Level 3 Software Development Technician (9704)

As one of the biggest EPAOs in England, we pride ourselves on our first rate customer service. Our EPA team is on hand to support you every step of the way, guiding you through gateway and ensuring your apprentice has all the tools they need to prepare for the assessment. Our assessment and grading is standardised and all our assessors have industry experience and receive on-going training, so you can trust that we will deliver a fair and robust assessment. 

Assessment requirements for this standard are made up of two discrete methods: 

• Project report with questioning 
• Professional discussion underpinned by portfolio 
• Both graded fail/pass/distinction 

For further guidance, please refer to our end-point assessment pack. This provides more detail behind the knowledge, skills and behaviours in the standard and the range of content within the standard. The EPA pack includes detailed guidance on grading criteria and suggestions for evidence the apprentice will need to produce for knowledge, skills and behaviours. You’ll find this under the ‘documents’ tab in the ‘End-point assessment EPA’ section. EPA preparation and gateway guidance for this standard: 

Upon registration for EPA, you will have access to a range of support material for the Software Developer Apprenticeship to help prepare for end-point assessment. This is available on EPA PRO. 

• EPA preparation tool: Our platform guides apprentices through online content to help them feel ready for their EPA experience. User-friendly technology takes the apprentice through a series of questions, to suggest material personalised to their apprenticeship standard and their confidence levels. The content is curated from across the web and covers areas like revision and exam skills, multiple choice test strategies, professional discussion and interview skills. 
• EPA exemplar materials: available for tutors, providing real assessment examples for each assessment type, such as transcripts and model answers. This will help you to prepare apprentices and ensure they feel ready for assessment. 
• Recording forms: supporting you to complete key stages of EPA readiness, we have prepared forms to give you peace of mind and confidence that everything is covered.  
• LIEPA reports: Our lead independent end assessors (LIEPAs) produce an annual report with insight into the EPA results and findings across all centres. These reports can help you refine your apprenticeship delivery to improve success rates. 

These packs include a gateway declaration form that is needed for the EPA booking process, as well as all other necessary forms and recording documents.

We are issuing digital credentials to learners who have completed this qualification. Please add your learners’ email address during registration. A digital credential cannot be issued without the learner’s email address.

If you’re an existing City & Guilds centre or interested in becoming a centre, make sure you’ve read our EPA manual and guidance. This will explain the process and all our terms and conditions. Our short ‘how-to’ guides and videos are a great start to help you get to grips with what to expect and how to stay on track when booking EPA and preparing apprentices for assessment. You’ll find these resources in our EPA document library.

To use our quality-assured on-programme materials or end-point assessment service there are three ways to either find out more or to order what you need:

1. If you’re an existing City & Guilds customer, go to Walled Garden and select the materials you need or register your apprentice for end-point assessment. (You may need to submit a request to deliver if you don’t yet have approval for that standard.) 
2. Get in touch with epapartnership@cityandguilds.com. Our team can explain our different products and services and start getting you set up as a customer or give existing customers support on the new apprenticeship arrangements. 
3. Speak to your City & Guilds Business Manager about how to access our products or how to register your apprentices with us.