1. Advanced Clinical Practice (ACP) Trailblazer
Sam Foster – Chief nurse – Heart of England NHS FT- Chair –ACP Trailblazer Group

2. Current Issues with the ACP Role – Accept as a given I am pro this role!

3. Nuffield Trust – Re-shaping the workforce

4. Professional Protectionism is a key risk for this role…………

5. And then came the levy……

6. An opportunity to review national work and pull it all together to shape this role

7. What is an Apprenticeship?
An apprenticeship combines practical training in a job, with study. It must last a minimum of 12 months.
Apprentices are therefore
Employees
Developing skills in the workplace in a real job
Given time away from the immediate work place to study and develop their knowledge

8. Trailblazers
Trailblazer is the means to develop an Apprenticeship Standard and Assessment plan
Group of employers
Named employer Chair
Supported by other stakeholders
Sub group(s) to maximise input of experts
Implementation plans in parallel

9. Apprenticeship Standard
Short document; easy to use and understand
Overview of the occupation
Sets out, at a high level, the knowledge, skills and behaviours to become competent
Include English and Maths requirements
At a single academic level
Designed by employers
Overseen/approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships

10. Apprenticeship Assessment Plan
Longer document of approximately 10 pages
End point assessment only
Describes
Assessment methods (how)
Assessor requirements (who)
Grading criteria
Quality assurance arrangements
May be integrated into a full degree validated for the apprenticeship
Bolted onto existing degrees

11. Trailblazer process
Expression of Interest including estimated start figures
Development of standard including IfA approval and ESFA funding band allocation
Development of assessment plan focussed on end point assessment and IfA approval
Agree external quality assurance of the end point assessment organisations that have registered
Implementation
‘How To’ Guide at /government/public ations/future-of- apprenticeships-in- england-guidance- for-trailblazers

12. Roles Employers: Drive the development and lead on content
Other stakeholders (HEIs, professional bodies): Advice & guidance, task & finish
Skills for Health: Manage the process; project management, consultation, advice & guidance
ACP National Steering Group: Comms channel & implementation
Institute for Apprenticeships: Approval of products, advice & guidance

13. Work to date of the group…
Refine and expand the ‘occupational profile’
Refine and expand the ‘responsibilities & duties’ section
Considered ‘additional requirements’ or ‘entry requirements’ needed?
Draft 1 - Knowledge and skills are were generic with overlap with other standards
Add/refine advanced clinical skills
Contextualise leadership
Contextualise education
Contextualise research
Draft out for national consultation this week……

14. End-point assessment
Apprenticeship standards must have an end-point assessment (EPA) to test an apprentice’s competence against the occupational standard - knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)
EPA is taken at the end of the apprenticeship, after all on- programme learning has been completed and gateway requirements have been met
Its duration should be proportional to the length of the apprenticeship
Performance in the EPA determines the apprenticeship grade

15. End-point assessment
An EPA plan describes the EPA approach for a particular standard - what, how, when, where, who…
You need to clearly explain the requirements for the EPA, so it can be consistently interpreted by assessment organisations
You must ensure the EPA approach and plan complies with policy
EPA plans need to be approved by the Institute, before the apprenticeship standard can be approved for delivery
Assessment organisations must be approved to offer services against a particular standard; approved organisations are listed on the Register of Apprentice Assessment Organisations

16. The application form Information about the organisation
The application has four sets of questions. Each one gives us information about the applicant and their suitability to be an end-point assessment organisation:
Information about the organisation
Their financial governance
&
Financial self-assessment
The organisations occupational capacity & capability
The organisations assessment capacity & capability
All applicants:
complete the online application form
respond to questions, make declarations, complete the financial health self-assessment, including submitting latest financial statements, submit accompanying documents where relevant.

17. Synoptic
The EPA must holistically assess KSBs from across the standard in an integrated way - at least one method of assessment must assess a mix of KSBs
It should focus on higher order KSBs, which give assurance that lower order KSBs have been demonstrated
The KSBs that will be assessed by each assessment method must be identified
.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeships-guide-for- employers:// employers
Holistic, e.g. if asking a question it should have scope to provide evidence of a range of KSB
At least one assessment method must assess a mix of KSB but it would be good practice for them all to do so
Some standards only have higher order KSB, so you many need to assess them all
Matrix can be useful to map which KSB will be assessed

