Welcome to the Assessor Newsletter

The Careerforce Real Heroes Awards celebrates the outstanding learners and graduates making a real difference in workplaces and communities across Aotearoa.

We’re inviting workplaces, managers, assessors, learners and other eligible contacts to nominate current Careerforce learners, or Careerforce graduates from 2020 onwards, who show exceptional dedication, compassion, professionalism and commitment in their work.

One overall Real Hero will receive gift cards to the value of $2,000, five runners-up will each receive $250 gift cards, and nominators will also go into a prize draw.

Nominations are open from Friday 31 July to Thursday 17 September 2026.

If someone in your organisation is doing extraordinary things, now is the time to help them receive the recognition they deserve.

To support assessors in managing questions, concerns, and reports relating to academic misconduct, we have introduced a new Academic Misconduct Reporting Form.

The form should be used for all academic misconduct enquiries, whether you're seeking guidance, raising a concern, or submitting a formal report. It provides a single, consistent process for assessors to access support and escalate issues when required.

You can access the form via iportal

The form is also available from the banner at the top of every assessor page in Aka Toi.

To help assessors navigate academic misconduct and the Copyleaks plagiarism detection tool, we encourage you to review the following resources:

These resources provide practical guidance on identifying and managing academic misconduct, understanding Copyleaks reports, and knowing when and how to escalate concerns.

This year, Careerforce will be hosting a series of Graduation Celebrations across Aotearoa to recognise learners who have successfully completed a Careerforce qualification.

These celebrations are about more than just qualifications. They're an opportunity to acknowledge the commitment, perseverance and hard work of our graduates, as well as the employers, workplace observers and assessors who support them along the way.

As an assessor, you've played an important role in helping learners achieve their goals, providing guidance, encouragement and expertise throughout their learning journey. We know that many learner successes wouldn't be possible without your support.

Learners who complete an eligible qualification between 15 September 2025 and 15 September 2026 may be invited to attend one of our regional celebrations, alongside their whānau, friends, employers and colleagues.

We'll also be taking the opportunity to recognise the contribution of assessors and celebrate the collective effort that helps learners cross the finish line.

Further details, including event locations and dates, will be shared in the coming weeks.

Please ensure training agreements are in place before training commences

All Careerforce training programmes have expected durations that are based on a TEC formula. However, one of the strengths of work-based learning is that it is self-paced, and learners have the flexibility to finish earlier or later. We are however, aware of instances where learners are completing in an unrealistically short period, and this largely appears to be of instances where training agreements are not entered/processed until a learner is well into their learning journey, and where a large number of assessment results are entered simultaneously.

There are a number of reasons why it is important that training agreements are in place before training actually commences:

We have a requirement that any submitted assessments are marked within 10 working days of receipt of the assessment from the learner, and any results are entered into iportal within 5 days of completion. It is important that feedback is provided to learners between assessments, and that this can be reflected in their subsequent assessments. It is unfair on the learner if assessments are not marked in a timely fashion.

Careerforce offers a broad range of learner and employer supports, and unless a training agreement is entered into our system, we are simply not aware that a learner exists, and they will not receive the full suite of learner supports that Careerforce can provide. This includes our onboarding supports, our welcome packs, and the opportunity to participate in our various learner support workshops.

Given the absolute importance of the integrity of our awarded qualifications, unrealistically short training durations can also unnecessarily trigger alarm bells for investigations into academic dishonesty.

Please ensure that all training agreements are submitted and processed at the very outset of learning. This ensures a fair and reasonable flow of assessments through to the learners’ assessor for marking and reporting. At a minimum, ensure all training agreements specify a start date that accurately reflects when learning actually commenced, such that recorded training durations accurately reflect the actual training durations.

A quick reminder for assessors: If you take on any new staff who are already enrolled in Careerforce qualifications, please ensure you check your Aka Toi dashboard, especially your Marker Table, for any outstanding assessments waiting to be marked.

When a learner transfers from one workplace to another while partway through a qualification, any unmarked tasks automatically transfer with them. If you are the learner’s new assessor, have the correct scope and are linked to the learner, those assessments will appear on your dashboard for marking.

Important to note:

You won’t receive an email alert for assessments submitted before you were attached to the learner.
From that point onward, normal notifications will resume for any new submissions.

What we’re asking assessors to do

Log in to Aka Toi and check your Marker Table, especially when new staff or learners start.
Mark any outstanding assessments you find on your dashboard.
Get in touch for support if an assessment doesn’t appear as expected or if you’re unsure about the scope or learner links.

A quick dashboard check can help ensure learners aren’t delayed in their progress.

Assessors are encouraged to stay up to date with upcoming learning and development opportunities through the Assessor Hub (Wānanga Mātauranga) and Initial Assessor Training (IAT) timetables. These sessions provide valuable spaces to strengthen assessment practice, connect with peers, and keep current with industry expectations.

You can view the latest schedules here:

Feedback from participants this year highlights the impact of these sessions:
"The Assessor Hub sessions have been incredibly helpful in building my confidence and connecting with other assessors."
"IAT gave me practical tools I could apply straight away in my role – highly recommend to new assessors."

We encourage all assessors to take advantage of these opportunities and continue building their capability.