HOW we deliver

You will see on the page listing training productsthat we provide two kinds of courses;

Taught courses. Formal training courses, on which we train you or members of your staff in the knowledge, skills and attitudes required by their jobs.
We believe in designing these courses in consultation with yourselves, our clients, aiming to provide exactly the training you require. A menu of these courses will be found by clicking here. If you require and only if you require, we will arrange formal accreditation of these courses through SQA, ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) etc. We customise out taught courses because this kind of formal accreditation tends to be increasingly bureaucratic and would not necessarily meet your identified training needs. Remember that these courses have to provided on a “one size fits all” basis in order to comply with the existing regulations.Speak to us about your requirements (our first consultation will be free) and we can guarantee that you will achieve the outcomes you require.

NVQ/SVQ programmes. Assessment of competence on the job, by which in practice we mean NVQ or SVQ qualifications or similar. These qualifications are ideally suited to persons who already have some experience. Frequently, they will need SOME formal training to bring them up to speed on those aspects of their job where they have not managed to gain suitable experience. For more information about these courses in general click here.

At present we are experimenting with a fixed price policy for these NVQ/SVQ programmes, discounted according to a formula based on the number of candidates studying together. To DOWNLOAD our detailed Terms of Business and the Fees and Charges click the appropriate link.

Following consultation, on receipt of your formal contract or Purchase Order, we will register your candidates for the NVQ or SVQ. For this we need to know their names and dates of birth. Some NVQs(SVQs) can be completed quickly, but certificates cannot be issued until ten weeks after the date of registration. This is known as the “Ten Week Rule” and applies both to NVQs and SVQs. However, the sooner we can register your candidates, the sooner the two weeks will have started to count down and the sooner their certificates can be issued.

Briefing Meetings. The next task will be to explain to the candidates, either singly or in a group, what they must do to achieve their NVQ. Ideally, this can be on your premises, but if we have to use commercial premises (such as a hotel or conference centre) this must be paid for at cost. This briefing meeting can last anything from a few hours to one day, depending on circumstances.

After they have been briefed, your candidates now proceed to collect together the evidence of their competence. Things have moved on a lot since the days when it was usual for candidates to slave away on their own, compiling masses of written reports which they then inserted into a bulky portfolio. We prefer to use recorded verbal interviews, or as they are usually called; Professional Discussions and in many cases compile the candidate's portfolio for him or her..

HOW we assess

As we stated above, Things have moved on a lot since the days of bulky written portfolios. We prefer to use recorded verbal interviews, or as they are usually called; Professional Discussions.

How Professional Discussions work. Typically, a few weeks following the Briefing Meeting described in the previous section, the candidates will have had time to think how they can demonstrate their competence in an interview with theirAssessor and what observations and documents will be needed to back up what they tell us. A huge advantage of this method is that it does not rely on the candidates slaving away over a hot word processor trying to write up personal accounts, storyboards, reports, etc. A day can be fixed for an assessment interview and this date can be adhered to, barring unforeseen circumstances.

It is usual for Professional Discussions to take place on a one-to-one basis between the Assessor and individual candidates. However, depending on circumstances, it is often feasible for candidates to meet their assessor in small groups (i.e. not more than two or three candidates to one assessor).
Whichever way it is arranged, the Professional Discussion will consist of the candidate explaining to the Assessor the basis of his/her claim to competence. The Assessor expects to ask probing questions and in any case the candidates’ statements can be backed using documentary and/or photographic evidence. The process is not too demanding for the candidates and saves a great deal of time.

Discussions are recorded digitally before being transferred to an electronic medium such as a hard disk or CD-ROM. Documents provided by the candidates are sometimes photocopied so they can be included in a slim portfolio or scanned electronically. Sometimes the documents may be confidential and may need to be anonymised, or in some cases, not released at all.

Internal Verification. The Assessor will then be de-briefed by one of Chris McAllister Limited’s Internal Verifiers so that the quality of the assessment can be assured. The portfolio will also be inspected. Sometimes the Internal Verifier may wish to meet or telephone candidates selected at random. This constitutes a useful independent means of checking how rigorous was the assessment process.

How we finish the job

The Awarding Body (usually SQA) details an External Verifier to keep in touch with our Centre. When the Internal Verifier has done her job, it will then be the turn of the External Verifier, depending on the Awarding Body rules in force at the time. If all is well (and it usually is) the SQA will issue the certificates in accordance with the “Ten Week Rule” described above. The portfolio compiled by the candidate remains his or her property and will be returned following External Verification.

Electronic portfolios. This term has a number of different meanings and can signify a wide range of different possibilities. We shall describe only two of these.

Electronic portfolios on-line. In this type of product the candidate puts all his documentation on his Centre’s website so that it is continually available to the Assessor. This type is usually popular in academic institutions.

Electronic portfolios on CD-ROM. This is the type which we prefer. All the candidate’s evidence is assembled on a CD-ROM, including the digitised interviews. Copies of the CD-ROM can then be made easily, bringing about a huge saving in postage costs and convenience. For more detailed information on our e-portfolios go to.