College Apprenticeship Programme Shines In National Scheme

Image caption: NWSLC staff with a Smart Apprentices Award.

The Apprenticeships team at North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College has been recognised as part of a national scheme for its use of Smart Assessor software to improve the quality and efficiency of its apprenticeships service.

Smart Apprenticeships selected the college from ten national finalists within its client base after reviewing its use of the Smart Assessor e-learning portfolio that captures evidence of apprentices’ skills, knowledge and behaviours. The college was the first recipient of the Distance Travelled award which is new for 2019.

The award was introduced to mark a year during which the Smart Assessor team has been supporting its clients to increase their awareness of the software’s capability through quality health checks on how it is used to support the digital learning journey.

Ann Ramsay, Head of User Engagement for Smart Apprentices said, “We were delighted to present the college with the award for Distance Travelled in recognition of its fantastic progress with the Smart Assessor system. We reviewed our entire client base and found that NWSLC has made the most progress in using the system to effectively improve the timely completion of apprenticeships, the frequency of reviews and the use of additional tools to help with recruitment to job vacancies.

Katy Urwin, Director for Apprenticeships for North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College said, “We were delighted to be named as award winners and pleased to be recognised for the progress we have made in implementing the Smart Assessor system as part of the way we work as a team. It is of paramount importance to us that apprentices remain on track with their qualifications, engage with their learning, achieve and progress in a timely manner, and move on with the careers that they love.

“It is also essential that we are able to help local employers to fill vacancies with work-ready, skilled individuals who can contribute to their business goals. The Smart Assessor online portfolio and its associated products has made a significant impact on our ability to deliver a high-quality service to our clients and apprentices.”

Ann Ramsay added, “It has been a pleasure working with Katy and her team as they have embraced Smart Assessor and worked diligently to ensure that the software provides the results, reports and outcomes they require to support a thriving college.”

Smart Assessor is an award-winning online portfolio for apprentices enabling apprentices to work with their assessors and mentors to complete their apprenticeship paper-free. Apprentices provide evidence of their skills, knowledge and behaviours which is electronically reviewed by their assessors and employers.

Apprentice profile

Madeline Sinclair joined Smart Apprentices in 2018 having completed a computing qualification at North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College. Madeline works in an IT support role, helping organisations that carry out assessments on a range of apprenticeships. Her role requires knowledge and understanding of both the technical and non-technical aspects of the Smart Assessor platform and she is skilled in being able to translate technical language into terms that are widely understood by those operating the system.

Madeline’s employers are pleased that she has been able to apply knowledge directly from what she has learned at college, and they have selected specific, highly relevant units within her apprenticeship that are tailored Madeline’s job role. Madeline has grown in confidence and has become an asset to Smart Apprentices, communicating professionally with clients, delivering training through Smart Room webinars and building up positive relationships.

She has recently successfully achieved her Level 3 Apprenticeship for IT, Software, Web and Telecoms Professionals.

To discover more about our Apprenticeships offer, please click here.