How to compile your portfolio or logbook
What is a portfolio/logbook?
A portfolio/logbook is a way of recording evidence of your achievements. It is a collection of different items of evidence which shows that you have the required skills, knowledge and understanding to support your claim to a unit and/or qualification.
A portfolio/logbook can be electronic or paper based.
You will need to present your evidence in a format that is easy to read and to follow. This section gives you suggestions on how to present your evidence. There are also ‘recording forms’ to help you.
The portfolio/logbook and any files associated with it are very important and you must keep it safe and, if electronic, keep backups of all of your files. Take advice from your assessor who will help you put an organised set of references in your portfolio/logbook that will allow your evidence to be easily and quickly found.
You do not need to make photocopies of all evidence materials for your portfolio but you do need to state very clearly where your evidence can be found and to make sure that it is referenced. Including additional materials such as training manuals or standard sheets of information is unnecessary — you only need to show the evidence that confirms your abilities to carry out your work.
You can store your evidence and your portfolio/logbook as a traditional paper-based document or you could store both your evidence and portfolio/logbook as electronic files or a combination of the two. There will always be a need for some paper — in particular the Declaration of Authenticity, the paper you sign to say the work you present is your own. Take guidance from your centre or assessor. You do not have to lay out your evidence in the way suggested but you may find it helpful to do so.
Your portfolio/logbook should include information about you (the candidate), the organisation where you are working and undertaking your qualification, the assessor and so on.
The production of a well-organised, clearly-labelled portfolio/logbook which relates each piece of evidence to the relevant outcomes and performance criteria requires a careful, methodical approach. When your assessor looks through your portfolio/logbook, they will find the task of making judgements about your competence much easier if the information in it is presented in a logical sequence.
How will you plan your portfolio/logbook and the collection of your evidence?
Start by talking with your assessor and/or employer, looking carefully at the units available. You do not have to do the units in the order that they appear in the pack. Look at the guidance that is provided for every unit and it will give you ideas as to what you can do and the kind of evidence required. Ideally you should gain as much evidence as possible that crosses different areas, by doing a number of significant tasks. It is really important that you plan your work over time as you may need to negotiate with other people about opportunities to collect evidence.
There may be some units that relate to tasks which you carry out on a regular basis, therefore making it easier to collect evidence right away. Alternatively, there may be activities in other units which you only undertake now and again, these can be left until the opportunity arises for you to collect evidence.
Before you start looking for different kinds of evidence and deciding if they should be included in your portfolio, you will find it helpful to plan how you will carry out the tasks and how long they may take.
We have given you a documentation that can be used to help you plan but, there must be other ways of doing this in your centre or in your workplace and you can use them instead. These other planning methods might be part of a personal development plan or maybe your centre already uses some sort of candidate related document that would fit the purpose.
What must be in a portfolio/logbook?
Title page. If you are producing a paper-based portfolio then a front cover with your name, qualification title, centre or employer would be useful. This record should be placed at the front of your portfolio along with a contents page.
Candidate personal profile. You’re CV, or similar helps the assessor, internal verifier and external verifier to understand your background, any work experience you have, and the potential for other evidence sources, e.g. part-time or voluntary work or leisure pursuits. Your job description or summary of duties undertaken, if you are in employment, a volunteer or on work placement. An organisational chart or description would also be useful showing you in relation to colleagues and managers.
Contents page. The contents page is to help you build and structure your portfolio/logbook as well as giving you and all the assessors and verifiers access information and evidence quickly. If your evidence is electronic then you need to collect all of the documents and forms into one place and make sure they are very carefully named. Putting unit record files into a sub-directory would be a useful way of managing the information. You may be guided in this according to your centre or assessor. However you choose to store the information you will need the following as part of your records.
Index of evidence. This does not need to be grouped into units but each piece of evidence should have a reference number linked to the unit record sheets and allows your assessors to see which bit of the evidence is put forward for which unit.
Unit progress and sign-off record (see Section 3). This shows which units have been undertaken with a signing-off facility for assessors and verifiers. This document will also show to the verifier that you have the right number of units and that they add up to the total needed to achieve the qualification.
Candidate declaration of evidence authenticity. This is essential for the assessors to know that you are stating clearly that the evidence you are putting forward is your own work. This is especially important if you and your assessor are communicating and attaching files by email. This declaration may be a separate document or may be attached to the unit progress record as in the example given in this document.
