Qualifications and Credit Framework
The Qualifications and Credit Framework is a new regulated unit-and credit-based framework for recognising and accrediting qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The QCF was launched in November 2008, following two years of tests and trials, and is now being implemented. Sector Skills Councils, awarding organisations and qualifications regulators (Ofqual in England) are working together to populate the QCF with vocational qualifications.
We expect the QCF to be fully operational in 2010 with all vocational qualifications available in credit-based units of learning.
Detailed information about the QCF is available at QCDA website
See here for information about NVQs and the QCF
Information about comparing qualifications across England, Wales, northern Ireland and Scotland is available in Qualifications can cross boundaries
Information about the qualifications regulators review and evaluation of the QCF regulations is available on the Ofqual website
Sector qualifications reform
Employers are being given a leading role, through SSCs, in identifying and driving the development of vocational qualifications in their sectors.
For more information see The role of Sector Skills Councils
Recognition of employer training
The employer engagement programme has been established to encourage more employers to work directly with the qualifications system to ensure that it suits their needs, either by accrediting existing training or exploring ways in which to customise qualifications. The programme provides options for accreditation to suit employers of every type and size. Employers can become awarding organisations in their own right or can work with new or existing awarding organisations to have their training accredited or to find ways of tailoring qualifications.
If you are interested in becoming involved please contact QCA by emailing recognition@qca.org.uk
For further details about the programme including case studies of employers who have had their training accredited, see QCDA website.
Further reforms
-
Funding – Public funding is being progressively aligned to the vocational qualifications that do most to raise demand from individuals and employers.
-
Making VQs more successful – As part of the initial work of the reform programme, the Federation of Awarding Bodies and the Joint Council for Qualifications identified reasons for low take-up of some vocational qualifications with the aim of removing unnecessary qualifications from the system.
-
Maintaining high standards and low bureaucracy – The reforms to the vocational qualifications system aim to achieve the right balance between high standards and flexibility, and proportionate regulation and bureaucracy.
-
Rationalising number of VQs – Although the reform programme is not setting any targets for the number of vocational qualifications, a key objective is to make the system easier to understand and easier to navigate for users.
See Who's doing what? for an overview of the programme's structure.
