To complete certain courses, students are required to demonstrate specific tasks in front of an Observer in a workplace or simulated environment.
As it’s not possible for our assessors to directly observe the student at work, we need industry experts to observe the student and provide feedback on their performance.
Who Fills Out The Report
To fill out the Observer Report, you must meet minimum requirements. These include:
you must have a minimum of 12 months of industry experience or part-time equivalent
you must currently be in a role related to the industry
How The Report Gets Filled In
Simply follow the instructions provided in the Observer Report.
Some specific guidelines on completing the Observer Report that will enable us to process the student’s assessment more efficiently include:
It's mandatory to complete all sections of the Observer Report. We need to collect the exact number of examples requested to meet the legal and compliance requirements of the course. If any examples are left blank, it may delay the assessment process for the student. If any examples did not occur during the observation period, you might request the student to carry out the task/s in a simulated environment in your presence. The actions taken by the student can then be updated in the Observer Report.
In some sections, you are required to ‘select one’ example. Please ensure you select the most relevant, suitable and current example observed. This allows us to form a picture of the situation you observed.
When asked to ‘select all that apply’, select the best examples that you have observed. You are not required or expected to select all examples.
The Observer Report must be filled out by observing the student demonstrating the tasks multiple times over a period. This requirement should be indicated by ticking the box next to the statement ‘I have seen the student perform the tasks multiple times and to the expected industry standards’.
During your observation, the student is required to demonstrate the range of tasks to industry standards. This means that the level of skill demonstrated would be acceptable in a work environment. If you notice that any of the tasks were not carried out to a satisfactory standard, you may ask the student to redo the task.
During the observation period, the student must have access to the listed physical resources to demonstrate specific tasks. This must be indicated by completing the ‘Physical resources’ section.
When finished, you need to complete the ‘Observer Declaration’ section. Please ensure that this section is completed.
Including Comments
We recommend that you include comments on the performance of the student in the space provided at the end of each item in the Observer Report.
This will provide us with additional detail on what you observed, thereby reducing the need to contact you for further information. This will speed up the assessment process for the student.
The Observer’s Role in the Assessment Process
As an Observer, you’re not required to assess the student. Rather your observations as an industry expert provide us with important evidence to be reviewed by our assessment team. This will help them to determine the competence of the student.
How to Complete Observation Start and End Dates
The Observer Report must be based on observations completed within the last 12 months.
It’s important to fill in the observation start and end date in the section ‘Observation Environment and Period’. This will indicate that the student has current knowledge and skills that you have observed.
The observation start and end dates should reflect the time frame over which you had observed the student, not just when the Observer Report was completed. If you’ve worked with the student for a period, then the start date should be when you commenced work with the student and therefore were in a position to observe them at work. The end date can be the final date you observed the student and completed the form.