Assessor FAQ

What is an Assessor?

“According to the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), all assessments that lead to the awarding of NQF-based credits need to be conducted by registered assessors.” [Source]

An assessor is therefore someone who conducts assessments in relation to the qualifications and unit standards registered on the NQF.

One of the requirements for becoming a registered assessor is that you need to meet the requirements of the Conduct Outcomes-Based Assessments unit standard.

What is Assessment?

Assessment is a process where the activities of an employee are observed and compared with a set of requirements to determine whether the employee can execute a task according to set requirements.

What is a registered Assessor?

A registered assessor is someone who is trained specifically against a national unit standard, 115753, on the process and principles of assessment. A registered assessor meets the set criteria and requirements of the specific SETA which they intend to register with. To register as an assessor with a SETA, the assessor must provide evidence of his/her proficiency in the specific area in which s/he wants to register.

What does a registered Assessor do?

A registered assessor has the primary responsibility of evaluating (assessing) an employee’s ability against a set criterion to confirm that the employee is competent and able to do the tasks allocated to her/him.

How do the Duties of Assessors and Moderator Differ?

An Assessor is responsible for:

  1. Planning the assessments that need to be completed by learners.
  2. Conducting assessments (including assignments and tests) and marking assessments to ensure that learners measure up to the required standards. According to WorkInfo, an assessor should:
  • “Be familiar with the unit standards that they will be assessing
  • Be familiar with and use the assessment guides
  • Plan the assessment, which includes the selection, design and implementation of assessment activities.”
  1. Providing feedback. The assessor is responsible for providing detailed feedback so that improvements can be made.

A Moderator, on the other hand, is responsible for quality assurance in relation to the assessment process, so he or she will perform duties like:

  • Ensuring that assignments and tests are carried out correctly and fairly.
  • Handling the concerns of learners.
  • Evaluating the performance of an assessor.

If you are interested in gaining the skills you need to work as an assessor or moderator in a certain field, then studying an education course at Oxbridge Academy will be a good option for you. 

How many learners should an assessor have?

Using Your Own Learners

A minimum of two observations will be required where you will be marked on how you assess learners. Many Assessors in training like to be in control and create a situation where they are able to achieve all outcomes with just having two learners.

Which body will register assessors?

Education and Training Quality Assurance body

Assessors are registered by the relevant Education and Training Quality Assurance body and can be de-registered if they do not comply with the ETQA requirements.

List of Assessor skills and background

  1. Technical expertise
  2. Familiarity with instruments and lab techniques; lab experience, especially in specialty areas
  3. Knowledge of laboratory record-keeping practices
  4. Knowledge of laboratory data collection, reduction, analysis and reporting techniques and requirements
  5. Familiarity with methods, statistics, minimum QA/QC requirements
  6. Knowledge of appropriate and inappropriate practices, and the ability to recognize the inappropriate practices and indicators of vulnerability
  7. Knowledge of Federal and state regulations
  8. Familiarity with investigative techniques and procedures for assessing laboratory performance (including ISO Guide 25, ISO guide 58, assessment checklists, etc.)
  9. Knowledge of quality systems
  10. Written and verbal communication skills
  11. Computer skills- for reviewing electronic files must be able to recognize what analyst is doing on the screen.

List of Assessor personal Attributes

  1. Sense of fairness
  2. Ability to communicate with personnel of different job descriptions and personality types
  3. Personal integrity, confidence, and leadership
  4. Ability to focus on tasks at hand
  5. Sense of order, planning ability
  6. Strong personality, thick skinned, strong backbone
  7. Technical curiosity, skepticism
  8. Detail oriented
  9. Tenacity, willingness to take action when vulnerabilities and improper practices or activities are identified.

Subject Matter Expertise (SME)

SAQA requirements states the following: – ‘the registered assessor must be able to demonstrate competence in relation to the specified standards and qualifications, at or above, the level of the qualifications in question’.

However, the exact requirements must be decided by the ETQA in relation to assessments within its primary focus.

  • ensure that the relationship between the learner and assessor during the assessment is conducive to the assessment.
  • understand their own role within the broader quality assurance system and keep up to date in related fields of study.
  • ensure that the environment for assessment is conducive to assessment.
  • demonstrate that they are competent to deal with the following: assessment environment, assessment instrument and assessment system.
  • know how to provide feedback on the standards and qualifications to relevant standard- setting bodies.
  • have expertise in the specific learning area and generic knowledge in other related learning areas for integrated assessment practice.

Education, Training and Development (ETD) Expertise

Again, the exact requirements must be decided by the ETQA in relation to assessments within its primary focus.

For example:

  • How many years’ experiences is necessary in particular sub-fields in addition to the required generic assessor standard and the field qualification?
  • Does the assessor in this particular context need any ETD expertise which is not covered by the standard ‘Plan and conduct assessment of learning outcomes?

Planning, Administrative and Management Skills

Assessors need to demonstrate that they have relevant planning, administrative and management skills. They need to demonstrate that they can manage and utilize basic information systems to ensure that the applicable administrative and reporting requirements are reliable, efficient and secure.

  • Assessors should also conduct themselves with integrity and ensure that learners are aware that they have recourse to the appeal system.
  • These skills and values are integral to the generic assessor standard required by SAQA; therefore no additional criteria need to be included.

Interpersonal Skills

It is important for assessors to have appropriate interpersonal skills and to communicate effectively with learners. The assessor needs to establish a trusting relationship with learners

– not only to perform optimally during assessment, but also to assure the learners that the assessor has their interests at heart, i.e., that:

  1. The assessment is fair.
  2. The assessor acts with integrity.
  3. The assessor maintains confidentiality.
  4. The assessment is conducted according to the principles of a good assessment and the requirements of the standard and or qualification.

These skills and values are integrated into the generic assessor standard required by SAQA, and no additional criteria should normally be needed. It is virtually impossible for ETQAs to evaluate assessors’ interpersonal skills, but providers should note that such qualities might be considered in the selection of candidates for assessor training.

It must be emphasized that the criteria for the registration of assessors must refer directly to applied competence of the assessor within the sector. Provision must be through providers accredited by the ETDP SETA or by another ETQA in agreement with the ETDP SETA, in keeping with the NQF principles of access and transparency. Sector-specific criteria, additional to the generic assessor standard must be made publicly available to all potential providers.

What are the core skills of an assessor?

  • The eight most common skills based on Assessor resumes in 2022.
  • Procedures, 12.1%
  • Communication, 10.1%
  • Customer Service, 5.3%
  • Assurance, 5.3%
  • Information Security, 4.6%
  • Information Technology, 4.1%
  • RMF, 4.1%
  • Other Skills, 54.4%