Witness status list and sample signatures. These may be available centrally and be kept by your centre. The information may include witnesses, secure email addresses but your assessor will guide you.
Unit record sheets for elements and knowledge (see Section 3). You can either use the individual Word files or forms for each unit provided or build up your set of files in a spreadsheet format.
What can be used as evidence?
Evidence could include things such as electronic documents, spreadsheets and databases and any form of work product; as well as witness statements, observation records, etc. Much of your evidence may be electronic and although print-outs may well be appropriate, they are not essential if your assessor can, and is willing to, access the files electronically. Check with your assessor. It is not necessary to take copies of evidence if your assessor and verifier can access them easily in their natural location. Combinations of formats of evidence are fine and a slim physical file containing key sign-off documents referenced to electronic or paper files saves having a bulky and difficult-to-use portfolio/logbook.
There are a number of ways to get evidence, they are given below.
Observation
Observing you at work is a common method used in assessing Diplomas. Observation can be organised in a variety of ways:
- Continuously working alongside the assessor/witness.
- Arranging to work alongside the assessor at specific times.
- The assessor planning to visit when particular activities are planned.
- Arranging with the assessor for particular activities to take place before a visit.
- You will be able to add to observation other types of evidence, e.g. personal statements, records of questions and answers or witness testimonies. You can also use tape recordings, video, CD ROM or other technology to record performance.
Work products
Products that you have produced during the course of your work can be assessed. Product evidence will also be used a great deal. The exact nature of this evidence will depend on what you do.
Examples of product evidence include letters, memos, lists, spreadsheets, presentations and reports. Certificates from training or other qualifications, showing achievement are also considered to be product evidence. Copies of this type of evidence are not essential for the portfolio as long as their location is clearly indicated in the tracking documents, for example the evidence index. Work products must be wholly or partially the result of work you have undertaken. To ensure authenticity, the products may need to be countersigned by a person in a position of responsibility who is able to vouch that the products are all your unaided work.
Simulated work products
Throughout your Diploma, you will be carrying out real work activities so assessment will normally be carried out in the workplace itself. The Diploma standards will indicate any units where simulation may be used.
Occasionally, it might not be appropriate for you to be assessed while in the workplace. Examples can be: where the Diploma requires you to carry out emergency or contingency procedures, for safety or confidentiality reasons and/or where your job role does not cover all of the qualification. In these situations, and if you have no other means of generating evidence, simulation might be appropriate.
Simulation is any structured exercise involving a specific task that reproduces real life situations. If simulation is used, care must be taken to ensure that the conditions in which you are being assessed mirror the work environment, i.e. it is a realistic working environment (RWE).
Questioning and professional discussion
You will have to prove that you have the required knowledge and understanding for each unit. You will often demonstrate it through the production of evidence, though in some cases this will not be possible.
Questioning is the ideal way of proving whether or not you have the necessary knowledge and understanding related to specific tasks/activities. Questions can be asked in many forms for example through work related discussions with the assessor, as short-answer questions, through projects or assignments.
Questioning is more likely to be used to prove knowledge in areas where your evidence is generated through practical working activities, and you do not have product evidence. Sometimes, your assessor will want to discuss with you the work you have done and record it on a question and answer form. This is called “professional discussion”.
Testimony — personal, witness and expert witness
The assessor will not be able to observe everything you do. When they are not able to observe you statements (testimonies) from other people who have seen you working can be useful sources of evidence for your Diploma as they can describe each activity in detail. Generally, testimonies are used to support other evidence that you have produced. (See the table on pages 4–5 for more information about witnesses.)
Assignments and projects
Work-based or related assignments and projects are also useful ways to collect integrated evidence. These should be planned well with your assessor to capture as much evidence as possible.
Accreditation of Prior Experience and Learning (APEL)
In the assessment for your Diploma, evidence relating to your past performance and achievements can be used as well as that which relates to current performance. Talk with your assessor about this right at the start of your Diploma.
Assessment guidance
To help you, guidance on evidence is provided within every Diploma unit. It will help you understand how much evidence you will need and gives you examples of the type of work needed. Ask your assessor where this is stored. It will normally be part of your Edexcel Diploma logbook or will be part of the materials provided by your centre.