Benefits of holistic assessment in the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA)

How to use holistic assessment in the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement

You are likely to be familiar with the term holistic assessment and you need to be if you are studying the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA). Holistic assessment is a method of assessing several aspects of a qualification, unit, programme or job specification at the same time. The idea is that it makes collecting evidence or the assessment process far quicker where several aspects could be evaluated at the same time therefore assessing a learner’s skill, knowledge and understanding can be much more efficient.  

Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement units

In the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA) you will complete two similar assessments, one for the workplace and one for the classroom however the units are very similar. You have the opportunity here is assess two learners in both units which is a holistic way of doing so. Or you could assess each learner back-to-back in each unit to get your four assessments done in two settings. So, for example assessment 2 could be completed immediately after assessment 1 so that learners don’t need to come back.

Using holistic in the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement in first aid

If I am travelling somewhere to be assessed, personally I would prefer to do it one goes than multiple visits. Let’s look at first aid for example. You could assess CPR and then assess the recover position as your second assessment. Why not combine them and do it together? Another option for assessment is that you could assess both learners together. In security, learners will complete assessments in using communication devices and specifically radios. A holistic way is for learners to communicate with each other via radio therefore they can both be assessed at the same time.  

Other methods you could use holistic assessment in the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA) is by planning different types of assessment after each other. Let’s say you were carrying out a practical observation, a learner performed a particular task, you could follow up asking questions why. In the Level 3 award in Education and Training, trainee teachers will complete their 15 minute microteach session but it will be followed up by some questions and their learners will give feedback on the session.  

To sum up holistic assessment is about speeding up assessment to make it easier for the assessor and the learner. If you were to complete the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA) with another qualification such as the Level 3 Award in Education and Training, we would look at the requirements of the assessments and plan accordingly. The first recommendation would be to plan for assessments from the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA) to evidence in the microteach to meet the requirements of both qualifications in one go.  

Combining the in the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement with the IQA qualification

If you were to complete the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA) with the Level 4 Award in Internal Quality Assurance, some questions are extremely similar with slight changes to the verb requirements. Therefore, learners are better off tweaking one answer to meet two learning outcomes instead of one. Less time but same result.