While assessments can feel daunting, with the right preparation, you can confidently demonstrate what you’ve learnt. In this article, we outline the different types of assessment you’ll encounter as part of your Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate, and how you can prepare for each one.
Understanding the assessment types
Once you’ve completed all your learning in the FuturU app, you’ll move onto the assessment phase, which’ll typically last around six months.
You’ll encounter three types of assessment; Professional Discussion, Observation, and Reflective Log.
Professional Discussion
A Professional Discussion is an assessment method in your Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate where you’ll have a conversation with your assessor to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of a particular theme. Don’t expect a strict question-and-answer session – your Professional Discussion is a conversation designed to showcase your learning through discussion.
You’ll complete a Professional Discussion for each of the six themes covered by this qualification, which’ll be spread out over the assessment period and booked at a time to suit you.
How to prepare for your Professional Discussion
Review the criteria: Start by carefully reading through the list of criteria, which can be found in OneFile once you’ve completed all the relevant learning.
The list of criteria outlines the different areas your discussion will cover, and is aligned with the content you’ve covered as part of your learning journey, so there should be no nasty surprises!
Prepare notes: You’ll have the opportunity to refer to notes in each of your Professional Discussions. Create notes that jog your memory on key points, but avoid reading directly from them. Use bullet points or short phrases to spark your thoughts.
Research legislation: Your discussion might touch on relevant legislation and codes of conduct. While the course content will cover these areas, you are encouraged to delve deeper for a more comprehensive understanding by completing your own additional research. legislation.gov.uk and skillsforcare.org.uk are great sources of information.
Don’t just memorise facts: Think about how theories and legislation apply to real-life caregiving scenarios. Reflect on your own experiences where applicable to help demonstrate your practical understanding and commitment to providing person-centred care.
Practice: You’ll feel more confident going into your Professional Discussion if you’ve had a chance to practise your communication skills beforehand. You can discuss topics with a manager, colleague, friend, family member, or even record yourself to identify areas for improvement.
Ask for help: If anything is unclear, reach out to your Learner Support Coordinator for clarification. We’re always here to help!
Read more: Care Certificate: How we support your learning journey →
Observation
You’ll complete one or more Observations as part of the assessment phase. Your assessor will holistically assess your skills across a variety of caregiving tasks, and you’ll have the opportunity to showcase your practical skills and person-centred approach to care.
How to prepare for your Observation
Gain consent: It’s absolutely vital that you gain consent from your employer, colleagues and the people you’ll be supporting during your Observation, both in advance of the assessment and on the day.
Think about what you’ll be doing on the day: You’ll want to demonstrate a wide range of skills during your Observation to give your assessor a broad picture of your consistent performance across different caregiving situations.
Think about the ways you can demonstrate the following:
- Your person-centred approach to care
- Your clear, concise and empathetic communication style
- Your adherence to best practices and relevant regulations
- Your strengths and ability to handle various caregiving situations effectively.
Don’t overthink it: While preparation is important, try not to overly stress. Focus on providing the best possible care to the service user, as you would in your day-to-day role.
Reflective Log
The final type of assessment you’ll encounter is a written reflection. While you won’t need to complete a Reflective Log for every theme covered, you’ll need to complete four or five.
For each log, you’ll need to reflect on your work situations, providing specific examples related to the themes. You should clearly explain the situation, what you did and what you learnt. Don’t just describe events – delve deeper into your thought processes and actions.
How to prepare for your Reflective Log
Develop the habit: Start keeping a Reflective Log ahead of your assessment. This will help you get comfortable with the process and build a record of your learning journey to refer back to.
Gather evidence: Don’t rely solely on memory. Note down relevant details like dates, service user initials (maintaining confidentiality) and specific situations to jog your memory when you come to sit down and write a Reflective Log.
Focus on learning: The goal here is to reflect on your experiences, identify key takeaways and analyse how they contribute to your growth as a caregiver.
Top tips to help you prepare for success
Alongside the suggestions above, here are some helpful tips from the FuturU team to help guide you through the assessment process and be successful.
1. Utilise the course materials
It goes without saying that you should thoroughly review all the course materials ahead of your assessments. You can access these anytime via the FuturU learning platform.
2. Focus on person-centred care
Regardless of the assessment type, try to ensure your responses reflect a person-centred approach, demonstrating respect for individual needs, preferences and dignity.
3. Sharpen your communication skills
Strive for clear, concise and empathetic communication in both written and verbal assessments.
4. Seek support
Don’t hesitate to reach out to your Learner Support Coordinator for clarification or guidance. You can also find plenty of help in our FAQs and user guides.
5. Stay calm
It’s completely normal to feel nervous before an assessment. Take deep breaths and remind yourself of all the hard work you’ve done to get to this point. You’ve covered all the learning and completed the knowledge checks along the way, you have the skills, knowledge and experience necessary to be successful. Remember, your assessor isn’t there to catch you out, they won’t ask you anything you don’t already know!
Are you interested in completing the Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate qualification? Find our more here.
