Policies and procedures relevant to the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA)

Legislation that impacts the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement

When assessing, you need be aware of legislation which impacts assessment. When assessing the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA), the Health and Safety at Work (1974) and General Data Protection Regulations (2018) has an impact on my ability to deliver the course so we will look at its impact.  

How Health and safety affects the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement

Health and Safety at Work (1974) is important to ensure I remain safe, my learners remain safe, and their learners remain safe. We need to be aware of our own health and safety procedures but also the health and safety procedures at any premises that we go to, so we have employers to think about too. Are you assessing at night-time? This happens for shift workers so you may need to look at your own safety. Are you going to a place that is dark, isolated and no where near public transport so you need to think about your own safety? 

Impact of Covid-19 on the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement

In the last couple of years when assessing the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA) we’ve had to think about the legislation of Covid-19. Although this has now passed, different employers and different training providers have different policies on the risk. When I’m assessing in the NHS, I have to still wear face masks and we are limited to the number of people in a room at a given time where other employers have accepted the risk and have returned back to normal. What do we do if we have tested positive for Covid-19 ourselves? Do we continue working or do we self-isolate? I cannot tell you the answer, so you need to follow your organisational policies and consider the impact it has on health and safety law.  

How Data Protection affects the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement

Data protection is another law that affects our assessing. Firstly, we need permission to hold your data and process your data. This is needed to enrol you on the course and to share the information with the awarding body so once you’ve completed all of the work, you can then receive your Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA) certificate. As part of your practical assessment, you will complete assessment records for your learners. And the only way to use this information is to get permission from your learners. We have completed a template for you to use to get permission from your learners, but you can use your own forms. If you don’t get permission, then the assessment records may not be valid so its highly recommended that you get it. You may be able to blank out some data but its generally best not to.  

Lastly, we’ll talk about how confidentiality affects the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA). Confidentiality is about not sharing information with people who don’t need to know. Does my wife need to know about your progress? No, she doesn’t. If a learner has a learning disability, we should share it but only share it with the appropriate people so potentially we are sharing this with the awarding body to make reasonable adjustments. We will go out into employers and assess learners who may share information that they probably shouldn’t but as an assessor, you need to use your discretion as you could out your assessor in hot water.

But at the same time, you have moral duties to blow the whistle if you see something which breaches law. Learners need to communicate assessment plans with their learners and their employers and the best way to demonstrate this is by taking screenshots of emails. Just make sure when you do this that you remove any information which is irrelevant and not permitted as we don’t want any confidentiality to be breached. Sometimes learners will show any email and then forget to cover up their inbox on the other side. Just double check everything before submitting.