Planning and Reviewing Learning — Open Awards Vocationally-Related Qualification Employability & Work Skills Revision
This element focuses on equipping learners with the essential employability skills of setting personal and professional targets, constructing achievable ac
Topic Synopsis
This element focuses on equipping learners with the essential employability skills of setting personal and professional targets, constructing achievable action plans, and systematically monitoring their progress. Learners will develop the ability to critically review their own performance, identify areas for improvement, and adapt their strategies to ensure continuous development. These competencies are directly transferable to workplace environments, where self-management and reflective practice are highly valued by employers.
Key Concepts & Core Principles
- Understanding job roles and responsibilities: Knowing what is expected in a specific job, including tasks, duties, and how they fit into the organisation.
- Effective communication in the workplace: Using verbal, non-verbal, and written communication appropriately with colleagues, customers, and managers.
- Teamwork and collaboration: Working cooperatively with others to achieve shared goals, including listening, sharing ideas, and supporting team members.
- Health and safety awareness: Recognising common workplace hazards and following procedures to maintain a safe working environment.
- Applying for jobs: Preparing a CV, completing application forms, and performing well in interviews.
Exam Tips & Revision Strategies
- Maintain a learning journal or portfolio throughout the planning and review cycle, capturing contemporaneous evidence of target setting, action logs, and reflective comments.
- Use the SMART framework explicitly when documenting targets, and ensure each target is linked to an employability skill relevant to your goals.
- When reviewing, adopt a structured approach such as ‘What went well?’, ‘What could be improved?’, and ‘What will I do next?’ to demonstrate depth of reflection.
- Where possible, include third-party feedback (e.g., from a work placement supervisor) to validate your self-assessment and strengthen your evidence.
Common Misconceptions & Mistakes to Avoid
- Setting targets that are too broad or unrealistic (e.g., 'become better at IT' instead of 'complete an online tutorial on spreadsheets by Friday').
- Creating a plan but failing to follow it consistently, or treating it as a fixed document rather than a flexible guide.
- Neglecting to gather evidence of progress, making it difficult to demonstrate achievement in the review phase.
- Confusing reflection with simple description; learners often describe what they did without evaluating effectiveness or identifying lessons learned.
- Ignoring feedback from peers, tutors, or employers during the review process, which can limit personal growth.
Examiner Marking Points
- Award credit for demonstrating the ability to set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) targets.
- Award credit for producing a clear action plan that outlines steps, resources, timelines, and success criteria.
- Award credit for providing evidence of actively following the plan, such as logs, checklists, or annotated timelines.
- Award credit for identifying at least two specific improvements made to own performance as a result of following the plan.
- Award credit for conducting a structured self-review that compares actual progress against planned targets, identifying both strengths and areas for development.
- Award credit for proposing realistic next-step targets based on the review.