Preparing for apprenticeship assessment

Your employer and training provider will talk to you about any assessments you’ll have to do at the beginning of your apprenticeship. You should ask them if they’ve not discussed this with you already.  

You’ll have different types of assessments depending on the apprenticeship you’re doing – find out more details in apprenticeship assessments: what you need to know.

Most likely, you’ll have to make a portfolio of all your knowledge skills and behaviours (KSBs), and how you have gained them. You can do this in Your Apprenticeship app, which you can download from the App store or Google Play.

What to ask your employer and provider

Your employer or training provider will help you prepare for your assessment.     You, your employer and provider will agree an assessment plan. This will have all the information you need to prepare for your assessment, including:

• how to gather material for a portfolio
• how to practice for your assessment, for example mock assessments or tests
• what format your assessment will take
• who will be assessing you, their role and what criteria they’ll use to evaluate your work
• what you can expect on the day
• how you can retake assessments, if needed

If your assessment plan does not have this, you should ask your employer and provider for it.

Resources to help you prepare

Start gathering evidence of what you’ve learnt as soon as you start your apprenticeship.

You’ll need to map what you’ve learnt to the knowledge, skills and behaviours set out in your apprenticeship standard, which you can find on Skills England’s apprenticeship finder.

You can record evidence with Your Apprenticeship app - download it now from the App store or Google Play.   You can find out more in apprentice guide to assessment.

Understanding Gateway

If you’re doing an end-point assessment, Gateway is the time between when you complete your apprentice training and get ready for your assessment.    Your employer and training provider will decide with you when you’re ready for Gateway. You’ll need to meet your apprenticeship’s Gateway requirements first, which could include:  

• a portfolio of evidence
• an evidence tracker, where portfolio evidence is demonstrably mapped to your apprenticeship’s KSBs
• a signed Gateway declaration form
• proof of English and maths qualifications (if necessary)
• completion of mandatory on-programme qualifications (where applicable)

Gateway requirements can vary depending on the apprenticeship you’re doing. These requirements should be set out in your assessment plan and will be based on the standard for your apprenticeship.

Concerned about redundancy? 

You need to be employed until you have completed your assessment. If you’ve recently been made redundant, or are facing redundancy, ask your training provider for advice.

The government will fund your apprenticeship training for at least 12 weeks following redundancy. This is to give you time to find other employment, so you can continue with your apprenticeship.

Even if you don’t find a new employer, you may be able to take your assessment and complete your apprenticeship. You’d need to:

• have completed 75% or more of your training
• have less than 6 months of your training to complete

You can read more in redundancy support for apprentices.