Select a project topic that is related to a real-life situation in their role that will stretch both theoretical understanding and practical application of apprenticeship and in that sense, test real acquired skills and knowledge.

Housing and Property Management Project Guidance

The Project is an important element of the apprenticeship. It provides an opportunity for apprentices to apply the knowledge, skills and behaviours acquired during the apprenticeship to a project focussed on a real-life situation in the workplace. The apprentice should aim to demonstrate all 59 assessment criteria; however, apprentices do not need to meet a minimum number of assessment criteria to be able to undergo the Presentation and Interview.

Employers and training providers are encouraged to support the apprentice to identify a topic for their Project that will enable them to provide a meaningful and valuable contribution to their organisation. The Project could be a piece of work led by the apprentice that might develop a new process or procedure, or investigate a business issue, or develop a business case to justify a recommendation, or evaluate current working practices. It might outline the practical application of a policy or impact of legislation in the operation of a housing management function and how this is applied within the apprentice’s area of work, or perhaps a piece of research that could inform future business decisions. The Project should allow the apprentice to apply in practice the knowledge, skills, and behaviour they have acquired throughout their apprenticeship to showcase their competence against the assessment criteria. 

The Project itself may begin up to 6 months prior to the start of gateway, however the apprentice must only begin to write the Project Report once their Gateway documents have been approved by DSW.  The Project Report will be submitted ahead of the assessment date agreed with the Independent End Point Assessor (IEPA) at the planning meeting.

When completing their Project; the apprentice should:

• Select a project topic that is related to a real-life situation in their role that will stretch both theoretical understanding and practical application of apprenticeship and in that sense, test real acquired skills and knowledge.
• Lead or be directly involved in the completion of the project.
• Interact with colleagues and customers when developing and executing the project.
• Develop and provide a diary and report of the project activity which will be form the basis of the final assessment.
• Demonstrate that they have met the assessment criteria (the apprentice will be required to document which assessment criteria are evidenced, and where, using the Project Referencing Table which can be found in appendix I of the Toolkit

When thinking about how to approach their project; following the ‘Define, Plan, Do, Review’ approach to running a project might be helpful:

1. Define:  The apprentice defines a clear purpose or goal that is based on a real-life problem or scenario in their workplace. Clear aims and objectives and deliverables are set out (see section on project aims for more information.
2. Plan: The apprentice makes a plan for how they will approach the project to achieve their aims and objectives. This might include a timeline, stakeholder engagement and financial plans.
3. Do: The apprentice completes all the project activities, completing their diary to log activities and reflect on how they have demonstrated the assessment criteria.
4. Review: The apprentice reviews their delivery of the project.  What were the conclusions drawn, project successes and any challenges faced? 

When selecting an appropriate topic for a project, apprentices should think about emerging issues and problems in their team or organisation. Projects are an opportunity for apprentices to explore these issues in more detail. However, apprentices should be realistic with the scope and expectations of the project when selecting a suitable topic.  The project should give the apprentice the opportunity to demonstrate as many of the 59 assessment criteria as possible; but the apprentice also needs to complete it in the available time.

Below is a list of example project titles to give an idea of the kinds of topics which might be relevant for this apprenticeship. The topic and scope of the project should be discussed with the training provider and employer to support the apprentice in choosing something meaningful to the organisation, realistic and achievable for the apprentice and that will have the appropriate breadth and depth to cover the assessment criteria.

• Review the reasons for increased anti-social behaviour complaints in a neighbourhood. 
• Assess how your organisation can encourage customers to pay their rent online.
• Review the sign-up process for new tenants.
• Assess how effectively your organisation communicates with residents who speak English as a second language.
• Develop a new process for renewing leases on behalf of property owners.
• Review your organisation’s processes for managing empty properties.
• Assess how your organisation can encourage more landlords to take up the landscaping service.

Clearly defining the aims and objectives of the project at the outset helps the apprentice choose and map the activities which are designed to meet the criteria and the subsequent evidence required. Think of the aims and objectives in the context of a journey – the aim is your destination, and your objectives are how you intend to get there.

Project aims

Project aims are usually written in broad terms. They set out what you hope to achieve at the end of the project. The apprentice should clearly state the aim of their Project by including a concise statement for which one or two sentences should suffice.

For example: This aim of this project is to understand the impact Covid-19 has had on face-to-face services in the housing office and to see what lessons could be learned from this to improve customer service in the future.

Project objectives

Project objectives are the actions you will take to achieve the aims. The objectives should be specific statements that define measurable outcomes, e.g., what steps will be taken to achieve the desired aim of the project.

