Monkey Spanker
Well-Known Member
K, you are somewhat confusing the matter with your terminology. The Approved Witness (AW) is not the Assessor! They are effectively the eyes and ears of the Assessor. To become an AW, you currently need to apply through one of the Assessment centres and you need two other AW's to act as referees to vouch for your experience and suitability. Assessment centres may require further evidence of your suitability to ensure that you are the right person for the job. AW's are continuously scrutinised and it doesn't take too many poor performance reports raised for them to be removed from the list! That said, the AW's are effectively assessing performance criteria on behalf of the Assessor which is why it is essential that they are suitable.
The Assessor needs to hold an industry standard qualification as it is based on the NVQ system. It is currently a level 3 certificate in assessing vocationally related achievement (or previous equivalent). It clearly follows that assessors will progress from experienced AW's so that they know how the system works. The assessor relies entirely on the AW to do his job properly which requires that the rules of assessment and protocols are followed as required. However, it is fair to say that most assessors carry this qualification from other walks of life, as it is a generic assessment qualification. All that is required, is that the assessor has a good ground knowledge in what they are assessing. For any aspiring AW's that wish to become assessors though, it can be done through deer management as I did it myself!
Although I do teach and assess for my main employment, it is too sensitive to be able to gain the qualification as required, so I decided to try and gain it through deer management. I was required to assess two candidates. This was a bit of a challenge, as it required a non deer stalking Assessor, to assess me, assessing two different candidates, over 6 successful stalks! We decided the best way to do this was by filming them in entirety. Pre-brief, stalk, shot, gralloch, inspection, lardering and debrief - 6 times! I also had to do a lot of online assignments and course work. This was also backed up with me assessing two candidates on all elements of a DSC level 1 course including RCO range work. (Don't forget Assessors don't just assess DSC 2!)
The lady assessing me said it was the most interesting portfolio she had ever seen! The qualification is costly and not a given!!! This is not a cost you will ever make back either in reality.
It shouldn't matter who you register with as we should all be working towards the same standards, but human nature dictates that we are all a bit different - some more than others! There have undoubtedly been individuals that have been awkward to deal with in the past, as posted above, but hopefully they are now gone and the future path will be smoother. I have AW'd and assessed more portfolios than I care to remember which include a lot of folk on here (including Malc) - all without issue!
Oh, and by the way, no assessment centre make any real money from DSC 1 or 2 - they barely break even at best. In fact we have had to cancel courses as they would run at a loss.
DSC courses give credibility to what we do and promote safety and training along with deer welfare. Many that provide that training do it for free or basic expenses. I find it vey sad that they are ridiculed or seen as profiteering, when they are actually breaking the society that provide them.
MS
