NAB Assessment Guidance - CIPD

NAB Assessment Guidance 

This document is written to particularly support use of the CIPD 

Foundation level National Assessment Bank (NAB) and is a supplement 

to other centre guidance documents (e.g. CIPD Centre Handbook & 

CIPD Guidance on Assessment, both available on the Centres Extranet 

www.cipd.co.uk/centresextranet). 

Contents 

1. The CIPD Foundation Units and Assessment 

2. Working with the NAB Briefs 

o Format of the Briefs 

o The Activities 

o Assessment Methods 

o Evidence to be produced 

o Word Counts 

o Presentation of Work 

3. Making the Assessment Decision 

4. Recording Assessment 

Additional Note re QCF Level 3 

Version 1 – June 2011

1. The CIPD Foundation Units and Assessment 

The CIPD Foundation Units sit within the national Qualifications Credit Framework (QCF) 

and are therefore presented in the required QCF format. This includes: 

(QCF) Level - an indication of the relative demand and complexity of the unit, and the level 

at which the unit credits will be awarded. All CIPD Foundation units, except Developing 

Yourself as an Effective Practitioner (4DEP), are positioned at QCF Level 3. Some further 

information re QCF Level 3 is provided at the end of this document. 

Credit value - the number of credits, based on a notional amount of required learning time, 

awarded to a learner for achievement of a unit. The current CIPD Foundation Units have 

values of 2, 3, 4, or 6 credits. 

Learning outcomes - statements of what a learner can be expected to know, understand or 

do as a result of a process of learning related to each unit. Learners are expected to 

‘achieve’ all the learning outcomes within a unit. 

Assessment criteria – descriptions of what a learner must do to demonstrate their 

achievement of specific learning outcomes. All assessment criteria linked to a learning 

outcome should be met for the learning outcome to be achieved. 

To this basic specification, CIPD has added some additional information for each unit, 

including: 

Unit content (indicative content) - a general outline of the learning required for candidates 

to meet the outcomes of the unit. This information is provided primarily to assist those 

involved in designing learning programmes to support the qualifications, but it may also be of 

interest to individual candidates. The lists of indicative content are suggested programme 

‘inputs’ (rather than outcomes) and are not intended to form part of the final unit assessment. 

Assessment guidance (specific to each unit) – additional information relating to the unit 

assessment criteria, often in the form of specific quantities and dimensions, which help an 

assessor decide when sufficient work or evidence has been provided by a candidate. 

Assessment guidance assists Centres to ensure consistency of requirements across 

candidates, and assists CIPD to ensure consistency across Centres. It is therefore 

important that assessment guidance is considered and addressed within the assessment 

process. 

Of all the aspects of the unit specification, the 4 areas pertinent to assessment are: 

level 

learning outcomes 

assessment criteria 

assessment guidance 

As the assessment criteria already encapsulate the learning outcomes and to some extent 

the level, assessment becomes essentially about … how well candidates have met the 

requirements of the assessment criteria, and in doing so, addressed the requirements of the 

assessment guidance. 


2. Working with the NAB Briefs 

Following on from the last section, the NAB briefs are written to combine the requirements of 

the assessment criteria and of the assessment guidance, in a range of activities for each 

unit. A candidate, who successfully completes all the unit activities, should therefore have 

fulfilled all the requirements of that unit - although this should always be formally checked 

and ensured by the tutor/assessor. 

At least one, and usually two, assessment briefs are available for each unit and ‘integrated 

assessment briefs’, which cover more than one unit, will be added to the NAB later in 2011. 

Centres can select the particular briefs they wish to use from the National Assessment Bank, 

but to ensure appropriate selection, must always agree their selection with their EV. Equally, 

any Centre wishing to make small adjustments to the briefs, for whatever reason, must 

provide a rationale for this to their EV, and gain approval, before any adjustment is made. 

Format of the Briefs 

The NAB briefs (Version 2. June 2011) are identifiable by their reference numbers, which 

begin with F2. Different versions of the briefs, for an HR or L&D context, have been 

provided for the core units and this is indicated by the addition of (HR) or (L&D) after the 

reference number. For example, the two new 4DEP briefs are referenced 4DEP F201A(HR) 

and 4DEP F201B(L&D). 

