Read more about NSAR's EQA project
NSAR's role in EQA
NSAR ran the employer-led external quality assurance model and worked with five different employer boards (rail, digital, adult care, logistics and screen). Our service ensured that the end-point assessments were compliant with the employer-created assessment plans for the apprenticeship standards and are consistently applied and comparable across the different end-point assessment organisations offering assessments for these standards.
The EQA team transferred the last of its EQA responsibilities to the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (OFQUAL) at the end of 2022. NSAR was the third-largest provider of EQA for apprenticeships, after OFQUAL and the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), and the largest employer-led EQA organisation.
Achievements
Providing external quality assurance of end-point assessment marketplace that saw apprentices take end-point assessments across five sectors, in over 50 apprenticeship standards.Â
Identifying and actioning 901 quality improvement opportunities across 63 end-point assessment organisations.Â
Introducing assessment adjustments during COVID-19 that meant apprenticeship assessment and certification continued throughout the pandemic. These adjustments also overcame some barriers to assessment operations that had emerged over time. Completion rates for train driver apprenticeships, for example, increased by 30 percent.