‘Final exams day is pretty intensive. It takes place with the employer in the workplace’
You’ve got 75 minutes to debone a meat carcass and present it to a standard that any butcher would be proud of. Succeed and you’ll receive your butchery apprenticeship level 2 certificate. Fail and you’ll need to train some more and repeat the experience to qualify. “It’s a bit like MasterChef,” says Terry Fennell, chief executive of FDQ, which carries out final exams for apprentices in the food sector, testing butchers, bakers and fishmongers. Along with a practical test, there is typically a 90-minute multiple choice paper and a 45-minute interview where candidates display their understanding of their industry.
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“It’s a pretty intensive day of examinations,” says Fennell. “Sometimes it takes place with the employer in the workplace, either externally at college or at the butcher’s shop. It’s an important exam so we have to make sure the environment is conducive to the purposes, so there must be no disruption, no ability to cheat and no one else is allowed in the room.”
Final exams day is pretty intensive. It takes place with the employer in the workplace
Terry Fennell, FDQ
To gain an apprenticeship certificate in any of the 400-plus standards created under the government’s new regime, apprentices sit a series of exams at the end of the course, rather than being judged on continuous assessments as with the old system. The final tests – known as end-point assessment or EPA – check whether apprentices have learned the skills, knowledge and behaviour outlined in their course.
End-point assessments are one of the biggest changes ushered in by the government’s apprenticeship shake-up. They are designed to offer apprentices a certificate they can use to find work across their industry.
Final tests are tailored to each apprenticeship. A master’s in business administration might require a 10,000-word dissertation followed by a PowerPoint presentation and an interview. A plumbing and heating technician would complete a multiple choice exam, a practical skills test and an interview. They’ll receive a certificate qualifying them as a plumbing and domestic heating engineer.
Preparing for an EPA is like getting ready for any exam – it requires practice, revision and calm nerves. Training organisations must make sure apprentices get plenty of experience completing a range of assessments. Above all, the apprentice needs confidence that they have achieved an adequate level of knowledge and experience to pass the tests. Employers and training providers decide when an apprentice is ready to be put forward for an EPA. Once registered for the test, they have 12 weeks to prepare for it.
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Those who don’t pass – it could be up to a third of the candidates – can retake the specific tests that they failed after further training and experience.
Assessments are conducted by an independent body unrelated to the employer or training college. Some 216 organisations have so far been accredited to conduct the assessments from small organisations to giants such as City & Guilds and Pearson.
Costs for every apprenticeship are agreed with the Institute for Apprenticeships – for instance a butchery level 2 apprenticeship costs an employer £9,000 in training and examination fees. The cost of the EPA should be less than one fifth of this, under £1,800. Other EPAs will be more expensive, depending on the cost of the apprenticeship. Given that there could be 500,000 EPAs running each year, the government is at a stroke creating a market that could be worth billions of pounds annually. Running the assessments will be a huge business.