FAQS

Frequently Asked Questions – Assessment

We are often asked the same type of questions relating to NVQs and we thought it would be useful to publish these ‘FAQs’ from time to time.

Q. Now the E3a questions can be taken in ‘open book’ conditions do they still need to be invigilated?

A. The E3a papers are open book but they must still be taken within the Centre. Candidates must be monitored during the assessment to ensure they do not copy each other’s work.

Q.Do Clients have to pay commercial rates?

A. No, but the rates charged should be realistic to at least cover the basic costs of the service provided. Rates for services are determined in accordance with the sales and marketing policy required in item 1 of Appendix 1A of the Habia Realistic Working Environment (RWE) (found in the Assessors handbook).

Q. Can a Candidate be assessed on a relative?

A. Yes, Candidates can be assessed working on relatives if they are paying Clients and should not be the only Clients the Candidate has. Assessors must also take particular care to ensure that the Candidates are not helped from the related Client during the assessment and any such assessments should be a particular focus of internal and external verifier sampling.

Q. Can an Assessor, assess another family member?

A. Yes, as long as City & Guilds are informed via your RTA and the assessments must be subject to rigorous internal and external verification. Although this practice is strongly discouraged.

Q. Do maximum service times have to be recorded?

A. Yes, the time taken by Candidates to complete services must be recorded. It does not have to be recorded in the logbook, it can be elsewhere provided the record is available for verification purposes.

Q. How can range C, (smoking, eating, drinking and drugs) in G1 outcome 2 be covered?

A. This range relates to workplace policies. So in this case the Candidate needs to know and follow their workplace policy for smoking, eating, drinking and drug use, e.g. if the policy says they must not eat, smoke or drink in the public salon areas, they must know this and not do so. Where salons do not have a policy, e.g. for drug use, salons should develop one. Remember that the evidence requirements state that evidence need only be obtained for four types of policy out of the five.

Q.Could you expand on the above range ‘workplace policies that don’t conform’? Can you clarify and possibly give a classic example of this range?

 A. Let’s refer to range C in outcome 1 of G1 – working practices which do not conform to laid down policies. Essentially this range is about the learner identifying where a risk occurs because they or another member of staff uses a working practice that does not follow the salon policy. This may also mean that the manufacturers’ instructions are not being followed.