Students receive on average three visits on a work placement of 46 weeks or longer. The visiting tutors are allocated by the department. Prior to each visit, students fill in a Professional Placement Visit form to prepare for the meeting with the visiting tutor.
Visiting Tutor Assessment starts with the first contact between tutor and student, and the tutor’s announcement of their visit. The following are assessed:
- Overall level of preparation for the tutor’s visit, and organisation of meetings.
- Professionalism in student-tutor and student-supervisor communication prior to and during the visit.
- Acquisition and development of key skills, such as organisational skills; communication skills (oral and written); time-management; and IT skills.
The student-tutor interviews serve to evaluate student performance, monitor student personal and professional development, and to give credit for student achievement. They give students an opportunity to seek and make use of constructive feedback, to identify their strengths and weaknesses in an employment situation, and to discuss matters of concern. Tutors also evaluate the quality of the training and supervision given to the student by the placement provider.
The tutor-supervisor interviews serve to discuss the student’s personal and professional development with work placement supervisors, to evaluate student performance and achievement as seen by work placement supervisors, and to discuss the quality and amount of training and supervision given to the student by the work placement provider.
At the end of each visit, tutors complete a Visiting Tutor’s Report form, and assess the student’s overall performance.