Retraining as an assessor.

A question about : Retraining as an assessor.

Hi guys,

Just looking for a bit of advice!
I have been looking at retraining as an NVQ Assessor in customer service. I had seen this online with Bright Assessing and with having 4 years experience with customer service, admin, sales and complaints, thought it might be a good idea to do.
My problem is the funding! If I was on JSA it would be covered by the govement..... I'm not on this but my partner is about to recieve ESA due to an accident at work which has now left him without a job. It's a lot of money to put in for it not to work out so just wondering if anyone has done this course and who is the best provider of the training to go with?

Any advice would be helpful!

Thank you

Best answers:

• Bright assessing are looking at charging me over Ј800!
  They only way it would be free is if I was on benefits which I'm not. Did you end up getting anything out of the course?
• I took my assessor qualification in 2006 (in health and social care) and I now work as an assessor/ trainer.
  I can't comment on the fees, as my then employer paid and I trained in the workplace, but Ј800 sounds like a lot of money. Have you compared the cost with other organisations and your local colleges?
  I just looked online, and the local college I am currently studying through offers the assessor course for Ј570.
• There is funding available for a variety of circumstances, not just being on benefits. Ј800 is a lot of money and much more than a college would charge (usually). Contact your local FE College and ask if they have ESF workplace learning funding which can fund the assessor award, this is for people in employment, self employment or volunteer employment for at least 8 hours per week and who dont have prior qualifications at the level of the course to be done.
  Contact the college and speak to the teacher training faculty or student services, you may find it is a lot cheaper than you think, or even free!
• Not always, it could be that someone is time served in an industry but not qualified, for example business admin or customer service then goes onto the assessor qualification. Someone could be working towards a qualification but as long as they haven't achieved it then they can qualify for the funding. As with all funding the devil is in the detail!
• Apologies if there is already a thread on here, but my phone won't allow me to search!
  I'm looking to do a NVQ Assessors course, and see that Bright offer funded courses to the unemployed.
  However, I can't find any independent reviews on the Internet, before I sign up!
  Has anyone had any dealings?
  Many thanks
• my husband took this course last summer -he found it quite easy to cope with.
  He passed no problems - but just to say, despite all their claims of plenty of jobs available once you have qualified - he never got a sniff of one
  he has gained employment since and no doubt the qualification HELPED - but he was left in no doubt by his new employers that it was his experience in other areas they were impressed by, so I would say take the course ( especially if you can get it for free) as it WILL enhance your CV - but don't think it will bring you LOTS of work - most places want experienced assessors.
• You would be better contacting your local FE College and asking the HR dept about vacancies in your area of expertise. If you are the right person with the right experience, they will pay for you to do the course, probably on site, and you can be "working towards" your qual whilst still working.
• I did the course last October and I have not been able to get work as an assessor.I think out of the 20 in my class only one got work and I think it is because he had the ptlls,which is what I am going to do next.I think its worth it if you can get it for free but I think they want people with experience in teaching as well.I hope this helps
• If you train at a college they will usually use their own learners for you to assess.
• Hi mrsbutton,
  As other people have said, it’s definitely a good idea to shop around to find a training provider that suits your needs; not only financial needs but in relation to the support you’ll receive while taking the course etc.
  Have you had time to look into alternatives yet? You might find the Hot Courses website useful when searching with courses. If you’re particularly interested in distance learning courses, you can click on the ‘Find a course’ tab at the top and select the ‘Online & distance courses’ option.
  You might also find it useful to have a look at these websites if you’re considering taking a distance learning course:
  Open and Distance Learning Quality Council (ODLQC) – they operate a voluntary registration scheme for providers of home study, distance learning, on-line or e-learning and open learning courses. To be eligible to register, a course provider has to meet quality standards and adhere to a code of ethics.
  Association of British Correspondence Colleges - a trade association of colleges who agree to comply with a code of ethics . There is a searchable database of courses and colleges on their website. They also have a copy of the ODLQC's buyers guide on their website, which could be useful.
  I also wonder if you’re aware of Professional and Career Development Loans? You can use these to borrow between Ј300-Ј10,000 to get help with course fees. You won’t pay any interest while you’re studying, as the Skills Funding agency will pay this for you. They are different to regular student loans, however, as you need to begin repayments pretty much straight after the course finishes. You can also use this type of loan to help pay for courses with private training providers who have been approved by the Skills Funding Agency.
  I hope this helps you out a bit.
• My college does offer an assessor course, but does not provide students to assess. It is a tricky one, I have been a qualified assessor for 6 years after answering a job advertisement for the local college. Although I didn't hold the qualification when I applied, I had many years experience (in my case in child care), so the college paid for me to take the qualification, and gave me students to assess ( while getting paid). 3 years ago I took the verifier qualification, also paid for by the college, I know I've been very lucky, maybe it's possible to approach your local colleges with a similar idea?
• interesting to read different views on said company.
  I did my course with bright back in april and I have mixed feelings over the whole experience.
  ive worked in construction for over 15 years and am multi trade skilled but not formal quals as in never went to college all site trained so no NVQ,s
  so when I made enquiries into becoming an assessor I MET the criteria for gaining the qualification so did course also have nearly completed a PTLLS course at my local college which seems to a requirement these days.
  but am unable to work as an assessor in construction as I have no formal qualifications to work as an a NVQ assessor
  so after speaking to bright for advice of which route to take [as its what they do] and explaining to them the issues I am facing in trying to register as an assessor and the fact im unable to due to lack of NVQ.s
  and the response I get back is its a generic qualification and can be used in all aspects of the workplace
  well yes it is a generic course covering a large spectrum of people but absolutely useless to me in my chosen field
  all I will say is MAKE SURE YOU ARE ABLE TO FIND WORK FIRST IN YOUR PATICULAR FIELD otherwise like me u have a piece of paper!
  (Text removed by MSE Forum Team)
• I am currently thinking of signing up with bright as I work fulltime and cannot afford to go to college to do the qualification, where the lack of jobs are concerned maybe it depends what area you are assessing, I have looked for assessor jobs available and there appear to be a good amount for the areas I could assess due to experience.
• Which 'group' was this that you were with?
• I also used Bright (lured in by awards etc) and paid the full price for it. I also put in my feedback about the 2 candidates provided who already work for Bright and quite obviously have gone through the motions a hundred times and have everything pre-prepared. There were many threads on the online system about people unable to contact mentors. At the end, they send an email asking if you have secured employment and if you need any help / advice - I did reply asking for help and was told to contact my local college! I have searched their newassessor site and there are 9 jobs in total for the whole of the UK. Would certainly NOT recommend Bright.