This is all about how to get your EPA!
What is the EPA?
An End-Point Assessment (EPA) is the final part of your apprenticeship. It confirms that you’ve gained the knowledge, skills, and behaviours needed to perform your job to a professional standard. The TPS EPA is recognised in the official technician standard and we are Ofqual approved.
When does the journey start?
Your employer, advised by the training provider, decides you are ready to complete your apprenticeship and start the EPA. This is called entering the Gateway. You may already have reached this stage. The forms you need to fill in are all here:
Your employer and College will help you do this!
What next?
You need to work with your College and your employer to put together your EPA documents. They can then help you to submit them to us on line through a separate, secure website.
The document pack has three main parts:
- A project report (something related to your existing work)
- A presentation on the report
- A portfolio of 10-12 examples from your time as an apprentice
See below for more information on these documents.
EPA document pack
Project report
Before you submit anything you need to talk to TPS and your employer about choosing a project – once we’ve agreed a topic we will issue project brief. This is a simple guide of 500 words you can use to make sure you cover the material we need. This will cover about half of the Knowledge and Skills you have been learning about. Full list here.
Once we’ve agreed the topic you have 40 days to work on the project to produce a report of about 2,500 words – around 5 pages. We don’t mind if you want to add an appendix like a chart or table, a map or a picture but that’s not essential.
What could the project be on?
Here are some examples of the general topic areas
- Predicting the travel impact of transport schemes or policies
- Predicting how changes in travel will impact the environment
- Integrating different modes of transport with each other
- Integrating transport with land use policies and new development
- Designing schemes to avoid or combat climate change
- Testing the financial impacts of transport schemes and how to fund them
- Working out the social impacts of transport interventions
- Developing and researching future transportation and travel needs
- Creating or developing transport policies, strategies and plans
- Influencing travel behaviour through various techniques
Project Presentation
This is where you can present the findings of your report. You need to cover
- How and why specific techniques and criteria have been selected
- Outcomes of the technical project: what went well and what could be improved
- Reflection on your experience of the technical project
You will have about 10 minutes to do the presentation and there will be questions for about 20 minutes.
Portfolio and discussion
Your portfolio is based on the training you received during your apprenticeship
- The learning from your training provider/college
- Project work you undertake with your employer
Will consist of examples of work you have already done
- 10 – 12 pieces of evidence
- One page per topic, word or PDF
- Appendices as needed
To give you an idea of what a piece of evidence looks like, you can find one here.
Your assessors will read the portfolio and have a discussion with you based on the material you have supplied and focussing on the other half of the of the Knowledge and Skills you have been learning about. Full list here.
The assessors will have prepared at least 5 questions for you and the discussion will last about 40 minutes.
How does the assessment work?
- It is carried out by experienced assessors trained by TPS.
- They’re transport planners but don’t work for your training provider or employer — they’re impartial.
- You’ll be assessed on how well you can apply what you’ve learned in real situations.
There are three possible results: Pass / Merit / Distinction
Pass or Distinction means you have fully completed your apprenticeship at Level 3 and you can be registered with TPS as a Transport Planning Technician and used the title TPTech.
You will have started on the transport planning professional pathway!