Employer Set Project (ESP)

ESPs are contextualised to the occupational specialism, and it would be anticipated that where more than one is available within a qualification, a student would select the ESP related to the occupational specialism they intend to progress to. However, it’s not mandated, and a student can complete a different Occupational Specialism in year two to the ESP completed in year 1.  

Equally, they can also select a different ESP at re-sit if they want to. It is up to the provider to give appropriate advice and guidance to the student to make an informed decision, ensuring that all required learning has been completed before any assessment attempt.  

A caveat to this is that if they have completed the ESP in Assisting Teaching and wish to move to Early Years Educator, this may not be possible. We advise contacting [email protected] in this instance. 

There can be changes in supervisor between sessions, as long as everyone acting as a supervisor is clear on the requirements of the role, and changes to personnel do not adversely impact students.

We recommend that independent people supervise ESP sessions rather than tutors or teachers. Where this isn’t possible, a tutor or teacher can act as a supervisor, as long as they understand the requirements of the role and make it clear to all students that they are acting as supervisor. They cannot provide teaching, guidance, or other support during the assessment.

This will depend on the specific ESP, as some ESPs include set date and time elements within their tasks, whereas others specify that students are allowed to catch up within the assessment window.  

Please refer to the provider guide for further information in the first instance, and if you have any queries, please contact our T Level Support team on 0191 2398000 or [email protected]. 

If the student doesn't return within the window or the provider doesn’t believe that they can arrange the catch-up sessions (where allowed), they may wish to notify us via a Special Consideration request, depending on the reason why they were absent.

For many students, transferring to a future series may be the most viable option to give the student the best opportunity to complete an ESP. 

Only students need to sign a declaration of authenticity – it is called the External Assessment Cover Sheet and can be found under the Assessment Materials on the relevant T Level qualification page.  

Yes. To allow for preparation ahead of the task, this can be shared with the designated person who will take on the role of the standardised patient within the provider ahead of the ESP window. The project brief insert and the Standardised Patient Guidance document can both be shared from the date made available on the NCFE Portal. However, they should not be shared with others beyond the person playing this role before the date the assessment window opens.

If this was noticed immediately after the presentation, you should ask the student to repeat the presentation and ensure this is recorded.  

If the student has had feedback, completed the Q&A, or this is only realised significantly after the time of assessment, please fill out a special consideration form. 

Please note: Re-recording is only an option if the mistake is realised during the presentation, or immediately after. Re-recording cannot be done at a later date, or if the student has since received any form of feedback or completed Q&A (depending on the assessment/qualification). 

If using Microsoft Teams is the recognised and familiar way for students to complete these tasks, then it is appropriate for it to be used to record the live assessment.

It’s important to ensure that all other requirements and regulations are followed, such as controlling access to the internet as required. The audio produced should be clear and the student visibly identifiable where video evidence is listed as a requirement. The recordings must be able to be securely saved, stored, and submitted for marking.

All learner evidence, including video recordings, should be uploaded via the Bookings and Upload Learner Submissions area of the Portal. 

The full presentation recording should include the student's presentation, followed by tutors asking questions and the student’s responses to these questions, to ensure that examiners can see all of the student’s evidence.  

All users with access to the Bookings area of the Portal will be able to upload learner submissions; however, we would expect providers to have processes in place to ensure that where more than one user is uploading evidence, checks are carried out to ensure that nothing is missed or duplicated.

Evidence needs to be uploaded within three working days after the end of any given ESP window. For example, if the window ends on a Friday, uploading by midnight the following Wednesday is appropriate (assuming no bank holiday takes place).

A list of acceptable file types can be found in the Qualification Specific Instructions for Delivery (appendix 1).

We recommend that any individual files are no larger than 1GB, as the portal will not accept files bigger than 2GB.  

Zip files aren’t accepted via the Portal. The Portal will accept uploads of up to ten files at a time.  

For the Generation 2 Education and Early Years ESP preliminary activity, the students will have one three-hour window in the week running up to the start of the assessment period. They will not have access to the preliminary activity brief before or after the three-hour window.   

During this three-hour window, students will undertake research and prepare their four pages (A4) of notes which can then be used to support them as they complete tasks 1 - 4 of the ESP. This will ensure that all students have the same amount of preparation time ahead of sitting the ESP. 

For more information, providers should refer to the provider guide, which outlines how the preliminary research activity should be administered.