Confirmation of CIMSPA Practical Assessment August 2022 onwards

Clarification of CIMSPA Practical Assessment requirements for the following courses:

• BTEC Nationals Sporting Excellence and Performance (2019)*
• BTEC Nationals Sports Coaching and Development (2019)*
• BTEC Nationals Sport, Fitness and Personal Training (2019)*
• BTEC Level 2 Sports Industry Skills (Instructing Circuit Training)**
• BTEC Level 2 Sports Industry Skills (Instructing Exercise in a Gym Environment)**
• BTEC Level 2 Sports Industry Skills (Leading Children's Sports Activities)**

* Units C1, C2, D1 and/or D2

** L2 Sports Industry Skills - the respective Unit 4

Clarification of CIMSPA Practical Assessment requirements

Many centres have asked for clarification on the requirements for their summative assessment for the CIMPSA endorsed qualifications in the following specifciaitons:

• 2019 BTEC Sport

• L2 Sports Industry Skills

Employers have stipulated that all practical assessments must:  

• be conducted in a real-world environment. This, where possible, should be in the workplace ‘on the job’ at work, or in a situation that is as close as possible to this, in order to replicate a working environment. For example, where appropriate an acceptable scenario is that you could use a different cohort of learners for practical assessment. This can also be covered within a work placement.  
• be conducted with ‘real clients/participants’ and not with peers. A real client/participant is someone who is, in the best case, a member of the club/facility or the equivalent for self-employed trainees. 

"‘The real clients/participants’ must not: 

• work at the same facility as the learners 
• be related to the candidate, i.e. a spouse, partner, step-parent, brother or sister, etc. 
• be enrolled on the same qualification as the trainee at the same time 
• be a close friend." 

Learners can work with other learners as clients in a real-world environment, who are on a significantly different course assuming they are old enough to be exercising in a gym environment (for Gym Instructor or Personal Training) OR tutors at the centre that have not taught or will teach the learner. 

For the coaching qualifications, they can coach participants in other years on a different course in the same college or school or an affiliated primary school as well as other educational institutes in the local community. 

The recommendation would be that the participants are younger than the learner leading the coaching session.  However 

• good practice has been seen across centres supporting enrichment programmes with learners as clients from different campuses and or faculties 
• learners engaging in work placements to practice, apply and at an appropriate time be assessed in the relevant criteria 

Formative assessments with peers, family members etc are expected and encouraged to support learners to develop their customer communication skills as well as the technical requirements of their practical assessments.