2. Synoptic Project

The synoptic project is a work based project that broadly represents the skills, knowledge and behaviours in the standard. The project will provide substantive evidence from a business-related project to demonstrate the application of skills and knowledge.  

The end point assessment integrates the project outcomes and presentation into the overall synoptic project assessment. It will take place over a period of around 6 months, near the end of the programme. It is designed to assess apprentices in a consistent way, irrespective of their particular workplace and university. Because of the significance of the project the employer and university should work together with the apprentice to agree a project that is achievable within the employer’s business constraints and that meets the requirements of the standard. 

The project should be conducted as part of the apprentice’s normal work. Employers should make suitable allowance for the project to be undertaken, both in terms of time and resources. However, there are some elements such as the writing of the report, particularly in its reflective aspects that may be undertaken outside of normal work. This should be agreed between apprentice, employer and university such that apprentices are not disadvantaged in any way from performing their job and meeting the requirements of the project.

Any issues with confidentiality and/or security will also be addressed between the university, employer and apprentice allowing for projects of business value to be undertaken using real data.

The assessment of the synoptic project should include the employer’s assessment against the common criteria for the project. Every project assessment is required to incorporate employer contribution in addition to normal university project assessment. This needs to be consistent for all projects.

The project should relate to one of the specialisms in the standard. High-level descriptors of typical projects are given below for each of the specialisms in the standard.

Software Engineer - This could be a project to design and develop a significant piece of software or a new software product prototype to achieve defined business objectives, for a defined user group or customer group, to meet the business need and applying appropriate levels of security. It will include significant project planning including estimations of both time and cost to proposed solutions, include technical and commercial aspects of the proposed solution.

IT Consultant - This could be a project to undertake an IT consultancy project to formulate and evaluate technical alternatives to meet businesses requirements. This will likely include issues of integration with existing technology and procedures, maintenance and expansion and the consideration of both proprietary and open source solutions as appropriate. It will include significant project planning including estimations of both time and cost to proposed solutions, include technical and commercial aspects of the proposed solution.

Business Analyst - This could be a Business Analysis study to analyse, and model a problem-specific domain and to develop a solution approach based upon the analysis. It will include significant project planning including estimations of both time and cost to proposed solutions, include technical and commercial aspects of the proposed solution.

Cyber Security Analyst - This could be an analysis of a given domain and evaluation of security threats and vulnerabilities to planned and installed information systems or services with a robust cyber security solution. It will include significant project planning including estimations of both time and cost to proposed solutions, include technical and commercial aspects of the proposed solution.

Data Analyst - This could be a project to analyse, devise and deploy data analytics solutions for a real-world problem domain. In particular, applying data analysis techniques, processes and tools to perform analytics for a significant data-driven business scenario. It will include significant project planning including estimations of both time and cost to proposed solutions, include technical and commercial aspects of the proposed solution.

Network Engineer - This could be a project to plan and configure a network to meet a defined specification, to satisfy security requirements, using one or more of the defined tools, to meet specified criteria and performance levels. It will include significant project planning including estimations of both time and cost to proposed solutions, include technical and commercial aspects of the proposed solution.

Generic Content 

Each project must enable the following to be demonstrated:

  • the application of the core and specialism knowledge and skills to meet the outcomes in the standard;

  • the approach to planning and completion of the project; 

  • the application of behaviours from the standard.

The project will cover all of the specialism skills, knowledge and behaviours as defined in the standard. 

The project will cover the specialism skills, knowledge and behaviours from the standard using the occupational domain to select the project as follows:
Software Engineer: Show competence in software development processes, including the knowledge, skills, and professional competences necessary to practice as a software engineer in a business environment.
IT Consultant: Perform technical, organisational, and process improvement tasks in a range of environments to solve business problems.
Business Analyst: Apply structured processes for identifying, defining and analysing unstructured business problems, their root cause and impact.
Cyber Security Analyst: Analyse and evaluate security threats and vulnerabilities to planned and installed information systems or services and identify how these can be mitigated against.
Data Analyst: Use a range of analytical techniques such as data mining, time series forecasting and modelling techniques to identify and predict trends and patterns in data.
Network Engineer: Plan, design, build and test a simple network to a requirement specification that includes hubs, switches, routers and wireless user devices applying appropriate security products and processes.