WHAT�S HAPPENING TO QUALIFICATIONS

							WHAT’S HAPPENING TO QUALIFICATIONS?

Many people will have heard the news items about McDonalds A Levels in the press over
the past few weeks and this may arouse fear about what is going on in the qualifications
world. The McDonalds item was a good example of the press picking out the bits of a
story they thought may grab the public attention without really clarifying the issues.

In the Extractives world there has been a huge concentration on using qualifications to
help companies improve their employees’ competence and meet the targets set for 2010
for a fully competent workforce. NVQs have been the backbone of the extractives’
qualification world and have done an excellent job in moving people towards the targets.

Now we have another term bouncing in on this world – QCF!

So what does QCF stand for?

The Qualifications and Credit Framework is a new way of recognising skills and
qualifications. It does this by awarding credit for qualifications and units (small steps of
learning). It enables people to gain nationally recognised qualifications at their own pace
along flexible routes.

How will the QCF help me understand the qualifications system?

At present, it is hard to understand all the different types of qualification that learners
hold - what level they are, how long they take to complete, what content they cover, and
how they compare to other qualifications. The new framework will help present
qualifications in a way that is easy to understand and measure. Every unit and
qualification will have a credit value. One unit of credit stands for 10 hours of learning.
(“Learning” in this context means either practical stuff, learning with a trainer, gaining
experience, doing some research in your own time, doing some assessment, etc). Also
every unit and qualification will have a Level which indicates how difficult the qualification
is. Levels go from Entry level to Level 8. Finally each qualification will have a name which
indicates its size:

      Awards (1 to 12 credits)                    ]
      Certificates (13 to 36 credits)             ] These terms can be used at
      Diplomas (37 credits or more).              ] all levels

This means that when you look at a title you will know exactly what it covers, how big the
qualification is and how hard it is and, finally, how long it will take to complete. Examples
might be – Level 8 Award (ie a difficult qualification which takes between 10 and 120
hours in total to complete; a Level 1 Diploma which is a very basic qualification which
takes over 370 hours in total to complete.
Each unit will have an identical structure indicating:

Learning Outcomes (ie what a learner is expected to know, understand or be able to do as
a result of the process of learning)

Assessment criteria (ie what a learner is expected to achieve). This bit is not about the
learning process or the assessment method.

What are the other advantages?

Flexibility for all is the key advantage. For employers the QCF will help them to devise
pathways for their employees which really meet their needs – the QCF allows
qualifications to be built from building blocks to meet a changing environment. For
instance our SHE qualifications could be built around particular site needs and include
work-based assessment and knowledge assessment tested in a number of ways,
depending on what is appropriate for each learner. Or, when an employee does a two day
training course on a piece of plant that could count towards a QCF qualification or be a
QCF qualification in its own right.

For employees it means that they can carry with them bits of their learning gained in
various places, eg in-house training, qualifications done in other companies, qualifications
done for other jobs etc. This will all be stored on a new government database (I sense a
huge intake of breath at this point!!) which means that when people go for a new job then
the new employer can be given access to that potential employee’s electronic learner
achievement record and can check out exactly what the employee has achieved (right
down to the content detail if necessary) all in one place. What it will also mean, of course,
is that you cannot lie on your CV any longer!

NEXT STAGES IN THE EXTRACTIVES WORLD!

EMP is working closely with Proskills and people from the industry on the QCF pilot in a
number of ways:

      We are turning two training company’s course assessments in plant and conveyors
       into QCF qualifications
      We have put a proposal to the industry group at Proskills to update the SHE
       qualifications to the new format to ensure that they meet the needs of all of the
       sector, and are future-proofed
      We are working with a large employer to help them put their existing in-house
       training into the QCF format
      We are working with South West College in Northern Ireland, to certificate their
       new quarry entrant course for 16 year olds using the QCF format
      We are moving our Technical Certificate for the Apprenticeships to the QCF format

You will start to see the new qualifications gradually coming in over the next year or so.
It’s all supposed to be moved to the new system by 2010.

One question you might now be asking is what will happen to NVQs? Unfortunately, that
won’t be clear until the Summer – the chances are that they will continue to exist but may
look very different to the National Occupational standards on which they are based. They
will still reflect the content of them but won’t be one and the same document any longer.

TO SUM UP ….

The QCF is like a shopping basket – an employee puts in it what items they need to get
qualified for their present job. When they move they may ask their new employer what
else needs to go into the basket to ensure qualification for that job. Nothing’s wasted,
everyone can easily understand and check what an employee has in terms of qualifications
and, as things change, the qualifications change very easily.

Carol Pillinger
Director/General Manager, EMP Awarding Body Ltd

April 2008