Process in Detail
1. Registering your employees for assessment
The Approved Centre completes the registration form with you and forwards
it to the ECITB; this registers your employees on the initiative.
Please note that assessment must begin within 3 months of registration or
the grant must be repaid.
For more detailed information on registering and the grant claiming process,
see the registering claim form
**Please note that there are no new grants available at this time. Contracts are presently in place for Scottish and English candidates, and contracts for Welsh candidates are currently under negotiation.
Costs
| Status | Charge |
|---|---|
| ECITB in scope employer that is also an Approved Centre delivering NVQ/SVQ services for their in-scope employees | £nil |
| Independent Approved Centres delivering NVQ/SVQ services to in scope employers | £50 per candidate |
| Approved Centres delivering NVQ/SVQ services to out of scope employers | £100 per candidate |
Please Note:
In scope companies who are also Approved Centres will not be charged.
The charge is being levied on Approved Centres because it is clear that they can generate commercial income from ACE through the various local funding programmes and the ECITB is greatly assisting in this process, therefore a charge per candidate seems fair and appropriate.
2. Assessment
Assessment is carried out on site whilst an individual is doing
their everyday job; the process is assessor-led and non-intrusive.
The Assessor will have an initial meeting with your employee to go through
the assessment procedure. Each individual has a N/SVQ portfolio that
the Assessor compiles and looks after, minimising candidate input.
This contains all the evidence of competence in the specific trade.
Most assessment is observation in the workplace; the assessor takes the
strain. Assessment on average takes approximately 25-35 hours
and has been successfully carried out on shutdowns and outages. Down
time from productive work is minimal and on average only 4 hours.
There is an option to use your own company Assessors working with a third
party Approved Centre. Assessor training is available free of charge
to ECITB in-scope companies.
If you require information on how to be trained as an Assessor please contact Jason Riley.
The use of Expert Witness Advisers (EWAs) helps reduce Assessor time on site and hence costs for your company. An
EWA is a company employee who observes candidates doing certain tasks towards
the N/SVQ when the Assessor is not present. The EWA must be competent
in the trade they are observing and be registered through the Approved Centre.
Speak to your Approved Centre or ECITB Account Manager about in-company
Assessors and registering your employees as Expert Witness Advisors.
3. Completing Assessment
When the Assessor is satisfied that they have sufficient evidence of competence, the candidate’s portfolio is submitted to an Internal Verifier (IV).
Once the IV is satisfied that correct procedures have been followed, the Approved Centre sends the certificate application form to the ECITB and this is further validated by an External Verifier (EV). Providing the EV is satisfied with the portfolio, the N/SVQ certificate is issued. The employee’s completed ACE card application form and photograph can be sent to the ECITB at the same time and the ACE card is then issued directly to the employee. Companies are advised of employees who have achieved the ACE card on a monthly basis.
The ACE card is valid for 5 years.
In the event that an employee requires additional training to meet the assessment criteria for any units, this can be addressed through TECSkills. Your ECITB Account Manager can help you with this.
For more detailed information on completion and the grant claiming process, see the claiming form
**Please note that there are no new grants available at this time. Contracts are presently in place for Scottish and English candidates, and contracts for Welsh candidates are currently under negotiation.