18. Use a range of assessment methods
Assessment methods must be appropriate for the occupation
There must be at least 2 methods, each separately assessing an identified set of KSBs
Methods could include a practical assessment, viva or technical interview, project, observation, written test, presentation…
A viva or technical interview can only be used to test skills if accompanied by a portfolio/showcase
A portfolio/showcase are not classed as a method in themselves, but can be used to support another method e.g. interview
Parameters for each method must be clearly stated, including which KSBs each method is assessing, length, location, order of assessments, number of questions, type of questions etc
Valid, consistent and reliable
.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeships-guide-for- employers://
Remember the more methods you have the higher the potential cost of assessment
Some assessment methods are more expensive than others e.g. MCQ are cheaper to mark than open response questions
Assessment methods may have different elements within them e.g. presentation may include a Q&A session, but if they are assessing the same KSB it is one method
If portfolio/showcase is being used to support a viva/interview it must be stated as a gateway requirement and guidance given on its content/structure/production

19. Graded Introduced to encourage and recognise excellence
You must have at least one level above pass for each assessment method and for the apprenticeship
Pass represents competence against the standard, with higher grades representing performance over and above
You need to include clear grading descriptors/criteria that can be consistently interpreted by assessors
You need to explain how the outcomes from different methods are combined to determine the grade
You should consider including a resit/retake policy
Grading exemptions may be given, in some circumstances
If restricting grades for resit/retake consider making allowances for situations outside of the apprentices control
Don’t restrict individual employer choice in terms of number of resits/retakes
Any resit/retakes should be achieved within the assessment period, or otherwise all re-taken

20. Independent
EPA must be conducted by an independent assessment organisation
The assessor must be independent i.e. not employed by the same organisation as the apprentice or their training provider or have any connection with the apprentice
Employers can have a supporting role in the assessment decision e.g. as a member of an assessment panel
Where the standard is aligned to professional recognition, the professional body may have a role in the assessment ov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeships-guide-for- employers:// employers

21. Align with profession recognition (where applicable)
If the apprenticeship aligns with professional recognition, you must explain how this is achieved in the plan
Does the apprenticeship automatically give them professional body status? If not what would they need to do? ://

22. Affordable
You should consider how cost effectiveness in assessments will be delivered, while still meeting the quality objectives
The EPA needs to be financially reasonable and not off-putting to employers
It should not cost more than 20% of the overall cost of the apprenticeship
You need to include the anticipated cost, expressed as a % of the funding band in the plan
The actual cost is for employers to negotiate with assessment organisations
// employers:// employers

23. Manageable and feasible
The approach needs to be deliverable on the scale required for the number of predicted apprentices
You need to include anticipated starts per year in the plan
s:// employers:// employers

24. Internal quality assurance (IQA)
IQA is carried out by an assessment organisation
It involves an assessment organisation ensuring that it is undertaking individual assessments correctly and is assuring others that it is running, marking, standardising and reporting the outcome of the assessment properly
You need to set out the specific type of internal quality assurance that each assessment organisation will need to undertake
This must include the essential knowledge and skills that EPA assessors must have i.e. qualifications and experience
Minimum levels of moderation and standardisation should also be included
s:// employers:// employers

25. External quality assurance (EQA)
EQA is undertaken by an external body and covers all of the assessment organisations delivering EPA against a particular apprenticeship standard
It ensures consistency of approach to EPA, regardless of which assessment organisation has delivered it and where it is carried out
Options:
Employer-led
Professional body
Ofqual
Institute for Apprenticeships
(QAA)
The approach you select needs to be stated in the plan and detail provided where necessary
s:// employers://

26. Integrated degree apprenticeships
In an integrated degree, the EPA is part of the degree e.g. final module worth a set number of credits
The University awarding the degree will be the assessment organisation and must be on the RoAAO
The EPA must still deliver an impartial result e.g. the assessor must come from a third party organisation and must be independent of the on-programme delivery, the apprentice and their employer
s:// employers:// employers

27. The EPA plan:
must not include any recommended on-programme training or assessment
must signpost to any other support documents you produce, which must be freely available
must be organisation neutral (some exceptions), no logos
should be in font size 12
is usually pages
s:// employers:// employers

28. Top tips: read the guidance involve your relationship manager
use the IfA template
be clear on your EPA approach before you start writing the plan
look at a range of recently approved plans
involve potential assessment organisations
consult on the plan
s:// employers:// employers

29. Launched 10th May 2017
haso.skillsforhealth.org.uk