Some Frequently Asked Questions:
- Is SKILLscan easy to use?
- How does the assessment work?
- What Awards can I access?
- How does SKILLscan deal with RPL (or APL) Units?
- Do I have to assess ALL the Criteria in a Unit?
- How does SKILLscan handle 'Banned Combinations'?
- How does SKILLscan deal with QCF Awards?
- How much does SKILLscan cost?
- Can SKILLscan be moderated?
- Is the data safe?
- What about backups?
- Can I save my results?
- What do I need to access SKILLscan?
- What training will I need?
Yes!
SKILLscan is very intuitive and easy to use tool. Both versions work either by clicking a button or marking a 'check box', with text added as and where necessary.
A wide range of help is provided throughout the site, covering:
- page-sensitive help screens:
- selecting the button at the foot of each page displays help about that page
- 'control tip' text:
SKILLscan will dovetail easily into your current working procedures; it complements your work methods, it does not require you to change them.
- holding your mouse pointer over a button or a field causes help text to appear,
The assessment process for online and offline versions is exactly the same; using buttons and check-boxes:
- the candidate first selects their Subject Area – such as Business Support Skills; next, they select the Award that they are working towards – such as Level 2 in Customer Service;
- they can then either do the diagnostic for the Mandatory Units within their selected Award, or they can select the Optional Units that they wish to work towards;
- whichever they choose, they can do the other Unit type next if they wish;
- when they have selected a Unit, the Learning Outcomes, Performance and Knowledge Criteria will be listed on the screen;
- the Assessor or the Candidate then makes an assessment as to how readily the Candidate can demonstrate, or the level of knowledge they possess against each of the items of data - the Learning Outcomes or the Assessment Criteria.
SKILLscan contains a large - and growing - number of Awards; to access a full listing of the Awards, click here.
However, if the Award that you want is not listed – no problem! Clients can request that a new Award be added, and this is done free of charge. All we need is the full details of the Award required – and the Awarding body – and we’ll do the rest at no cost.
SKILLscan allows Candidates to indicate which Unit(s) they wish to claim as RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) once they have selected their Award.
Any Units they have selected will automatically be excluded from the Diagnostic Process.
Not only that, but SKILLscan automatically calculates the effect that these RPL Units have on the funding of the Award and includes a statement to this effect on the Summary Report.
No - you can use as many - or as few - of the Learning Outcomes or the Assessment Criteria that you need to - from 1 to all! SKILLscan's flexibility allows the user to assess what they need to. The number of Outcomes & Criteria used within an assessment - in both number and percentage terms - is included within the Summary Report, against each Unit.
Some Assessors assess on what they call the 'Key Criteria' within a Unit; these are (in their terms) the 'main' criteria - or the hardest to evidence easily - on the basis that if the Candidate can demonstrate those Criteria effectively, then the others will be easier to evidence.
Alternatively, users can generate a random % of Criteria within a Unit (at either 25% or 50%) of the total available Criteria, making SKILLscan the most flexible assessment system available, and easily able to match your needs.
As soon as you select 2 Optional Units that are part of a 'Banned Combination', SKILLscan alerts you to the fact, and deletes the last Unit that you selected; you can thus be assured that you will never select 2 Units that you could not use together within an Award.
However -
It may be that your Candidate is unsure as to which of the 2 Units within a 'Banned Combination' would be the best match for his/her skill sets. SKILLscan can accommodate this by allowing you to over-ride this rule and select 2 Units that are part of a 'Banned Combination', 2 see which would be best.
When this is done, a message appears on the Summary Report to indicate that this assessment includes Units that are part of a 'Banned Combination', so there is plenty of warning.
SKILLscan - Simple and Flexible
SKILLscan:
- provides guidance to the candidate as to the ‘Credit Value’ of the Units that they have selected.
- predicts the likely level of NVQ that will be achieved – an Award, a Certificate or a Diploma if these are present in the Award.
Much less than you'd think!
SKILLscan offline is priced on a 'per computer' basis and allows unlimited assessments to be undertaken on the computer (or laptop) on which it is installed. SKILLscan online is priced on a 'per Candidate' access - and Assessor access is provided free of charge.
With both versions there are discounts for larger quantities, and we also offer 'Enterprise' Licences, which allow clients unlimited access to SKILLscan online, or unlimited access to copies of SKILLscan offline – or any combination; for more information, click here
YES!
With SKILLscan online, the assessor will have access to the results of their candidate’s diagnostics. The assessor can edit the results, or add a comment, or save/print the results exactly as saved by the candidate.
YES!
SKILLscan online uses 256 bit encryption to safeguard your data (SSL Certification).
SKILLscan offline does not contain any user data, so in the event of a problem, the original programme can be easily and quickly re-installed
SKILLscan online operates with a daily overnight backup routine; in addition, the results of user’s diagnostics can be saved locally if required
SKILLscan offline does not contain any user data, so in the event of a problem, the original programme can be re-installed
YES!
All the reports can be saved to your local PC. With SKILLscan online, results of the assessments are also saved within the candidate’s profile.
For both SKILLscan online and SKILLscan offline you'll need a relatively modern computer - usually, anything with Windows XP - or better - will be fine.
In addition, to access SKILLscan online you will need an internet connection, but the beauty of SKILLscan offline is that, once installed on a laptop, it can be used anywhere!.
To access the Technical Info, click here.
Very little training is required, as the assessment process within SKILLscan is very simple and intuitive.
Help and guidance is provided in a number of ways throughout the application, and a range of demonstration videos can be found by clicking here.
We can provide onsite or remote training and support is always available at the end of a telephone!