For example:

• Develop a matrix of relevant standards, accreditations, legislative and regulatory requirements that impact on the delivery of face-to-face services and evaluate current compliance and performance against these requirements.
• Consult with tenants and colleagues to analyse the impact of Covid-19 on face-to-face services.
• Contrast performance data pre, during and post lockdown to look for any patterns, trends, or changes
• Conduct research into how other similar organisations have adapted their service proposition across the same timeframes.
• Synthesise findings to draw conclusions and make recommendations on how to act on any lessons learned.

Objectives should also be S.M.A.R.T. -

• Specific – be exact about what you are going to do.
• Measurable – it should be easy to determine when you have reached them.
• Achievable – a smaller but completed objective is better than a larger one that would be difficult to achieve.
• Realistic – do you have what you need to achieve the objective – time, access, buy-in, budget, skills, etc?
• Time constrained – Plan exactly when each one will be completed by. Do you have to do one objective before you can achieve another? Have you considered building in time for unexpected delays?

The apprentice is required to produce a written report of their project. Apprentices usually choose to submit this as a Microsoft Word or PDF document. To cover as many of the assessment criteria as possible the report has a maximum word count of 7,500 not including references, diagrams, and tables. There is no minimum wordcount. If a report submitted for assessment exceeds this wordcount, anything over 7,500 words will not be assessed.

The report should be structured to allow the apprentice to clearly reference the assessment criteria they have chosen to demonstrate. Here are some tips to help apprentices think about how to structure the report. 

• Introduction: Use this section to introduce the topic, set out your project aims and objectives and what the rest of your report includes.
• The “Background”: Use this section to set the wider context for the project topic. This could include the legal context, information about why the Apprentice chose the topic and thinks it was an important issue to investigate.
• Body: This is the main section of the report (and therefore the longest) and should present research conducted, analysis, discussions, and considerations.
• Conclusion and recommendations: The closing part of the Report brings together the various elements in a clear and concise manner. This identifies the next steps and any actions that the Apprentice is recommending, based on their project findings.

There is no requirement to include a list of references in the report, but apprentices might find it useful to include a list of information sources used to avoid plagiarism and GDPR breaches.

Any supporting documentation should be submitted as appendices or embedded within the report. Supporting information should have a clear purpose and demonstrate a relevance to the point(s) it is designed to support.

In addition to the Project Report, the apprentice must also submit a Project Diary. The diary should be written up by the apprentice over the course of the project delivery phase and submitted at the same time as the Project Report.

The purpose of the Project Diary is to plan and record progress of the Project. It can also be a useful way to back up or provide context to the assessment criteria being evidenced within the Project Report. In some circumstances, the Project Diary can also be used to provide evidence by reflecting on why or how you did something during the project a particular way.

The information that the diary should capture include the date and nature of the activity, the purpose of the activity, what actions were undertaken, which of the assessment criteria the activity completed relates to and the apprentice’s personal reflections on the activity. 

A Project Diary template is included within appendix I of the Toolkit, but apprentices may create their own version of this if they prefer.

The Project Report should be supplemented with additional evidence to authenticate the apprentice’s account and provide additional context for the IEPA. Such evidence may include, but is not limited to:

• Diagrams
• Tables, charts, and graphs
• Screenshots
• Photographs
• Extracts from policies or process notes
• Extracts of relevant legislation
• Copies or extracts of presentations
• Copies or extracts of industry journals or publications

Any examples of the above are not included in the word count for the Project Report. The report should be referenced where appropriate if the apprentice is not the original author of the information, such as a journal article. The apprentice may use a referencing system of their choice, provided it is clear and easily understood, with any reference to others’ work clearly attributed.

The apprentice may choose to embed supporting evidence within the main body of their report, or they may choose to locate these documents in a separate folder. Whichever method the apprentice chooses, it is their responsibility to ensure that all evidence is clearly mapped to the assessment criteria using the Project Referencing Table contained within this Toolkit.

The Project Referencing Table lists the 59 assessment criteria of the standard and can be found in appendix I of the Toolkit. This is a mandatory document which must be submitted with the Project Report and Project Diary. It is then used by the IEPA to grade the End Point Assessment, including the Presentation and Interview.

The apprentice must complete column C of the referencing table with the location of the evidence which demonstrates the relevant assessment criteria. For example:

• Project Report – It is recommended that the apprentice includes the page and paragraph number.
• Project Diary – It is recommended that the apprentice includes the date of the diary entry.
• Supporting Evidence – It is recommended that the apprentice includes the name of the document. For some pieces of evidence, it may be appropriate to also include the page and paragraph number

The Instructions tab of the Project Referencing Table provides an example of how to map evidence to an assessment criterion. Evidence may be mapped to more than one assessment criteria. If an apprentice chooses not a demonstrate an assessment criterion, the corresponding cell on the Referencing Table should be left blank.

The below documents must all be submitted to DSW for assessment ahead of the assessment date. If any of the documents are missing, the assessment will not be able to go ahead.

• Project Report
• Project Diary
• Project Referencing Table
• Supporting evidence