How to Become an Assessor in South Africa
Are you passionate about upskilling the future workforce of South Africa? Do you love meeting regulations and marking outcomes-based assessments? Then a career as an assessor might be the right fit for you. In this blog, we’ll cover all the ins and outs of how to become an assessor in South Africa and excel in the assessment environment. This will include the benefits of becoming an assessor, why you should enrol in an assessor course and the requirements to become an assessor.
What is an assessor in South Africa?
An assessor is an individual that measures the competency of learners by assessing their skills against specific unit standards or qualifications. This plays a vital role in Skills Development training. Skills Development involves upskilling previously disadvantaged individuals so they can enter the workplace. An assessor will mark these students’ assessments and determine whether they can receive a qualification. Once the students have a qualification certificate, they can start applying for jobs and therefore improve their work life situation.
If you choose to become an assessor you can expect to conduct assessments, ensure assessments are valid and reliable, provide feedback and guidance to students, work with moderators, and adhere to assessment policies and regulations.
What are the benefits of becoming an assessor?
1. You can contribute to Skills Development
Skills Development can be a very rewarding industry to get into. Once students are finished completing their assessments, they need qualified assessors to measure their success. Assessors will assess the competency of the learners against specific unit standards or qualifications. This will ensure that they have developed the right set of skills during their learnership. Overall, this will take the student one step closer to receiving a qualification, ultimately, help them enter into the workplace.
2. You can grow your own skills and experiences
Being an assessor means that you need to constantly stay up to date with what’s going on in your industry so that you can mark work effectively. This will help you improve professionally and expand on your own skillset as well. Examples of this may include staying up to date with industry trends, new qualifications or unit standards and changes in assessment methodologies.
3. Recognition and Networking
By having so much knowledge and experience in the field that you choose to assess you’ll ultimately demonstrate your expertise and competence in that area. Assessor qualifications and accreditation are often highly regarded which will only boost your professional standing and recognition. Additionally, you’ll meet many assessors, facilitators and other Skills Development professionals that can open the door to knowledge sharing, collaboration and professional relationships.
4. Diverse Career Options
Because Skills Development caters to so many different types of industries and sectors, assessors are needed in many different fields. You could find employment with training providers, private companies, educational organisations, government entities, and SETAs. You could also expand your career options by moving into different roles such as facilitator, skills development facilitator, moderator, and more. Assessment skills are often transferable, meaning that you can branch out into many different professional contexts if you choose to.
How to become an assessor:
After seeing all the benefits, you may feel ready to start your journey to becoming an assessor. But what are the next steps? The first and most important move is to enrol in an accredited assessor course that is recognised by the right SETA, such as ETDP SETA. This will improve your credibility and competency to industry standards, ultimately increasing your employability. It’s important to make sure that this assessor training course has the right unit standard in order to be competent with SAQA regulations
Why you should enrol in an assessor course:
Enrolling in an assessor course not only gives you the right qualifications but it also gives you the right skills to become a fully qualified assessor. You’ll develop the right assessor skills and knowledge. This includes all the right principles, methodologies, and best practices needed for assessment.
What you need to look out for when choosing an assessor course:
1. Accreditation and Recognition
In South Africa, there are specific regulatory requirements to become a professional and legal assessor. To check this box, you need to make sure that the assessor course training you enrol in has a unit standard labelled: SAQA Unit Standard 115753: Conduct Outcomes-Based Assessment. This unit standard must be accredited by ETDP SETA in order to be valid. Therefore, you will meet accreditation requirements and maintain the integrity of the assessment process.
2. Comprehensive curriculum
Before enrolling in a course, it’s important to double check that it has all the right knowledge, skills and competencies needed so you can become an accredited assessor. The assessor course should align with the outcomes-based assessments unit standards which should introduce assessment methods and principles and provide guidance to fair, unbias and reliable assessment tactics.
3. Recognition and certification
There’s no use doing a course if you don’t receive evidence of your completion. Make sure that your assessor course will provide you with a recognised certificate or qualification once you have completed the course. This certificate should be widely recognised within the industry as this will enhance your credibility and employment opportunities.
What are the requirements to become an assessor?
In order to become an assessor in South Africa you’ll need to meet specific requirements:
- Hold a qualification. It’s important to note that you’ll need to have a qualification that is relevant to the field you wish to assess in. This can be a certificate, degree, or diploma. This will help to demonstrate your expertise in the field you wish to assess in.
- Experience. This isn’t mandatory but gaining experience in the field you wish to assess can have many benefits. You’ll be able to understand and apply business contexts, challenges, and standards to your assessments. You’ll be able to make informed judgements and assess competently.
- Registration. In order to become a qualified assessor, you’ll need to register with a relevant SETA or QCTO. To do this you’ll need to submit the required documentation, your qualifications, assessor course certificate, and proof of experience if needed. Each SETA and QCTO have their own set of requirements so it’s important that you research which requirements you need to meet. For example, assessor registration with services SETA has specific administrative requirements such as completing a registration form, providing certified copies of your qualification and ID and paying an application fee if applicable.
How long does it take to complete an assessor course?
Completing assessor qualifications may vary depending on which course you choose to take. Some training providers provide short, intensive courses that can take a number of days to complete. Others may offer part time courses that can be taken over a longer period of time or you could complete a blended assessor course. This course may offer a combination of both online and in person training.
Next Steps:
Are you ready to take the next step to becoming an assessor? Luckily Edge Training now provides an ETDP SETA accredited assessor course, with the right assessor unit standard, that covers all you need to know so you can start applying for assessor jobs. We have over 20 years of experience in Skills Development and training so you can rest assured that you’re in the best hands. Our assessor course runs over a four-day period and can be taken either in person or online with a facilitator.