The City & Guilds profile of achievement provides formal recognition of your achievements on a gap year project abroad.

The overall aim of Profile of Achievement is to provide a method of assessing, recording and reporting your progress throughout a period of learning and to provide a clearly understandable record of achievement at the end.

The Profile of Achievement uses a wide range of activities as evidence of progress on your gap year abroad. It provides a comprehensive account of the skills, aptitudes, interests and qualities which have been demonstrated, through successive reviews and the consideration of all available evidence.

The benefits of the Profile of Achievement while on a gap year project are as follows:

For you it:

• Improves techniques of self-assessment, presentation and maturity in dealing with others
• Helps identify your strengths and weaknesses
• Clarifies your future learning needs
• Provides formal recognition of achievements on your gap year project

For universities and employers it:

• Draws out evidence of achievement from widely differing situations to show transferable skills
• Validates reports of achievements and presents information in a clear way

City & Guilds validates the profiling process in two ways:

• By monitoring the formative process: i.e. the review cycle, the reflection on experience and the reporting of objectives and learning experiences while on your gap year programme abroad.
• By validating the final (summative) profile document

The Process:

The primary requirement of the profiling process is that evidence is collected as you progress through your gap year. The evidence will be seen by the internal verifier, the external verifier and ultimately, prospective employers and other interested parties. The evidence should show clearly what your achievements are. Your achievements and the manner in which they were demonstrated should be obvious to a prospective employer looking through the portfolio without that person having any prior knowledge of you and your circumstances.

Apart from the requirement to provide at least three reviews with an interval of not more than six weeks between each, the manner in which the evidence is presented will depend on the circumstances in which you are undergoing the profiling process.


What you have to do:

• Learning objectives are discussed and agreed between you and a GapGuru representative.
• Whilst you are on your gap year abroad you will collect evidence to meet your learning objectives.
• Evidence is reviewed by a GapGuru representative and assessed against the learning objectives.
• If evidence is satisfactory, certification is applied for from City & Guilds.