We’re proud to announce that we now offer End-Point Assessment for the HR Consultant/Partner Apprenticeship!

HR Consultants/Partners provide and lead the delivery of HR solutions to business challenges. They also provide tailored advice to their business in various HR areas, typically to mid-level and senior managers. The HR Consultant/Partner can be a general role where individuals provide support across a range of HR areas or a more specialist role where they focus on a specific area of HR. Before their Apprenticeship, apprentices must choose which area of HR they will specialise in. They can choose from:

• Core HR
• Resourcing
• Total Reward
• Organisation Development
• HR Operations

Regardless of their area of focus, individuals must have a good grounding across a range of HR disciplines as this is contained in both of the qualification options included in this Standard.

HR Consultants/Partners will often need to make decisions and recommendations on what the business can and should do in specific situations. They will help managers change their thinking and bring the best practices into their organisation. They are also likely to lead the people related elements of business or HR projects. Regardless of their role, HR Consultants/Partners must link their work to the priorities of their business. In larger organisations, they may be part of a team supporting the business and have responsibility for managing people.

This Level 5 Apprenticeship will typically be 2-3 years long but could be closer to 18 months if the apprentice has previously completed the Level 3 HR Support Apprenticeship.

In the HR Consultant/Partner Apprenticeship, apprentices must complete an appropriate qualification considered most relevant by their Employer. In this qualification, they will be able to focus on their chosen speciality from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Their Employer can choose from:

• CIPD Level 5 Intermediate Certificate in Human Resource Management
• CIPD Level 5 Intermediate Diploma in Human Resource Management

Once apprentices have undergone all of their training, they will move onto their End-Point Assessment. These are the final pieces of assessment that an apprentice must undergo to ensure that they are equipped with the right skills, knowledge and behaviours required of the HR Consultant/Partner Standard.

The End-Point Assessment components of the HR Consultant/Partner Apprenticeship include:

• Consultative Project
• Professional Discussion

Consultative Project

The Consultative Project will be a real example of work done by the apprentice in their role which must be completed after Gateway and take a maximum of three months. In the Project, the apprentice must describe how they have applied their knowledge and HR skills to deliver the services required by their role. Some HR knowledge and skill areas that the Consultative Project will assess include:

• A good understanding of all HR disciplines, HR legislation and excellent working knowledge of their organisation’s HR policies and procedures
• An understanding of what their organisation does, the external market and the sector it operates in
• An understanding of HR systems and where to find HR and management data
• An ability to provide support and advice on HR policies and processes
• An ability to contribute to business change to support positive behavioural, business or organisational change

The Project should describe a situation where the apprentice has successfully worked with a customer, most likely an internal one, to deliver a specific piece of HR work or provide an HR solution for them. This piece of work should relate to their chosen speciality.

The Project should contain:

• Project objectives
• Scope of work
• Description of the situation/problem/business need
• Methodology used
• Research undertaken/information gathered/analytical findings
• Conclusions and recommendations
• Implementation plan

An example of a project might be planning the resourcing requirements for a growing area of the business or changing the elements of the employee rewards package. The project should be 5000 words +/- 10%.

Professional Discussion

The Professional Discussion should be carried out within two weeks of the Project being reviewed and marked by the End-Point Assessor. It will focus on the skills and behaviours outlined in the Standard, along with any other knowledge and skill components that were not covered in the Consultative Project. Examples of skills and behaviours that the Discussion will assess include:

• The ability to keep up to date with business changes and HR legal/policy/process changes relevant to their role
• The ability to build effective working relationships with business managers, peers and other HR functions along with relevant external organisations
• The ability to adapt positively to changing work priorities and patterns, ensuring key business and HR deadlines continue to be met
• The ability to display tenacity and proactivity in the way they go about their role, staying positive when under pressure

The Professional Discussion should last between 60-75 minutes in which the End-Point Assessor will ask 10-15 questions, each of which will focus on a single component of knowledge, skill or behaviour. It may be carried out face to face or remotely using video conferencing such as Skype.

HR Grading

The results of these two assessment methods will build a cumulative picture of the apprentice’s performance against the Standard. Each component will be weighted equally to provide the final grade. A grading table can be found below:

Consultative Project	Professional Discussion	Grade
Pass	Pass	Pass
	Distinction	Pass
Distinction	Pass	Pass
	Distinction	Distinction

 

After their Apprenticeship, apprentices can apply to become an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. They can later gain Chartered membership through further qualifications or experience based assessment. After completing their Standard, apprentices will be fully competent in their role and will have in-depth knowledge of HR in their chosen speciality. They can then continue to develop in their speciality or broaden their HR expertise in another area to develop their career.

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We hoped this gave you more insight into the different components included in the End-Point Assessment for the HR Consultant/Partner Apprenticeship!

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