Boatbuilder Apprenticeship
End Point Assessment (EPA)
The Boatbuilder level 3 apprenticeship is designed to develop the professional standard required of people working as Boatbuilders. The model has been determined by a boatbuilding employer group consisting of small, medium and large sized employers, including British Marine, who represent the industry. The concept of ‘competence’ is considered to be very important to employers within the sector. This is due to the technical precision associated with the production and installation of marine components and assemblies.
Boatbuilders build boats such as yachts, workboats and superyachts and/or refit and repair existing boats. Boats may be made of composites, metals or wood so a boatbuilder can work with and understand the capabilities of a variety of materials. They can read and interpret engineering and technical drawings to produce moulds, jigs, plugs and templates to create complex shapes using a variety of measuring equipment, machines and hand tools.
They manufacture and assemble components that form the structure of a boat as well as the interior and exterior fit out. They will be expected to work both individually and as part of a team. They understand and comply with organisational and statutory safety, including sustainability, requirements and can work with minimum supervision. They are responsible for the quality and accuracy of their work and are good communicators and problem solvers.
Boatbuilders typically work with associated trades such as Marine Engineers and have a strong understanding of the marine industry. Upon successful completion of their apprenticeship, via End Point Assessment, the individual will be multi-skilled and thus capable of adapting to changing demands as boats become more complex, and new materials and methods are introduced.
British Marine are an Ofqual recognised End Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO) and are listed on the Apprenticeship Provider and Assessment Register (APAR).
The Boatbuilder End Point Assessment Plan details the assessments that must be undertaken during the gateway period of up to 6 months. The apprentice must meet all requirements of the assessment plan to successfully pass the end point assessment and complete the apprenticeship. For full details from the Institute of Apprenticeships, please click here.
To aid in this journey we have created a series of resources to help plan and prepare for end point assessment.
Apprentice
Getting ready for end point assessment might seem a little daunting at first, which is why we have created a series of resources to try and support you in preparation for it.
You will receive access to all the resources we have developed to support you as soon as you are registered with us for EPA.
Boatbuilder Assessments - at a glance:
The end point assessment is made up of different assessment methods. From the point of being confirmed as in 'Gateway', you have up to 6 months to complete these assessments.
As the end point assessment organisation chosen to complete these with you, we will schedule the dates to be met for each step of your EPA with you and your employer. Your training provider will be kept up to date with this information also.
Click the image below to see detail.
The assessments for Boatbuilder are:
Method 1 - Project Portfolio. We provide you with a guide and mapping matrix for the development of your portfolio.
Method 2 - Structured Interview, this assessment is made up if two components. We provide you with a guide to your presentation and mock questions to aid in practicing your competency-based questions assessment.
You must achieve a pass in all three components to achieve a pass overall for this standard.
Employer
As part of the Boatbuilder standards end point assessments your apprentice will be required to undertake a project or a set of mini projects once they are accepted into 'Gateway' to enable them to create a project portfolio. Following this the apprentice will undertake a two part assessment of a presentation with professional discussion and competency based questions interview.
The support we offer:
In order to do this, we have provided extensive guidance alongside the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Educations (IfATE's) assessment plan on what knowledge, skills and behaviours need to be met via the project. Our full guide provides insight on how the portfolio can be constructed and types of evidence to use.
We will provide further guidance for the apprentice and you on the presentation and competency based questions aspect, along with a set of mock questions.
The Boatbuilder end point assessments require a member of your organisation to be part of a panel for the assessments. This person is known as a technical expert. This is in line with IfATE's assessment plan for the standard.
A technical expert can be the apprentices line manager, mentor, senior manager, supervisor or similar role. They would need to demonstrate that they have the appropriate qualification or experience equivalent or above that of the Boatbuilder standard.
We have provided a guide as to the technical experts role in the assessments process.
We will offer your apprentice/s the opportunity to undertake their end point assessments either remotely, via Microsoft Teams or face to face in person.
Early engagement between British Marine, the employer, provider and apprentice is key to giving you and your apprentice/s the best possible support towards EPA.
Once your apprentice/s is / are registered with us for EPA, we will be in touch and supply all resources for both you and the apprentice/s to aid in planning and preparation for EPA.
Training Provider
Undertaking the Boatbuilder standard with us means access to resources and support to aid in your preparation of the apprentice.
Communication is a key part of our relationship with you, we want to make sure you are included every step of the way. We want to collaborate with you and the employer to create a seamless journey for all the apprentices from registration to certification.
We will offer your apprentices either face to face or remote, via Microsoft Teams assessments and include you in the planning of these.
All our resources can be found on our LMS system, ACE360, along with copies of relevant policies and procedures for you. These include but are not limited to,
- Reasonable adjustments
- Assessment Policy and Procedure
- Complaints and Appeals
Our dedicated email, will have someone available to answer your queries within 24 hours, or by the next working day if weekend or bank holiday period. If you need us sooner, you can call us on 01784223718 or 07584563285
FAQ
Gateway is the term used for the time between the completion of your training period with the training provider and getting ready for EPA.
You, your employer and training provider decide when you are ready to enter gateway, at which point all gateway requirements must be met. Your training provider will aid you in preparing the necessary documents for this.
