Merit Skills Ltd has been working with sector skills councils and awarding bodies to review and update some of the existing qualifications in readiness for them to be placed on the QCF. Peter Featherstone of Merit Skills said "being involved in updating existing qualifications has given Merit Skills a real insight into the shape that the new units have taken and how they can be assessed."
There is lots of information available from sector skills councils, awarding bodies and the government bodies regarding the QCF. The team at Merit Skills have hopefully provided a brief outline below to explain what the QCF is all about and what it means for the future of qualifications.
What is the QCF?
QCF stands for Qualifications Credit Framework which is at the centre of the government's vocational qualification reform (VQR) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, due to be completed by the end of 2010. The QCF will eventually replace the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) which is likely to close for accreditations at the end of 2010. The responsibility for the implementation sits with the recently formed Skills Funding Agency (SFA).
The QCF aims to provide a more flexible qualification and career routes, enabling progression to be achieved in smaller steps. It should simpler to understand and use, more accessible to a wider range of learners, and more relevant to learners' and employers' needs.
This means that NVQs are being redeveloped on to the QCF. The QCF does not recognise the differing "types" that existed under the NQF (e.g. VRQ and NVQ) The new regulations have stated that the term "NVQ" can be used in the title of QCF qualifications to help identify where assessment was competency based. Some sectors may be happy to lose NVQ branding altogether, with others continuing to use the term "NVQ" in accordance with new guidance.
What are the benefits?
The QCF aims to improve the training available to adults and ensure a simple and streamlined qualifications system, more directly responsive to employers needs. Learners will be able to avoid duplication of learning by being able to transfer credits between units and qualifications. Other learning and achievements that haven't been certificated can be assessed and awarded through "recognising prior learning".
Employers will have a demand-lead-system having more say on that qualifications are developed QCF qualifications are designed in response to employers' demands. They will have a more appropriately skilled workforce "all QCF qualifications must be approved as robust and fit for purpose. They will also benefit from a more flexible qualifications system" they can shape training around their business needs using relevant QCF units understand qualifications more easily "all QCF qualifications have straightforward titles that state how long each one takes to complete, its difficulty and its subject matter, to give a clearer idea of employees' skills."
How will it work?
Learners can build up their units at their own pace and put them towards a full qualification. They can bank all their achievements over time and keep them as they move from education into a job or from one job to another. They don't have to study anything they already know.
Every unit and qualification in the QCF has a credit value that tells you how long it takes to complete. Credit is achieved on the completion of a unit. The credit value is a measure of the notional learning time it would take the average learner to complete all the learning outcomes of the unit, where one credit is equal to 10 hours. Many units will still include guided learning hours. There is no requirement at this time to evidence the notional hours in credit for funding purposes. Each unit and qualification on the QCF will have a level which relates to its difficulty. The levels range from entry level to level 8.
There are 3 sizes of qualification:
- Award - 1 to 12 credits
- Certificate - 13 to 36 credits
- Diploma - 37 credits and above
Awards, certificates and diplomas will be available at all levels. The titles of qualifications will change to reflect the level of the qualification, its size and its content. This is shown in the chart below:
Personal learning records
The QCF will be underpinned by the Personal Learning Record by offering a simple facility to record QCF credit and qualification achievement, and is intended to empower the learner to manage their learning and support them in making the right learning choices in the context of the QCF. QCF achievement data will be accessible via the Managing Information across Partners (MIAP) Personal Learning Record, and the learner will be able to view and manage achievement of credits as well as qualifications. The Personal Learning Record will also offer the option of supporting learners in identifying potential future learning requirements through Rules of Combination (RoC), Routes to Achievement (RtA) using information sourced from the regulators, as well as opportunities to transfer achievement. Achievement data in the QCF will be collected directly from awarding organisations and held on the Personal Learning Record, with awarding organisations still holding their own authoritative achievement data. Providers and advisers will also support the learner to access and interpret their QCF achievement data via the Personal Learning Record, and will play a critical role in assigning and verifying learners' Unique Learner Numbers (ULNs). The Unique Learner Number (ULN) is the new identifier which will eventually be allocated to every person undertaking regulated education and training. The 10 digit identifier remains with them for life.
More information
There are several sources of further information regarding the QCF. Many awarding bodies' web sites can be used as well as the following sites: