EPA professional discussion tips

The purpose of end point assessment is to judge how apprentices applied the knowledge, skills and behaviours they acquired during their apprenticeship. It isn’t enough to say “I know the theory” or “I showed my adaptability.” To achieve the marks, apprentices must actively demonstrate that they have the skills and behaviours detailed in the standard and have applied them in their role.

1. Talk about yourself

Write or speak in first person. This means saying “I” and not “we”. By doing this, you put emphasis and weight on what you singularly did to apply your knowledge, skills and behaviours against the apprenticeship standard.

If your team were involved in a task, make sure to highlight your role. For example:

“My team were tasked with… I volunteered to …”

“I was assigned task X and I immediately started brainstorming ideas and researching…”

“The manager’s decision was to X and this was based largely on the research I carried out…”

2. The assessor doesn’t know you

Remember that the assessor doesn’t know you or your organisation. They don’t see your skills and interactions – all they can grade you on is what you tell them. This is why it’s essential to clearly state what you’ve done to meet the demands of the standard. Spell everything out, and don’t assume anything is obvious – if you don’t say it, the assessor can’t grade it.

3. Mirror the assessment plan

Don’t be afraid to use phrases directly from the assessment plan to describe your skills. For example, if the criteria says “Demonstrates their ability…”, mirror this and say “I demonstrated my ability to… by…”

Not only does this help you meet all criteria, it also draws the assessor’s attention to where and how you demonstrated that skill.

4. Ask yourself what and why

It can be difficult to understand what is meant by ‘applying’ your skills and behaviours, so for each one ask yourself what you demonstrated and why.

For example, if the assessment criteria says: “Selects the most appropriate communication channels”

A poor answer would be: “I chose to communicate with my team by email.”

This doesn’t tell the assessor why.

A much better answer would be: “I applied my knowledge of marketing theory and determined the most effective way to communicate with my team was by email. This is because every staff member has access to email and past use has shown a high response rate. Marketing theory also shows that for a formal communication, written information is more easily remembered than verbal communication.”

This answer is 58 words long and should cover the skill effectively.

If you’re writing a report and struggle to keep within the word count, try highlighting everything in your report that relates to a knowledge, skill or behaviour. Then look back at what isn’t highlighted – you should see information that can be taken out.

5. Key phrases to show skills and behaviours

We’ve put together this list of phrases to help you demonstrate your skills and behaviours.

WHAT?

These phrases will help you show what you did. “I…”

Organised

Coordinated

Researched

Implemented

Decided

Collaborated

Raised

Influenced

Networked

Trained

Developed

Brainstormed

Led

Planned

Delivered

Persuaded

Compiled

Concluded

Monitored

Evaluated

Assessed

Interpreted

Interrogated data

Committed

Reflected

Examined

Consulted

Reconsidered

Adapted

Articulated

Demonstrated

Described

Improved

Streamlined

Budgeted

Took ownership

Shared

Advised

Asserted

Spearheaded

Oversaw

Managed

Motivated

Facilitated

Expanded

Proactively

Volunteered

Took the lead

Encouraged

Applied

Gave feedback

Determined

Considered

Analysed

Recommended

Presented

Performed

Recorded

Supported

Communicated

Exhibited

Championed

Took responsibility

Identified

Contributed

Drove

Acted

Calculated

Reviewed

Updated

Instructed

Directed

Guided

WHY?

As we’ve described above, you need to say why you took the decision or action you described. These phrases may help.

Because

Due to

Based on

By

In order to

Following

Reviewing

Your WHY might be based on a number of factors, such as:

Theory (name it)

Experience

Past customer behaviour

Manager’s instructions

Company policy

Company processes and procedures

Sector knowledge

Relevant technology

Options available

Internal/external factors

Industry knowledge

Consumer knowledge

Relevant models or frameworks

Qualitative research

Quantitative research

Project requirements

Efficiency

Trends

Scope of the project

6. Adding depth to achieve a distinction

To achieve a distinction, apprentices should take it one step further. You’ve demonstrated what you did and why, now describe how this will affect what you do in future.

On reflection

Next time

I would recommend

Lessons learned

Results show

I concluded

Always refer to the distinction criteria detailed in the assessment plan to see what is required for your standard.