Overview
A venture includes the apprentice finishing a big and outlined piece of labor that has an actual enterprise software and profit. The venture should meet the wants of the employer’s enterprise and be related to the apprentice’s occupation and apprenticeship.
This evaluation technique has 2 elements:
Collectively, these elements give the apprentice the chance to display the KSBs mapped to this evaluation technique. They’re assessed by an impartial assessor.
Rationale
Accounts and finance managers have to current accounts and monetary knowledge and recommedations speaking clearly in writing, and to plan, ship and consider discrete tasks placing organisational necessities into apply. They have to be capable to devise, apply and clarify the rationale behind strategies for fixing issues, testing concepts and setting out choices for stakeholders. They should display a sensible understanding of the impacts of digital applied sciences of their organisation.
• they’re required to be concise and exact of their use of language in written and verbal communication and display readability of thought to have interaction others • the work-based written venture report provides a practical alternative to mix venture administration, knowledge visualisation, formal writing and reflection on approaches taken and attendant dangers and mitigations.
As such, this evaluation technique permits apprentices to display mastery of KSBs that come up naturally in skilled roles inside organisations of any dimension or scope.
• it’s a holistic evaluation technique, permitting the apprentice to display KSBs in an built-in approach by writing the report on the venture and being questioned to grasp rationale for selections made, dangers and issues recognized and resolved and areas the place additional motion could possibly be required
• it offers an economical evaluation, because it minimises impartial assessor time and makes use of the apprentice’s employer’s office, gear and assets, and may contribute to office productiveness.
Supply
The apprentice should full a venture primarily based on any of the next:
- Utilizing know-how to enhance profitability, driving out inefficiencies comparable to duplication of effort or inefficient use of methods in accounting and finance providers
- Issues inside the organisation attributable to methods resulting in friction between groups or departments and design an answer to assist stakeholders wants be met comparable to inaccuracies inside payroll, inventory management, buyer knowledge or buying knowledge
- Implementing new applied sciences and leveraging automation, machine studying and AI and so forth to ship higher effectivity in accounting and finance providers
- Communication of monetary knowledge shifting to cloud primarily based applied sciences.
- Workflow administration utilizing digital methods successfully and delivering environment friendly accounting and finance providers
To make sure the venture permits the apprentice to fulfill the KSBs mapped to this evaluation technique to the best obtainable grade, the EPAO ought to sign-off the venture’s title and scope on the gateway to verify it’s appropriate. The EPAO should check with the grading descriptors to make sure that tasks are pitched appropriately.
The venture output should be within the type of a report and presentation.
The apprentice should begin the venture after the gateway. The employer ought to make sure the apprentice has the time and assets, inside the venture interval, to plan and full their venture.
The apprentice may go as a part of a group to finish the venture, which might embody inside colleagues or technical consultants. The apprentice should nevertheless, full their venture report and presentation unaided and so they should be reflective of their very own position and contribution. The apprentice and their employer should affirm this when the report and any presentation supplies are submitted.
Part 1: Undertaking report
The report should embody at the very least:
1. Introduction – together with background, worth proposition and aims together with KPIs. (250 phrases)
2. Background Analysis (Literature Overview) – credible sources underpinning the venture (1000 phrases)
3. Evaluation and findings – visualise knowledge, determine the important thing points according to venture aims. Undertake a balanced overview recognising the constraints and alternatives for increasing the examine (2000 phrases)
4. Conclusions, outcomes and proposals (750 phrases)
5. Reference record and bibliography.
The venture report will need to have a phrase rely of 4000 phrases. A tolerance of 10% above or beneath is allowed on the apprentice’s discretion. Appendices, references and diagrams should not included on this whole. The apprentice should produce and embody a mapping in an appendix, exhibiting how the report evidences the KSBs mapped to this evaluation technique.
The apprentice should full and submit the report and any presentation supplies to the EPAO by the tip of week 6 of the EPA interval.
Part 2: Presentation with questions
The presentation with questions should be structured to present the apprentice the chance to display the KSBs mapped to this evaluation technique to the best obtainable grade.
The apprentice should put together and ship a presentation to an impartial assessor. After the presentation, the impartial assessor should ask the apprentice questions on their venture, report and presentation.
The presentation ought to cowl:
- an outline of the venture
- the venture scope (together with key efficiency indicators)
- abstract of actions undertaken by the apprentice
- venture outcomes and the way these have been achieved
The presentation with questions should final half-hour. This may sometimes embody a presentation of 20 minutes and questioning lasting 10 minutes. The impartial assessor should use the total time obtainable for questioning. The impartial assessor can improve the time of the presentation and questioning by as much as 10%. This time is to permit the apprentice to finish their final level or reply to a query if essential.
The impartial assessor should ask at the very least 5 questions. They have to use the questions from the EPAO’s query financial institution or create their very own questions according to the EPAO’s coaching. Observe up questions are allowed the place clarification is required.
The aim of the impartial assessor’s questions is:
- to confirm that the exercise was accomplished by the apprentice
- to hunt clarification the place required
- to evaluate these KSBs that the apprentice didn’t have the chance to display with the report, though these needs to be saved to a minimal
- to evaluate stage of competence towards the grading descriptors
6 of the EPA interval. The apprentice should notify the EPAO, at that time, of any technical necessities for the presentation.
Through the presentation, the apprentice will need to have entry to:
- Audio-visual presentation gear
- Flip chart and writing and drawing supplies
- Laptop
- another necessities as beforehand notified to the EPAO
The impartial assessor will need to have at the very least 2 weeks to overview the venture report and any presentation supplies, to permit them to arrange questions.
The apprentice should be given at the very least 7 days’ discover of the presentation with questions.
Evaluation resolution
The impartial assessor should make the grading resolution. They have to assess the venture elements holistically when deciding the grade.
The impartial assessor should preserve correct data of the evaluation. They have to document:
- the KSBs demonstrated within the report and presentation with questions
- the apprentice’s solutions to questions
- the grade achieved
Evaluation location
The presentation with questions should happen in an appropriate venue chosen by the EPAO for instance, the EPAO’s or employer’s premises. It ought to happen in a quiet room, free from distractions and affect.
The presentation with questions might be performed by video conferencing. The EPAO will need to have processes in place to confirm the id of the apprentice and make sure the apprentice will not be being aided.
Query and useful resource growth
The EPAO should develop a purpose-built evaluation specification and query financial institution. It is strongly recommended that is completed in session with employers of this occupation. The EPAO ought to keep the safety and confidentiality of EPA supplies when consulting with employers. The evaluation specification and query financial institution should be reviewed at the very least annually to make sure they continue to be fit-for-purpose.
The evaluation specification should be related to the occupation and display find out how to assess the KSBs mapped to this evaluation technique. The EPAO should be sure that questions are refined and developed to a excessive customary. The questions should be unpredictable. A query financial institution of adequate dimension will help this.
The EPAO should be sure that the apprentice has a special set of questions within the case of re-sits or re-takes.
EPAO should produce the next supplies to help the venture:
- impartial assessor EPA supplies which embody:
- coaching supplies
- administration supplies
- moderation and standardisation supplies
- steering supplies
- grading steering
- query financial institution
- EPA steering for the apprentice and the employer
The EPAO should be sure that the EPA supplies are topic to high quality assurance procedures together with standardisation and moderation.
