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Teaching, training, assessment

How will the following information impact on your job?

  • By 2010 all qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) will be replaced by unitised qualifications on the Qualifications Credit Framework (QCF). Current NQF qualifications have end dates, after which no new learners can be enrolled and the NQF programme will not be funded. Some QCF qualifications will be designated as priority qualifications.
  • Major employers and large providers will be able to have their training unitised and accredited on the QCF.
  • Individual QCF qualifications are offered at nine levels. Each level offers accreditation at Award, Certificate and Diploma Level. Most qualifications have mandatory and optional units. Awards, Certificates and Diplomas at the same level are also interrelated and share common units.
  • At present there are no qualification types on the QCF, whereas qualification types on the NQF all have their own regulatory criteria eg the NVQ Code of Practice. There will still be a need, however, to ensure rigorous assessment and verification of unit delivery.
  • All units developed must be part of a qualification and obey the rules of combination developed by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). A regulator will accredit qualifications. Some units will need to be rewritten over time and re-submitted.
  • Units will be developed to a standard proforma. Each unit will have a title, a level and a credit value. The smallest credit attached to a unit will be 1.1 credit represents 10 notional learning hours. It is important that providers now think about this as learning time, which includes self-study, on-the-job training and other ways of learning without direct teacher/training input.
  • All units will be written in terms of learning outcomes and assessment criteria. They will not indicate content or stipulate resources. QCA provides guidance on how to write units.
  • All qualifications will consist of mandatory and/or optional units. Information on the National Database of Approved Qualifications (NDAQ) will give indicative learning time for completion, but does not stipulate the 'size' of a unit.
  • Learners will register for qualifications and units. In time they will be registering for units to complete qualifications as part of credit accumulation and transfer and/or accreditation of prior learning. This might require flexible delivery and have an impact on timetabling and funding when systems and processes are fully in place.
  • The QCF has clear links with the developing Foundation Learning Tier (FLT), which is based on the concept of qualification pathways. Apprenticeship component qualifications will also be included in the QCF.
 

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