Fast-Track Assessment
23 February 2023 2023-02-24 11:22Fast-Track Assessment
What is CADUK's fast-track assessment all about?
CADUK originally developed the ‘fast-track’ assessment process when CSCS announced the upcoming withdrawal of 60,000 cards for Supervisors and Managers who obtained their cards through the Industry Accreditation/Grandfather Rights route (read more about this here).
These card holders have been in the industry for a long time, they have developed vast expertise carrying out their role on a range of projects, they’re very confident in their own abilities, but they’re also extremely busy. Although they have extensive knowledge, experience, and a fantastic CV – they don’t have a recognised qualification that validates their competence (and therefore they won’t be able to renew their CSCS card after Dec 2024). CADUK’s fast-track assessment is the perfect solution for these Supervisors and Managers.
Due to the success and feedback from IA/Grandfather Rights card holders who have taken advantage of our fast-track process, we now offer this assessment route to all candidates that are deemed to have the appropriate level of experience, confidence, skills and knowledge. As a general rule we would expect a candidate to have been in their role for 5 years or more in order to complete their NVQ via the fast-track route.
How does the fast-track assessment work?
Our fast-track assessment process is essentially involves a a series of recorded discussions between the candidate and their NVQ assessor (all of whom are construction professionals themselves).
Very experienced supervisors and managers who are confident in their own abilities can comfortably discuss their projects, processes, workplace documents, past experiences, etc in detail ‘off the cuff’ without significant guidance and mentoring from their assessor.
The first stage of the process is the evidence collection (this will include documents from the workplace, photographs, videos, witness testimony, etc). Once the evidence has been validated by an assessor, the next stage is the discussion. These discussions are typically conducted online via a series of Zoom sessions (usually evenings/weekends – i.e. out of work time).
Essentially, the candidate and their assessor will be discussing real projects, real scenarios, and describing how the workplace documents that they have submitted help to facilitate the process.
During the discussions, candidates will be presented with exactly the same criteria (questions) as the ‘standard’ (i.e. non-fast-track) route, but they will simply ‘talk their way through’ the units of their qualification.
There is no written work and candidates are not required to use our online ePortfolio system directly. This enables completion of the NVQ in a much shorter time frame.
Candidates still have a full 12 months in which to complete their NVQ, but completion via the ‘fast-track’ route is usually around 4 weeks (depending on the motivation and availability of the candidate).
How does the fast-track process differ to the standard assessment route?
Less experiences Supervisors and Managers (i.e. those that need to undergo a programme of learning to bring them up to the industry standard) would likely struggle with a fast-paced, discussion-style assessment. We would recommend that these candidates complete their NVQ via our Standard assessment route.
The standard assessment route is essentially assessed through written work via our online ePortfolio system. Candidates will log onto our ePortfolio and respond to the criteria through written narratives, uploading their evidence to the portal as they progress. Their assessor will provide detailed feedback and guidance accordingly and the the candidate will have have unlimited opportunity (over a 12 month period) to improve on their work and make alterations as required.
This way, less-experienced candidates can develop their skills, at their own pace with help and guidance from their NVQ assessor every step of the way.
In some instances, an assessor may work in partnership with a candidate’s company to formulate a development plan to help them achieve the qualification.
If (for example) a candidate has limited experience in a particular area (and therefore they’re unable to respond to, or provide supporting evidence for that element/unit of the NVQ), their assessor may ask a mentor within their company to arrange for them to have more exposure in this area in a real construction environment.
This exposure/experience then allows the candidate to respond to the criteria, provide a real example of practice, and to submit the supporting evidence to enable them complete the unit or element.
Generally candidates on our Standard (written work ePortfolio route) assessment complete their qualifications within 3-12 months.
How can I tell if I'm suitable for the fast track route?
Prior to enrolling onto any of our qualifications, we carry out a thorough profiling session with each applicant to make 100% sure that the NVQ is achievable (i.e. the candidate has the skills, knowledge, experience and evidence needed to be successful). There is no charge to this profiling session.
During this profiling session an assessor will determine whether the candidate would be best suited to the the fast-track (discussion-style) assessment, or the standard (written work via ePortfolio) route.
Is there a price difference between the standard and fast-track assessments?
No, the cost of the qualification is exactly the same regardless of the assessment style.
Which NVQs have fast-track assessment options?
CADUK offer the following NVQs at Level 3 to 6 that have options to complete through the fast-track route:
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