These apprenticeships offer more specialised knowledge and skills and are equal to A levels.
We call this ‘reasonable adjustments’. Reasonable adjustments are something you should discuss with your training provider and employer as soon as possible. If you have any adjustments applied, for example, extra time in exams / tests then your training provider can make an application for this adjustment to us. We will review the request and supporting evidence and confirm if adjustments can be applied. If you want to know more about what counts as a reasonable adjustment, please speak to your training provider or contact us on
You can also find more information about reasonable adjustments here: Support for apprentices with a learning difficulty or disability (apprenticeships.gov.uk)
Whilst we have provided you with many supporting resources to aid in your preparation for EPA, it is still good practice to ask your employer and / or training provider
- to support you in gathering materials towards portfolio's (if required),
- to help you undertake mock assessments or mock tests,
- to explain anything about your assessments you are not sure about,
to aid you in identifying what projects / work is available to plan your assessments. This applies to:
- Boatbuilder - Project Portfolio,
- Marine Engineer - Professional Report,
- Marina and Boatyard - Observation
Talking about your end point assessment early and continuing to talk about and prepare for it will only help you when it comes to the real thing.
Your results will be shared after each assessment has taken place with feedback and within set timescales agreed at your planning meeting. Your final results will be with you within 15 working days from your final assessment.
FAQ
Please contact us as soon as possible if you believe your apprentice/s needs any reasonable adjustments, we can walk you through the process around these with your training provider. Further guidance on what reasonable adjustments are and how we apply them can be found here: End-point Assessment Reasonable Adjustments Guidance / Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education
It can occur when an apprentice has the opportunity to develop quicker and therefore be ready for their EPA sooner than thought. If this happens, we suggest that you speak with your training provider. We also suggest to do some mock assessments if these haven't been done yet.
Whilst it must be an apprentice’s own work and the apprentice that undertakes each assessment, support from you in invaluable.
You may need to join their assessments as the employer expert, noted above. You may need to aid in the creation of their portfolio of evidence, for example, writing a witness testimony. You can help them by carrying out mock assessments, thinking ahead about the project work they can do for their EPA, enable them to have access to everything they need to show. For example, going out on a sea trial.
We will give you and your apprentice a set of resources to aid in preparation for and going through EPA.
The planning meeting is the first meet with the independent assessor, apprentice, and you. We will extend the invite to your training provider as well.
The assessor will provide you with details of the assessments, set your project/s with you to complete the portfolio of evidence and set dates for each stage and assessment within EPA. This is a great opportunity to ask questions, for the apprentice to get to know a little about their assessor and aid in making them feel a little more comfortable.
Please note we require notice as per our assessment policy and procedure if the dates agreed cannot be met.
We will provide you with this information from the start of your journey through EPA with us.
Planning meetings can last around an hour.
Yes, the aim is that the same assessor will be responsible for conducting all the assessments for the apprentice, unless circumstances out of our control do not allow this. In this case we would keep you fully informed and make decisions to change with you and your apprentice.
FAQ
Any re-sits or re-takes are scheduled with our admin team in line with the requirements of the assessment plan, and our guidance provided to you. We will always work to book the dates for these that best suit the apprentice and employer.
Please follow the our reasonable adjustment policy and procedure and use this form to apply.
We ask you to this as soon as possible.
As the End Point Assessment Organisation, we will apply for the certificate and this will be delivered to the address stated on our management information when the apprentice was registered with us. Should you need to amend the delivery address, you can do this directly or let us know and we will update for you.
As part of our process, we ask you, the apprentice and employer to decide if you want face to face or remote assessments (standard applicable, some standards require all assessments to be face to face.)
If remote we use Microsoft Teams to carry these out. Face to face assessments are largely carried out in the workplace, however there is occasion where doing these at the training providers premises is more suitable. Observations will always be carried out in the workplace.
All assessments venues must meet the requirements of secure and safe assessment. We will work with everyone to determine the best place and time for these.
Re-sit or re-take interviews, presentation and / or discussions will take place remotely via Microsoft Teams, unless special arrangements have been agreed.
British Marine is committed to providing an excellent End-point Assessment service.
British Marine supports improvement in assessment quality and decision-making, however we recognise that from time-to-time situations arise where an apprentice considers that they might have grounds for an enquiry about results, an appeal against a decision related to that End-point Assessment, or a compliant in relation to the end-point assessment service provided.
Please follow our complaints and appeals policy and procedure regarding this.
The sooner you notify us that we are the chosen EPAO for your apprentice/s the better, but at least 6 months prior to entering 'Gateway' helps with planning and allocation of assessors.
We can make sure that everyone gets all the resources available nice and early as well as engaging with both the apprentice and employer to introduce ourselves and open up communication.
We have a wide range of support materials available for each standard. These include Assessment Specifications, Toolkits, Mock Assessments and more.
All support materials come at no extra cost and can be accessed through ACE360.
The support material varies depending on the requirements of each standard.
We offer support materials for training providers, employers and apprentices.
Useful Information
Employers looking for an apprenticeship training provider, please click here to search providers for the boatbuilder standard.
Looking for an apprenticeship vacancy in Boatbuilding, try these sites, dedicated to apprenticeship vacancies:
