The assessor's perspective

The assessor will make judgements about the quality of the CEG provision in your school, college, or training organisation based on the evidence you present at the time of the visit(s). An assessment visit is also a supportive activity and the assessor will discuss possible areas for development.

This does not imply that there are quality issues with your provision. The opposite is true. Your assessor will have visited many schools, colleges, and training organisations and will be able to share some of this knowledge and good practice with you – use the time you have with the assessor to seek advice and ideas for development, as this is also evidence of commitment to continuous improvement. The following are some general questions the assessor will have about the organisation’s provision.

General points

  • Assessment is holistic. It looks at the whole picture as well as the detailed evidence: is the whole organisation, not just the careers co-ordinator, committed to the delivery of CEG to all learners?
  • The assessor is unlikely to know a great deal about your organisation, so what you say you do must be supported by evidence that the assessor can see.
  • The assessor does not seek perfection. The IiC standards recognize the need for regular review and development of provision.
  • The portfolio does not have to contain every piece of evidence. It may be more efficient to list evidence against the Indicators and signpost the assessor to their location where the evidence may be viewed (e.g. schemes of work and resource materials).

Stage 2: Intermediate Award

  • Who has been involved in drawing up or reviewing the Careers Education and Guidance Policy – an indication of institutional engagement?
  • How much thought has gone into how the CEG and work-related learning/work experience programmes will be evaluated, and who will be involved in the process?
  • Has the CEG programme exploited cross-curriculum opportunities to deliver CEG learning outcomes?

Stage 3: Full Award

  • How well is the organisation’s processes to monitor and review progress and transition issues integrated with external support and guidance agencies? Is this well understood by all teaching and support staff?
  • Is there a systematic approach to evaluation of the programme and the impact of staff CPD that leads to a development and improvement plan? Who is involved in providing evaluating the provision?

Reassessment

  • Has the IiC standard been maintained over the three year period?
  • Have the ongoing review of the provision led to development and improvement?
  • What areas of good or best practice have been developed?