Delivery of the In-house Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA)
The Brief
Openreach Limited are one of the world’s most established communication companies, responsible for connecting millions of homes and business across the UK. Openreach work collaboratively with a team of civil engineers to provide ultrafast full fibre broadband to: homes, schools, hospitals, libraries, businesses-large and small, broadcasters and governments. Their diverse teams include over 37,000 people who install, support and maintain the wiring, fibres and connections which link tens of millions of homes and businesses in the UK to the Openreach network.
Within the Openreach fleet of employees, there are a number of dedicated trainers who are responsible for providing state-of-the art training to staff members to ensure they are supporting customers with the best possible service. Openreach pride themselves as an investor of people, meaning they provide their staff members with a robust and supportive training programme which has been reflected within the low staff company turnover and the glowing reputation of the company. Regardless of the employee’s experiences within the company, there is a constant need for training and updating its colleagues’ knowledge and expertise through assessments and support within the fast-paced and forever evolving world of communications.
The Solution
Openreach contacted Train Aid to upskill 10 of its current trainers to achieve the Level 3 Certificate in the Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA) qualification. The purpose of the training was to ensure that the delivery of their teaching and assessments are standardised and consistent nationwide across the diverse Openreach training centres. The CAVA qualification is a fully accredited and nationally recognised and regulated course by Ofqual. It is the highest level of assessing qualifications and allows for the holder to have the flexibility to conduct both vocational and workplace assessments within their field or subject area.
Train Aid’s Nick Chadwick took on the role as the assessing consultant and hosted an on-board welcome meeting via Teams to explain the structure and purpose of the online/self-paced qualification and answer any initial questions. As the 10 trainers were located all around the UK, the Teams meeting system allowed flexibility for all delegates to attend the meeting.
The cohort were provided with a hard copy text book of the Ann Gravells assessing book, the Train Aid YouTube CAVA unit 1 support video guide and assignment support slides to assist all in completing the unit 1 assignment (Understanding the Principles and Practices of Assessment). This initial course unit examines the roles and responsibilities of an assessor, planning assessments and how to provide feedback to learners. Train Aid’s Nick set up regular consultancy meetings to check in with the cohort to provide support to all learners and set targets for the team to work towards.
Unit 2- Workplace assessments
After completing their knowledge-based assignment, the group attended a second on-board meeting with Nick to discuss the planning and delivery of the second course unit: workplace assessments. To complete this practical based unit, all learners were required to carry out 4 x practical assessments on two of their Openreach colleagues. Workplace assessments involve observing colleagues within their day-day working role, these assessments must involve: observations, question and answer and product of work. The Openreach team chose to observe their colleagues perform: cabling tasks, risk assessments on busy local roads and operating machinery.
Unit 3- Vocational assessments
The third and final on-boarding meeting introduced: Unit 3 vocational assessments. These assessments focus on the candidate experiencing the assessment to demonstrate their knowledge of a topic rather than their skills (workplace). Typical vocational assessments involve knowledge based assessments such as multiple choice tests or observing a candidate perform an activity within a simulated environment such as a training room. The team created the vocational based assessments using their own company’s policies and procedures such as the Openreach facilitator guide to create their own knowledge-based assessments. Each candidate assessor planned and carried out their practical assessments to provide feedback on the learner’s knowledge of the subject topic.
The final observation & professional discussion
The final element of the CAVA qualification is the observation and professional discussion. During the final meeting, the observation requirement was introduced to the cohort. This penultimate assessment within the CAVA journey is for the candidate assessor to be observed by a qualified assessor or IQA and for feedback to be provided.
The Openreach team successfully achieved their Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA) certificates within three months from the beginning of the on-board calls. The regular Teams meetings benefitted all as regular course progress updates could be shared with company managers.
The Openreach cohort demonstrated enthusiasm and motivation to fully achieve their Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA) qualification within a fast paced time-frame. The team worked effectively and efficiently throughout this self-paced qualification, dedicating their time to create their very own assessments and use their knowledge and skills.