The briefs are written in a consistent format, similar to that used for the unit specifications. 

At the top of the brief is the identifying information about the unit – unit title, unit No, unit 

level, credit value and a list of the learning outcomes. There is also a brief statement of the 

assessment methods to be used within the brief. The middle/main section of the brief details 

the activities to be completed by candidates and, where appropriate, any resources provided 

for the activities. A final section provides information on the overall evidence required for 

achievement of the unit. 

The Activities 

Each brief provides details of the activities to be undertaken by candidates to meet the 

requirements of the related unit(s). There may be one single activity or several activities 

within a brief and candidates may be required to undertake activities individually, or 

occasionally, in pairs or small groups. Because there are two briefs provided for each unit, 

Centres can select activities that are most appropriate to their delivery model. 

Many of the activities require candidates to produce written evidence reflecting their 

knowledge of a subject area, maybe in the form of a short report, informal notes, a written 

response to questions, or a reflective statement. Some activities require candidates to 

produce and use various work related items or ‘products’ such as a questionnaire or job 

description. Other activities require candidates to be observed carrying out a specific 

activity, or to discuss aspects of their work with their tutors or peers. 


Some essential points to note re the use of the briefs are: 

- All activities within a brief should be completed. 

- Activities can be undertaken in any appropriate order. 

- Activities can be undertaken at different times/stages within a programme. 

- Activities from different units can be combined. 

- Candidates can use their own organisation or any other they are aware of as the 

context for activities. 

Centres and learners are encouraged to make use of the CIPD website in carrying out 

activities. A wide range of updated texts, learning resources, factsheets, case studies and 

legislative information is available through, or on, the website which can greatly assist 

candidates in completing the activities. 

Assessment Methods 

In the top section of each brief is an indication of the assessment methods to be used. For 

clarity, the Foundation NABs refer to, and make use of, three main assessment methods, as 

below: 

Examination of written material, referred to as ‘Written’ within the briefs. This may be 

examination of material written to show knowledge, such as a report or statement, or 

examination of work related ‘products’, such as a questionnaire or job description, 

produced by the candidate for an activity. Written material should be checked and 

assessed against the specific requirements, by the tutor/assessor, and feedback given to 

the candidate. 

Observation of the candidate undertaking an activity, referred to as ‘Observation’ within 

the briefs. Observation will usually be by the tutor/assessor but, may on occasion be by 

a peer, if stated within the brief. Assessor’s comments re what they have observed and 

decisions re which criteria have, or have not, been met should be recorded on an 

Observation Record, and feedback given to the candidate on their performance. 

Note: NAB briefs requiring observation have an attached Observation Record document 

for this purpose. 

Discussion or oral Q&A, referred to as ‘Discussion’ within the briefs. This term refers to 

small amounts of discussion or Q&A between candidate and tutor/assessor, where a 

candidate discusses a particular aspect of their evidence, in order to meet related 

assessment criteria and the discussion is confirmed and briefly summarised, in writing, 

by the tutor/assessor. This brief confirmation or summary might be noted within the 

candidate’s work, or on a separate document (e.g. the Candidate Questioning Record 

(CQR), available on the Centres Extranet), or within the overall Assessment Report. 

Note: ‘Discussion’ here refers to small amounts of discussion/oral Q&A covering an 

occasional criterion and not to a formal ‘professional discussion’ covering large amounts 

of assessment and requiring full notes of the conversation, which would not be 

appropriate here. 


Note: Centres not using the NAB might explore and use other assessment methods – but 

must ensure that any Centre devised assessment vehicles have been fully approved by 

CIPD before use. Centres wanting to devise their own assessments should use form 

Assessment Activity Template (ACT), available on the Centres Extranet for this purpose. 

Evidence to be Produced 

Candidates are expected to generate work or evidence from the activities, which is then 

assessed against the requirements by their tutor/assessor. The ‘Evidence to be produced’ 

section clarifies the particular evidence that should be provided for assessment. 

Evidence items listed in the briefs include: 

Report 

This is a written ‘business-style’ document in which candidates demonstrate their knowledge 

and understanding of a particular topic. A typical structure is: 

- Title 

- Introduction 

- Main body, focusing on the core question(s) to be addressed 

- Conclusions 

- Recommendations (if requested in the question) 

Although good practice and appropriate at Intermediate level, at Foundation level there is no 

formal requirement for a bibliography or references to be included. Candidates should 

therefore not be penalised in the assessment, if these are absent. 

