CEA case study - Sarah Dalrymple

Sarah Dalrymple has embarked on the journey to become a Chartered Educational Assessor. After completing an online session and face to face training, Sarah reflects on her experience so far.

I am the founder and company director of Sarah Dalrymple Consultancy Ltd, t/a SDConsultancy. The company is well into its second year of trading as the only specialist Modern Apprenticeship (MA) provider in the Scottish Borders. The company is responsible for delivery of MAs in Hospitality, Professional Cookery, Business Administration, Management, Customer Service and expanding in our second year to include Sports & Leisure through a specialist freelance agent. Furthermore, the company delivers qualifications for the SQA in Hygiene as well as those relating to Licensed Trade Qualifications. The company is also regularly delivering the World Host qualification in Customer Service.

Outside of the company, I also function in my own capacity as an External Verifier and Qualification Development Specialist for SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority) and an Internal Verification consultant for other service providers in areas adjacent to the Scottish Borders

A Chartership is a recognised level of professional expertise and I am really keen to have my skills and knowledge levelled accordingly.

I joined the programme as I was really interested in the outline of the programme and am keen to develop myself professionally. A Chartership is a recognised level of professional expertise and I am really keen to have my skills and knowledge levelled accordingly. I have worked really hard over the years to become the best possible assessor and verifier, this has meant that I have had to research, develop, read and carry out a number of relevant CPD activities to expand my skill and delivery of the programmes I am accredited to deliver.

My role as Director of SDConsultancy and as External Verifier for SQA, requires elevated levels of quality controls, standardisation of assessment approach, awareness of equality and diversity, and embracing the vast array of learning styles and abilities. It is essential to be continuously developing support materials for various learning challenges and ensuring each learner is assessed and supported according to their specific needs.

I see this opportunity as a fabulous challenge to further enhance my professional capacity as an Educational Assessor/Verifier.

Vocational Assessments are very different …..however, the standards, principles and procedures were very similar.

I found the on-line part of the course really interesting, not only was I aware that I was now fully embarking on the training course, but it enabled me to identify where my knowledge and understanding was in relation to what was made available. I was pleased to note that one of the recommended resources was from a text book I already had! Vocational Assessments are very different from what was being covered, however, the standards, principles and procedures were very similar. I found the levelling and marking schemes information really interesting, and it also made me acutely aware of the vital role Vocational qualifications have in education. Our approach at SDConsultancy is to ensure every attempt, method and resource is made available to candidates to ensure their own learning, development and competence levels are accommodated.

It was great to spend the time with like-minded individuals.

The face to face session was really interesting, in particular, meeting other Educational Assessors from various sectors, who all had their own story and skills to bring to the session. I found the two days really informative, the team were highly knowledgeable and took on board all the additional ideas the team discussed. I found the feedback to be really positive and it was great to spend the time with like-minded individuals.

Again, despite Vocational Assessments being really different, the principles, procedures and quality standards we work towards are all very similar. The finer details of assessment and approach to assessing is really different, but I found that we were all able to discuss our stories and experiences under the same ‘umbrella’ of Educational Assessor. I certainly found the course content and discussions to be highly stimulating and interesting.

We will be following Sarah as she progresses through the next stage of the training - the completion of an assignment which involves quality assuring the assessment processes that take place in a school, college, department or place of work. Sarah will act both as a facilitator of change within the institution, as well as challenging and validating the change process. She will then complete a portfolio outlining her activities.