Field Assessments Overview
Field Assessments are one of the BSS Office’s quality assurance measures. The main aim is to support you in carrying out consistent Examinations every time, in line with the Examination Checking Procedures (ECP) and published Examination guidance. Field Assessments can help you to identify your strengths and weaknesses, and help the BSS Office Team with their ongoing improvement measures, such as improving training and/or upgrading BSS published material and guidance. They also help support the BSS Delivering Consistent BSS Examinations.
Examiners can expect to be Field Assessed on a rolling basis, typically over a 5-year period. However, Examiners who are conducting particularly high or low numbers of Examinations may be Assessed more frequently.
The BSS Office will contact you initially to invite you to a Field Assessment, providing details of your Assessor as well as other information. The Assessor will then contact you to arrange a time and date for the Assessment, which normally must be completed within 2 months of the initial invitation. Failure to engage with a Quality Assurance activity can be considered a breach of the BSS Examiner Conditions of Registration.
Field Assessments will take place on board a suitable boat and where practicable, the boat will be owned and/or managed by the BSS. However, occasionally, such boats are made available by companies, private individuals and navigation authorities by prior arrangement with the BSS Office.
The Assessment boats are located in Northamptonshire and Norwich and the location used for the Field Assessment will be chosen based on the Examiner's location, determined by their public address provided on the BSS Database.
The boats are located in boatyards, marinas, etc, where there is good road access, suitable parking and easy access to the Assessment boat.
Field Assessments involve an Examination of a boat and are intended to provide the Examiner and the BSS Office with assurance of ongoing competency.