find on your current team/role/project.

If you work on an entirely new project, it must be a project that adds value to the business, rather than a project whose purpose is clearly just to allow you to demonstrate your skills for this assessment.

You’ll want at least one of the projects that you work on to be within a team (to demonstrate skills like using version control tools to facilitate work in collaboration with others, e.g. using git to create and merge branches). You can receive help with your work from your colleagues and others (as you would normally whilst working as part of your job). However, the project needs to be your own work, and your employer is responsible for ensuring this.

Before you start the project, you will work with your manager to create a project plan. This plan will give an overview of the project you intend to complete and report on over (up to) 9 weeks, and you will also need to include a mapping of tasks you intend to complete vs the list of activities/competencies the assessors want to see you demonstrate on-project. We will submit this plan to the end point assessment organisation, and once it is signed off, you can start your project.

After 9 weeks, your project report should be submitted. You’ll submit some information and evidence that covers what you’ve been doing, in order to brief the assessor in advance of the project questioning (see the accompanying project planning guide).

You will then be ready to undertake the final part of the process – the project questioning.

Work-based project questioning

The questioning occurs more than 2 weeks after submitting your project report. Your assessment board will book this in with you.

This assessment is an online video call, where an assessor asks questions based on your project report. It will take approximately 1 hour, and will involve the assessor asking at least 12 open questions about your project.

Professional discussion underpinned by the portfolio

Portfolio

The portfolio is a document of work that you have undertaken during the apprenticeship. During the professional discussion, you will use your portfolio to demonstrate that you have covered the majority, if not all, of the KSBs.

The portfolio is not directly assessed, rather used to underpin the professional discussion. It will be reviewed, but not marked.

As part of preparing for EPA, you should look through your portfolio and identify what areas of the KSBs you have covered. You should ensure that your portfolio work is mapped to the KSBs.

If there are some areas that you have not covered in the portfolio, you can expect to be asked questions on these areas to ensure your understanding.

It is expected that the portfolio will contain 10 pieces of evidence in total, and contain evidence of work projects completed. This includes written accounts, photographic evidence, work products, work instructions, safety documentation, technical reports, drawings, company policies and procedures as appropriate.

You should also include review documentation, witness testimonies and feedback from colleagues/clients.

Do not include self-reflective accounts (such as self-assessments).

The professional discussion

A few weeks into your work-based project, you will undertake this second assessment method – the professional discussion. This discussion is underpinned by your portfolio work.

The professional discussion is a one hour remote interview with an assessor in which the assessor will ask a minimum of 12 open questions. These questions will allow you to demonstrate your knowledge and skills in the areas that are otherwise difficult to demonstrate in your portfolio. You can also expect them to ask questions about your portfolio.

What is the EPA timeline?

Enter gateway

We’ll complete the following documentation, and use it to enter gateway:

• Gateway forms (signed by us, you, and your employer)
• Project plan summary (more information in the project planning guide)
• English and Maths requirements (either the certificates provided near enrolment, or the equivalent Skills for Business completed during the programme)
• Completed all reading material/knowledge check components in Aptem

We’ll need to receive the final version of documentation 3 weeks before you want to start the project.

To be scheduled with EPA Provider: Professional Discussion underpinned by Portfolio

You will hear back from the EPA provider about a date for your professional discussion. In the meantime, you’ll be working on your work-based project and taking some time to write your report.

Weeks 1-8: Work-based project

You’ll be doing your job as usual, gathering evidence and writing your project report for about a half a day per week (on average).

Week 9: Complete Work-based project report

Complete and submit your project report in advance of your project questioning.

After week 11: Work-based project questioning

Your work-based project questioning will be scheduled some time after 2 weeks from submitting your report.

How are we going to prepare?

For the work-based project

See the guide to the planning your work-based project for more information, but as a summary:

• We will review the list of activities you’ll want to perform on the work-based project, and get you started on creating a project plan summary that covers this list.
• During this module, you’ll work with your manager, receiving guidance from us when helpful, towards completing your project plan.

For the professional discussion underpinned by your portfolio

For the portfolio

See the guide on the portfolio for more information. As previously mentioned:

• Refresh yourself on what is in the portfolio
• Make a mapping document between your portfolio and KSBs (these should already be clearly mapped in your portfolio)
• Identify areas not covered and, if any, read up on them

For the professional discussion

• We will review the list of areas that assessors will question you on for the professional discussion, and have practice answering questions and discussing relevant topics.
• Your review of your portfolio will be vital for the professional discussion, as the professional hosting the discussion will have reviewed this against KSBs.

How does the grading work?

For each of the work-based project and professional discussion, you can earn either a “Distinction”, a “Pass”, or you may be required to re-sit. If, from either of the assessment methods, you are required to re-sit, you will need to re-sit that assessment method in order to earn a grade of Pass or higher. You can re-sit the Professional Discussion within the normal EPA window. A re-sit of the Practical Assessment will typically require re-taking the full work-based project if you have not demonstrated the required assessment criteria in your report and questioning. Re-sitting either assessment will not limit your grade.

If you earn a Pass in both assessment methods, you earn a Pass overall, and if you earn a Distinction in both assessment methods, you earn a Distinction overall.

The full table is below: