Definitions

Assessment. The determination by an instructor, assessor or evaluator as to whether a candidate meets a required competency standard under given conditions, by collecting evidence from observable behaviours. Assessment takes place during instruction and evaluation.

Source: ICAO Doc 9868 PANS-TRG

Assessor endorsement means the authorisation entered on and forming part of the licence, indicating the competence of the holder to assess the practical skills of student air traffic controller and air traffic controller

Source: EU Regulation 2015/340

Description

The ATC assessor is a person who determines whether or not a person is performing up to the required competency standards. The person being assessed may be:

• A trainee air traffic controller. In this case, the assessor determines whether the person being assessed has achieved the level of performance for a particular training stage. Ultimately, the assessor evaluates the person's ability to provide air traffic services without instructor supervision.
• An active air traffic controller. In this case, the assessor determines whether the person being assessed still performs at the necessary level.

Assessment Methods

Assessors use two main methods to evaluate performance:

• Dedicated assessments. These are formal events where the assessor observes the performance of the person being assessed for a pre-defined, relatively short amount of time, normally between 2 and 8 hours. The total length depends on a variety of factors, such as the training stage (basic training, on-the-job training, final examination), the person (trainee or an active controller), etc. The total time may be divided into several sessions with breaks between them. For example, an 8-hour assessment may take place in two consecutive days, with two 2-hour sessions each day. A 2-hour check would normally be performed in one session. The number and duration of dedicated checks is defined in relevant documents (e.g. training/assessment plans, unit competency schemes, etc.).
• Continuous assessment. When this method is used, the assessor monitors the performance of the person being assessed for a relatively long period of time (normally several weeks or more). The period is defined in relevant documents. This method is sometimes considered to allow the assessor to gain a better overview of the performance of the person being assessed (i.e. more data is gathered). A major disadvantage is that the lengthy process requires considerably more resources.

Both types of assessment end with a formal conclusion stating whether or not the required performance thresholds are met, and if not, which are the areas that need improvement. In some situations, a negative conclusion results in termination of the training. An active controller that has received a negative conclusion is not allowed to provide ATS (unless supervised by an instructor) and this may ultimately lead to loss of privileges.

Sometimes the assessor is unable to determine whether the person being assessed performs up to the required competency standards. For example, if a dedicated assessment takes place, the traffic situation could be such that the required skills are not challenged during the particular period of the assessment (e.g. an abnormally low traffic situation happens). For the continuous assessment case, the reason could be that the assessor did not have sufficient contact with the person being assessed. In such cases the assessor is not to certify the competency and fallback procedures are used. Examples of these are:

• If the continuous assessment was inefficient, a dedicated check could be conducted.
• If the dedicated check was inefficient, then:
  • It can be rescheduled, if it is considered that the new time period will be adequate.
  • It can replaced with a simulator check or by extended, scenario-based, oral examination.

Similar Positions

The assessor shares some knowledge and skills with the on-the-job training instructor (OJTI). The assessor needs to be very familiar with the training process, especially during the earlier phases where the trainee is supposed to reach certain milestones but is not expected to perform as well as a licensed controller. They will thus be able to correctly distinguish between a person who is not ready to work on their own from the one that fails to achieve the necessary progress. This would also allow the assessor to provide meaningful feedback in case of subpar performance and offer advise for general improvements of the training process.

Related Articles

• Controller Training
• Controller Refresher Training
• How Air Traffic Control Works

Further Reading

• ICAO Doc 9868 PANS-TRG
• ICAO Doc 10056 Manual on Air Traffic Controller Competency-based Training and Assessment
• EU Regulation 2015/340
• European Manual of Personnel Licensing - Air Traffic Controllers