Reflective Statement 

This is a written reflection on an activity (or activities) carried out by candidates, with 

consideration of how they might improve in the future. Candidates should indicate what they 

did, what they learned from this and how they might apply this knowledge in the future. 

Example formats are available on the CIPD website. 

Observation Record 

This is a formal record of the Assessor’s comments and decisions. NAB briefs, which require 

observation, have an accompanying Observation Record, which should be used by the 

assessor to make notes on what they have observed, and to record their decisions re which 

criteria have, or have not, been met. 

Confirmation of Discussion by a Tutor/Assessor 

This form of evidence is used quite rarely in the NABs but may be useful to ensure 

completion of an occasional criterion. Small amounts of discussion or oral Q&A can be 

undertaken between candidate and assessor and confirmed and briefly summarised, in 

writing, by the assessor. This confirmation/summary (usually no more than a few sentences) 

might be noted in a separate document or within the Assessment Record, if appropriate. 


(Personal) Development Plan 

This is an individual plan detailing a candidate’s intentions for on-going development. A 

typical format will include what the candidate wants to achieve, how they will achieve it, i.e. 

the action required, a review date and, ultimately, the outcome. Example formats are 

available on the CIPD website. 

Job Analysis Plan 

This is a plan which outlines the job role(s) to be analysed, the job analysis method(s) to be 

used, who will be involved in the analysis, the start point, time frame and completion date. 

Briefing Note 

This is a written document providing the key facts and options, in relation to a specific topic, 

for a particular audience. It is written and structured to enable others to quickly understand 

the topic and to enable decision making. Candidates will need to demonstrate the relevant 

knowledge, as defined by the assessment criteria, within their note. 

PowerPoint Presentation with Notes 

Candidates should use MS PowerPoint, or equivalent to produce slides and use the MS 

notes function to write their supporting text for each slide. This form of evidence should be 

submitted in paper form, printed off as ‘notes pages’, for the assessor to assess and provide 

feedback on the written content. Note: some briefs require presentations to be undertaken 

and observed, whilst others just request the written information as described here. This is 

clearly clarified within the briefs. 

Written Specification 

This is a written outline, usually of a procedure, process or required content. It is often linked 

to good practice in a particular HR/L&D practice area. The specification should include the 

title of the specification, the specified process or contents, what should happen in what order 

and, where appropriate, any resources required. 

Guidance Note 

This focuses on assisting others to know or do something. Candidates should remember to 

ensure they demonstrate the relevant knowledge, as defined by the assessment criteria, 

within their note. 

Learning Needs Analysis Notes 

These are informal notes made by the candidate during the learning needs analysis meeting 

which record the current position of knowledge, skills and/or behaviours against the required 

position. 

Session Plan 

The session plan is a structured written outline of the aims, sequence and content of a 

training session. It should include a title, session aim and learning outcomes, timing, 

activities, content and required resources. 


Learning and Development Plan 

This is a plan for an individual learner (or identified group of learners) specifying what they 

need to do/achieve over a period of time, and by what method(s). It would usually be 

prepared in response to a learning needs analysis. 

Learning Resources 

These are products which will be used by the trainer with their learners. Examples include: 

handouts, activity briefs, case studies, PowerPoint slides. 

Evaluation Tools 

Tools specifically designed to collect the information required for evaluation, e.g. a 

questionnaire or observation form. 

Word Counts 

Within the ‘Evidence to be produced’ section, guidance is provided regarding an expected 

word count. As a very general rule, word count requirements are set at an approximate 500 

words for each credit point of the unit credit value. 

Word counts are not given as an absolute requirement, but to avoid excessive demand on 

candidates in relation to the level of the qualification, and to ensure some consistency of 

effort across candidates. Whilst there is some flexibility in requirements, CIPD recommends 

that Centres check and ensure reasonable compliance with the stated guidance. 

