Trainees/apprentices assessment

Vocational training institutes

The assessment of learners is divided into two phases:

1. Assessment during training
2. Post-training assessment.

According to Regulation, the assessment of the knowledge, skills and competences of trainees per course (assessment during training) is based on the study guide and includes:

• Mid-term exams

• Ιndividual/Group Project

• Final exams 

Mid-term exams

• During each training semester, all courses include at least one mid-term exam.  The trainer prepares the tests and also marks them.
• The mid-term exam is compulsory for all trainees.  In case a trainee is absent for reasons of force majeure or serious illness and can provide the relevant pieces of evidence, the management of IEK, in collaboration with the trainer, can offer to postpone the exam.
• Trainees take note of the grades under the responsibility of the management of IEK, which also sees to the handling of any potential conflict.
• The duration of each mid-term exam may be up to one hour.

Group and individual projects

The topics of the projects aree set by the trainer and validated  and are approved by the Director or the Deputy Director of the IEK .The project may be individual or collaborative/group. The study guide or the Trainer provide instructions for the content of the project.

Final semester exams

• At the end of each semester, final exams are conducted in each course
• The study guide determines the rules for the exam.
• The trainer sets and marks the questions of the final exams.
• The duration of each final exam is two hours, apart from laboratories or as otherwise indicated in the study guide.
• A trainee who is absent from a final exam for reasons of force majeure or serious illness proven by a competent public body, can submit an application to the management of IEK together with the relevant supporting documents, but in any case prior to the release of the results of the semester. The management of IEK decides the when and where the exam will take place. The examination includes a minimum of four development topics questions and / or a minimum of twenty-five short questions, such as multiple choice, “correct/ wrong”, matching, gap filling questions, unless otherwise specified by the Training Guide specialty. 

Trainees are informed of their grades under the responsibility of the management of IEK, which also sees to the handling of potential conflicts of any nature.  The trainee, who did not attend the exams, will get the minimal grade. Trainees can request an oral examination, in case they cannot undergo a written examination for the reasons below:

• They are blind or have a vision impairment of at least 67%.
• They have a physical disability of at least 67%, permanent or temporary, associated with the upper limbs.
• They suffer from upper limb spasticity.

They suffer from a fracture or other temporary impairment of the upper limbs, such that it is impossible to write. Their performance cannot be tested solely by written exams because of a specific learning need (e.g. dyslexia). These trainees are required to sit on the same exams as the others and within the same amount of time.  The examination is oral.  It is conducted by the trainer of the course in the presence of the Director.

Marks

The performance of the trainees in in individual/group project and the mid-terms constitutes the progress mark of that subject for the semester. The performance of the trainees in the final exams constitutes the final exam mark of that subject for the semester. The final mark of the subject is formed by 60% from the final exam mark and 30% from the average of the mid-terms mark and 10% from individual/group project , rounded to the nearest whole number. When a laboratory subject is taught by several trainers, each of them gives separate marks. The average of such marks is the mark of the exam, whether a mid-term or final one. The mark of the examination of a mixed course, whether progress or final one, is the average of the individual marks in the examination of the theoretical and the laboratory part of the course.No final grade is issued in a course for a trainee whose attendance has been classified as deficient due to absences. The sum of the final mark of all training courses, including, in the case of classification (from one specialty to another), those whose mark has been ensured, is divided by the number of courses and provides the general average grade of the trainee for that semester. Where an exemption for attending some courses is provided, these coursed are not considered when calculating the general average grade. The grading scale ranges from 1 (minimal grade) to 10.

Characterisation of studies

Characterisation of the trainees' studies takes place after the end of the semester courses and before the final exams. Attendance is mandatory for all courses. The attendance in each course is characterised as adequate when the trainee’s hourly absences are equal to or less than 15% of the total number of teaching hours provided for the semester, rounded to the nearest whole number. In any other case, the attendance is characterised as inadequate. The trainee is not entitled to attend the final exam at the end of the training semester for the courses in which his attendance was classified as inadequate.  He/she is ought to repeat the attendance of such courses, without having the right to enrol at the next semester. In case the attendance of a trainee in all the courses of the first semester is classified as inadequate, then in order for such a trainee to re-enroll, he/she must be re-selected according to the procedures described above.

Post-secondary year – apprenticeship class

The trainees are assessed during and after training according to law 4186/2013 and law 4610/2019. The assessment takes place:

1. In the schools unit by the instructor(s), according to the assessment of the laboratory subject of specialisation.  The grading scale is 0-20.  The final assessment accounts for 50%.  It is conducted according to presidential decree 42/2017 “Attendance and Assessment of Vocational Upper Secondary School Students”.
2. At the workplace by the competent trainer of the company, according to the assessment of the educational programme at the workplace – apprenticeship at the workplace.  The grading scale is 0-20. The final assessment accounts for 50%.  It is conducted according to:
   1. The daily log of the programme.
   2. The research and progress of project implementation reflected in brief in the daily log and defined in the apprenticeship agreement.
3. The final exam, presentations of skills and projects live and in digital form.  On the basis of the above, the competent trainer of the company prepares a report that includes the justification of the assessment of each trainee.

