Records that establish capability at a point in time

The question is always about a past period.

Trainer files are examined retrospectively: was this person appropriately qualified and current at the time they delivered and assessed this cohort. A file that establishes the position today does not answer that.

This means the file needs dated evidence rather than a current summary. Qualifications with dates of issue, currency activity with dates and detail, and a record of what each person was approved to deliver during which periods.

The element most often missing is the mapping between the trainer and the specific units they were approved for, over time. Providers commonly hold good individual files and cannot demonstrate who was authorised to assess what in a given year.

Third party verification of qualifications matters here as elsewhere. A certificate on file is a document; confirmation from the issuing body is evidence, and for teaching and vocational qualifications it is a check worth doing at engagement rather than never.

Records must be maintained for the applicable retention period and the same prohibition on creating records after the fact applies with full force. Where evidence for a past period does not exist, the correct response is to record that and establish the practice going forward.