Presentation of Work 

Because the CIPD Foundation Units are (mostly) set at level 3, candidate work should reflect 

this. To a great extent this is pre-determined by the learning outcomes and assessment 

criteria, but candidates should also be required to present their work accurately and 

professionally at this level. In general terms, candidate work should be easily assessable 

and ‘fit for purpose’, for example: PowerPoint slides should have correct spelling; a guidance 

note for staff should be grammatically correct; a learning session design should use 

appropriate terms and generally be professionally presented. 

At level 3, candidates are not formally required to provide official referencing of the texts they 

have used within written work, although Centres may choose to require referencing as good 

practice. (The provision or not of referencing should not, however, impact on the final 

assessment decision – unless it is a requirement of the assessment criteria.) 

3. Making the Assessment Decision 

Candidate work generated from the activities should be assessed against the requirements 

of the unit, by the tutor/assessor. In order to achieve a unit a candidate should have 

been assessed as producing sufficient work at the appropriate level to meet the 

learning outcomes and assessment criteria of the unit. 


A decision re ‘sufficiency’ is aided by reference to word count requirements and to the unit 

assessment guidance. The assessment guidance provides more specific information, e.g. 

quantities and dimensions, which enables candidates to gauge the extent of work required 

for a criteria, and for assessors to judge whether or not sufficient work has been produced. 

A small amount of flexibility and discretion is allowed within the application of the 

assessment guidance (e.g. a tutor may decide on occasion to accept 2 very good examples 

of something, where 3 general examples have been requested). However, CIPD would 

prefer Centres to assess to the guidance as much as possible and would expect any 

significant variation to be recorded and justified within the assessment record. 

‘Level’ has already been addressed to a great extent within the requirements of the 

assessment criteria, but assessors should also be comfortable with the general quality of 

candidates work in relation to the qualification/unit level (level 3). Regarding presentation of 

work, whilst candidates should not be penalised for occasional mistakes, work should be 

assessable and fit for purpose, and it is not unreasonable for assessors to require 

candidates to address particular issues of grammar and presentation. 

In terms of ‘learning outcomes’ and ‘assessment criteria’, a candidate who meets all the 

assessment criteria linked to a learning outcome, should have implicitly met that learning 

outcome. The assessment criteria are therefore central to assessment and the 

tutor/assessor should make an explicit decision as to whether or not they have been met. 

As discussed above, assessment criteria are not assessed in isolation but always with 

reference to the assessment guidance for the related unit. 

Note. For CIPD Foundation Units, all (100%) of the assessment criteria within a unit are 

assessed. (For CIPD Intermediate Units, at least 50% of the learning outcomes and 

associated assessment criteria are assessed. These requirements are reflected in the 

Foundation and Intermediate NAB briefs.) 

If candidate work does not meet the requirements then additional candidate work, and/or 

further assessment, may be required to fill gaps. A clear decision re what has, and what has 

not, been met should always be provided by the tutor/assessor, with related feedback and 

advice on improvement action, where required. 

4. Recording Assessment 

Assessment decisions should ultimately be recorded on a unit-based Assessment Record or 

Assessment Report which clearly states which criteria have (or have not) been met, and how 

this has been done. The Assessment Record should also give a clear summative 

assessment decision (Pass/ Refer/ Fail) for the unit, with related feedback to the candidate. 


A range of (optional) forms, for recording assessment, are available to Centres on the 

Centres Extranet www.cipd.co.uk/centresextranet. These include: 

Assessment Report - Foundation and Intermediate (AR1) 

Candidate Observation Record (COR) 

Candidate Questioning Record (CQR) 

Centres may also devise and use their own forms but must discuss and agree these with 

their External Verifier before use. 

Additional note re Level 3 from the Qualifications Credit Framework (QCF) 

Achievement at level 3 reflects the ability to identify and use relevant understanding, 

methods and skills to complete tasks and address problems that while defined have a 

measure of complexity. It includes taking responsibility for initiating and completing tasks 

and procedures as well as exercising autonomy and judgement within limited parameters. It 

also reflects awareness of different perspectives or approaches within an area of study or 

work. 

At level 3 students should be able to: 

- use factual, procedural and theoretical understanding to complete tasks and address 

problems 

- identify gather and use relevant information to inform actions 

- interpret and evaluate information and ideas 

- identify how effective actions have been.

NAB Assessment Guidance - CIPD

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