Progression of trainees

Vocational training institutes

Students may enrol in the following semester when they do not have to repeat one or more subjects and one of the following conditions apply:

• Their final grade in each course is at least 5 out of 10.
• They have underperformed in just one course, while the general average grade for the semester, including the under-performed course, is at least 6.

In case of lagging behind in one course of the current semester, the trainee have to be re-examined in the course that fell behind in subsequent examination periods. The grade of this examination, in case it is equal to or greater than five (5), is its new final course's grade.

In any other case, the trainees are required to repeat the attendance/training of the courses of the semester in which they underperformed or classified as inadequate due to absences.

If no specialisation and semester department is in operation at the IEK in the exam of which the trainee underperformed, then the trainee is given the opportunity to join a specialisation department for one semester, where the courses required are taught.  

Internship

The supervision, coordination, quality assurance and assessment of internship are the responsibility of the Director of the IEK or the assigned coordinator for internship. The latter is responsible for:

• Monitoring trainees’ attendance
• Assuring quality at the workplace
• On-site inspection of the company
• Maintenance of individual portfolio of internship with the relevant progression reports.

IEK students who have completed at least 120 daily working days in the specialisation in which they are enrolled, are exempt, should they wish, from the requirement to undergo one semester of internship, by means of submitting a solemn declaration under law 1599/1986. In any case they must complete 4 semesters of theoretical and laboratory training, in order to receive the vocational training certificate (BEK).

Post-secondary year – apprenticeship class

The final assessment of the post-secondary year – apprenticeship class is graded from 1 to 20. 

Attendance of post-secondary year – apprenticeship class is considered successful, when the final grade is at least 10, provided that the trainees do not have less than 10 out of 20 in the (a) and (b) parts of the assessment. A trainee cannot re-sit the exam or repeat the post-secondary year – apprenticeship class.

Certification

Vocational training institutes

Α vocational training certificate is awarded to IEK graduates (BEK). The BEK is a prerequisite for their participation in the qualification certification exams that lead to obtaining the  vocational education and training diploma of level five (5), which are conducted annually by the EOPPEP. Students who have obtained the certificate of vocational training are entitled to participate. Ministerial decision 2944/17-4-2014 defines the certification of the vocational training of IEK graduates. It is based on national exams in theory and practice. The certification process takes place and is common to public and private vocational training institutes. The National Organization for the Certification of Qualifications and Vocational Guidance - EOPPEP is responsible for the accreditation of the vocational training of IEK graduates.  The central examination committee for the accreditation of vocational training (KEEPEK) is set and operates within EOPPEP.  Candidates that were successful in both sections of the exam, theory and practice, are awarded a Vocational Specialisation Diploma Level 5. The Diploma of Vocational Specialisation Level 5 is signed by the managing director of EOPPEP. After the announcement of the results and upon the beneficiaries’ request, EOPPEP grants them a certificate of initial accreditation of vocational training of IEK graduates, which serves as a diploma and states the average grade achieved in the theoretical Section of the exam. This certificate of accreditation is issued to the examinees, who have passed both components of the exams for the certification of the initial vocational training and are entitled to a Vocational Specialisation Diploma Level 5.

Post-secondary year – apprenticeship class

Post-secondary year – apprenticeship class graduates receive a certificate of attendance of the post-secondary year – apprenticeship class, where the only reference is that it has ben “successfully” performed. Moreover, they may receive a Certificate in Specialisation, Vocational Education and Training Level 5.  Joint ministerial decision 90050/Υ2/1-6-2018 defines the validation procedures of their qualifications.

New Training Guides

Pursuant to law 4763/2020, the new "Training Guides" for each specialty, which will be edited, approved, certified and applied through the above-mentioned procedures, include, inter alia, for each specialty of IEK and of the Post-secondary year - Apprenticeship class,

• the qualification paths, 
• the certification process and
• the certification standard, including a Βank of  questions for the certification  of  each qualification, corresponding to the corresponding level of the National Qualifications Framework.

More specifically, according to the Standard Training Guide which is included in the decision of ΦΒ6/24964/Κ3/3-3-2021 of the General Secretary οf Vocational Education, Training, Lifelong Learning and Youth, the “Training Guide” for each specialty will include the details for the assessment of trainees through:

• mid-term exams 
• the final examination and
• the assessment of participation of the trainee in group and individual projects.

The supervision, the coordination, the quality assurance and the assessment of the internship or apprenticeship are carried out by the Office of Professional Development and Career of IEK, under the responsibility of the Director of IEK or the Coordinating Advisor.

Graduate certification

Certification Preparatory Program

Graduates of the Post-Secondary Year of Apprenticeship can optionally attend a Preparatory Certification Program, lasting a total of thirty-five (35) hours, which is organized and carried out by EPAL, in order to better prepare for their participation in the qualification certification procedures and the acquisition of a title of level five (5), or any equivalent title, which are conducted annually by the EOPPEP. The Preparatory Program takes place in Laboratory Centers or in an upper secondary  vocational school (EPAL), in the afternoon.

Transition period

The Guides or Curricula, which were used before the enactment of the new law 4763/2020, are still applied until the end of the studies which were based on them. These graduates of IEK and the Post-Secondary Year of Apprenticeship, during the process of their certification by the EOPPEP, are examined and certified based on the Guides or the Study Programs as the case may be.