Choosing the Best End-Point Assessment Organisation for your Rail Apprentices

An End-Point Assessment is an independent assessment completed by an Apprentice at the end of their Apprenticeship training.

This milestone offers the Apprentice the opportunity to demonstrate and evaluate their learnings over the time of their Apprenticeship; and to signify the end of their training as an Apprentice.

Are you looking for the best End-Point Assessment organisation for your Rail Apprentices? If so, we appreciate that it can feel like a daunting task.

The organisation you choose will have a lasting impact on the rail careers of your learners, so we would like to break down the task and offer some helpful guidance as you begin your preparations for selection. Here are some suggestions to help you when choosing the best Rail EPAO for your Rail Apprentices:

Cast your net wide across the market

Take a look at what is on offer to your organisation. Your initial expectations of a Rail End-Point Assessment Organisation may change when you have researched what is available to you and relevant to the needs of your Rail Apprentices. Approach this as a research project and report back your findings before narrowing down your choices.

Align your requirements with those of the Rail industry

Turn your attentions to the needs of your Rail Apprentices before identifying what you need from a Rail End-Point Assessment Organisation. What skills and qualities are measurable and prioritised within their future Rail career roles?

Clarify the assessment criteria

Identify, analyse, and compare the assessment criteria of Rail End-Point assessments whilst comparing End point Assessment Organisations. Will this criteria be appropriate for the training and working opportunities of your Rail Apprentices?

Check the expectations

Get crystal clear on what is expected of your Rail Apprentices from the Rail End-Point Assessment Organisation. In order to maximise success and the likelihood of optimum completed Apprenticeships, you need to be confident that the expectations complement the realities of your Rail Apprentices’ workloads.

Equip your Rail Apprentices to succeed

Completing Rail End-Point Assessment can be a challenging time for Rail Apprentices. They will rely on you for guidance as to how best to approach this opportunity.

By equipping your Rail Apprentices, you help them to avoid overwhelm as there is often a lot of information to process and combined with their day-to-day work, can feel like a lot to juggle.

Consider the support your organisation will need

If you choose CIRO as your Rail EPAO, you can be confident of the support that your Rail Apprentices will receive along their journey. A CIRO Invigilator will be allocated who will support you through the Rail End-Point Assessment phase. They will contact you, provide you with all the information that you need and be your main point of contact throughout the process as well as answering any questions you may have.

Keep an open mind

Remember; the Rail Apprentices that you welcome to your organisation are eager to progress and learn new skills. Remain open minded as to the most useful learning opportunities in the current marketplace. Staying aligned to sought-after skills will help to maintain motivated learners and attract new cohorts of Apprentices.

Consider next steps

What can your Rail Apprentice expect at the end of their journey?

CIRO has been trusted by the industry to deliver a high quality, effective and efficient Rail End-Point Assessment (EPA) service for over 5 years and currently work with over 20 leading Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and Freight Operating Companies (FOCs).

Following successful completion of their EPA, we arrange for your Rail Apprentice’s certificate to be sent from the government Apprenticeship Assessment Service to you.

What will give your Apprentices the edge in your industry?

The Rail industry is unique and the Rail End-Point assessment Organisation that you select should be too.

CIRO offer an industry-leading service to Apprentices and organisations, evidenced in the continued adoption of our offering within the rail industry.

Ready for more?

For more information on End-Point Assessment in Rail, please visit www.ciro.org/epa