Case Study: NVQnow

Reflecting on Success

Centre: Reflections Training Academy
Qualifications: Hairdressing NVQ, Levels 1-3 and Key Skills.

Reflections Training Academy has a strong reputation as a training provider with 20 years experience of teaching hairdressing apprenticeships. Recently they celebrated gaining Grade 2s from the Adult Learning Inspectorate rating them as excellent and good across both Academies based in Bristol and Birmingham.

Embracing innovation
This year the company decided to fully embrace technology to support the delivery of its training programme. Central to their strategy was to have all learners using an electronic portfolio. Hairdressing is an industry where often the adoption of technology has been slower than others. It was a bold step but a typical one for Reflections who pride themselves on being at the cutting edge of innovation in their sector. Also typical was having the whole organisation fully committed to making the roll-out a success.

After a rigorous selection process they chose to use a City & Guilds endorsed e-portfolio developed by Axia Interactive Media. Although the e-portfolio is in the early stages of implementation already Reflections are experiencing the benefits. Many assessors who had previously just used paper portfolios now see the benefits of the e-portfolio to the point where they would not want to go back to paper.

Real time progress
'The e-portfolio is a valuable tool,' says Reflections Assessor Lynda Brown 'which allows me to keep up to date and relevant information on each of my learners. It allows me to be aware of their needs and requirements on an ongoing basis therefore making the whole process more tailored to the individual. It's made my job considerably easier in several respects.'

With a paper portfolio photographs of a candidate's work had to be taken, printed out, cut to size and added to the relevant unit in the portfolio. Now a picture is taken often on a candidate's own mobile phone, uploaded into the portfolio and instantly cross referenced against multiple standards. Learners can instantly view photographic evidence and any assessments that have been carried out.

According to Lynda Brown 'gone are the days when learners can forget to bring log books and folders, this makes carrying out assessments more instantly recordable without the inconvenience of creating a mountain of paper which students have a knack of misplacing.'

Reflections also generate reports in real time of the progress their learners are making and those tasked with checking quality can instantly access learner's portfolios. The e-portfolio also enables multiple assessors to work with a learner which is a vital for this industry where much of the evidence is gathered in the workplace.

Tailor made
Many of these benefits are a result of working collaboratively with their e-portfolio supplier to tailor the system. Chris Peat from Axia comments 'We've worked very closely with Reflections to understand the particular requirements of assessing hairdressers and adapted the e-portfolio to accommodate these. Together we've shown that today's e-portfolios have the capacity to be adapted to reflect the assessment strategies of a high quality training organisation.'