AET and CAVA: the perfect partners
Posted on 22nd September 2019 at 14:46
You may have seen us posting recently about a new option for people looking to complete their Award in Education and Training (AET: the teaching qualification) and their Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA: the assessor qualification), meaning that they do both qualifications simultaneously. But why? Why are we encouraging people who are generally working full time with family and other life commitments to take on not one but TWO professional qualifications at the same time?! Here are some FAQs…
Why are you putting these two different courses together?
The Award in Education and Training has three units. One of them relates to assessment because assessment is a huge element of teaching. There are two options for this unit: one is called Understanding Assessment in Education and Training and the other is called Understanding the Principles and Practices of Assessment. Most organisations who offer AET do so with Understanding Assessment as their chosen assessment unit – and we do this too! However, when our awarding body released CAVA at the end of last year, we noticed that the main knowledge unit for that is Understanding the Principles and Practices of Assessment (UPPA), so we are now offering AET with UPPA, which means that, if you want to complete your assessor qualification as well as your teaching qualification then you can do and it’s much easier and will cost you less money in total.
Why aren’t you offering AET with UPPA as standard, then? Why all these options?!
UPPA is a much longer unit than Understanding Assessment. If we offer that as standard without giving people the choice, it makes the cost of just AET higher. And if you only want to do AET – or are only in a position to pay for AET at this time – offering AET with UPPA as standard restricts your options. We want to give you all of the options so that you can make an informed choice that works for the career you want to have.
Can I just do AET?
Yes, definitely. The Award in Education and Training is a fantastic qualification that can be completed fast track, in a group, one to one or via distance learning. This is a level 3 teaching qualification that enables you to teach topics that your occupational competence supports in a wide variety of settings such as colleges, the NHS, independent training providers, the armed forces, your workplace, some schools, prisons, youth work situations… all sorts of places will value your Award. If you just do AET, you would complete this with the shorter assessment unit, which does not go towards any other assessment qualification. If you’re not thinking of assessing in the future then yes, stick with AET!
What’s the difference between AET with UPPA and AET with CAVA? That’s a lot of acronyms!
It is, isn’t it. Here are your options:
AET on its own: still the perfect choice if you want to teach or train. It may be that your organisation will allow you to assess as well without an assessing qualification but many don’t. You also have to consider your awarding body’s position. Some awarding bodies won’t let you assess their qualifications unless you have or are working towards an assessor qualification (such as CAVA).
AET with UPPA: this is the normal Award in Education and Training with the longer assessment unit (UPPA). This is a sensible choice if you are thinking further down the line of completing your assessor qualification. Choosing UPPA as your assessment unit means that, when you choose to do your full CAVA later on, you’ve done all of the work except for having the observations and providing the product evidence!
AET with CAVA: this is the one you need if you have students to assess already and are in a position now to obtain your teaching and assessing qualification. Doing the two together means less work, less repetition and a huge saving on cost in the long run.
CAVA on its own: maybe you already hold a teaching qualification and just need your assessor qualification. Then CAVA on its own is the one for you.
I wish there was a flowchart to help me to decide…
Okay. If you insist.
You’ve told me what my options are for courses but what about paying?
Speak to us about that separately. We offer payment plans.
Did you say I needed students to assess if I want to do CAVA?
Yes. You need a minimum of one student to assess. We need to observe you assessing them, giving them feedback and making assessment decisions with them.
Can you provide me with some students to assess?
Ideally the learners you assess will be yours. However, we do offer some options for you to work with our learners if we have relevant courses running at the time you complete your qualification. Using our learners incurs an extra charge of £250. Our recommendation is that you find your own learners to work with as it makes much more sense for the learners you use to be working on a qualification you want to assess in your real role.
I don’t have any learners and I want to do AET with CAVA immediately. What can I do?
Have a look at this blog, which explains all!
Do I need learners to assess to be able to do AET with UPPA?
No.
Can I do AET with UPPA now and upgrade to CAVA later when I have some learners?
Yes! Great idea. Lots of people do this. You can split the payment as well.
What next?
Contact Amanda for some further advice and guidance. We are here to help you find the right course for you, so please get in touch.
Tagged as: AET; CAVA; assessor; courses
Share this post: