Transcript Slide 1

QCF messaging framework: toolkit for
stakeholders (November 2008)
Contents
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Introduction
Explaining why and what
Explaining when and how
Explaining how it connects
Explaining end-user benefits
Key QCF words and phrases
Introduction
Purpose of this toolkit
•This is a resource for agencies and organisations in the
education sector to use to communicate to the sector
consistently and coherently about the QCF
•It is a reference document with the key top-level messages,
which can be incorporated into particular communications. It
is not intended to be used directly as a presentation
•This is a draft. It has been written without identifying the
organisations that will ‘own’ the QCF and be responsible for
communications about it to the education sector
•It has been developed by an independent agency who
worked with a whole range of stakeholders.
Overarching
messaging principles
• Shared sense of ownership by partners
• Consistent messages across agencies
• Plain English, not education jargon
• Focus on outcomes and benefits
• A sense of managed change – a planned, welltrialled introduction
• Setting the QCF in context – explaining its fit with
other programmes and changes
Explaining what and
why
Explaining what and why
Whay are we doing it?
3 key messages
•More inclusive
•Simpler to understand
•More relevant
More inclusive
• Inclusive of a wider range of learners
- designed to encourage wider participation by creating
more relevant qualifications at all levels, including Entry
and level 1
- designed to provide learning options for people
throughout their lives (whatever their entry point or
stage of life)
- designed to fit with the ways learners want to learn
• Inclusive of a greater range of awarding organisations –
including employers who have developed their own
specialist training courses and qualifications
• Inclusive of a wider range of providers and in-house training
(eg voluntary sector and professions) – much of which was
not previously recognised as part of the national
qualifications system
Simpler to understand
• Simpler because it introduces common vocabulary
across qualifications
• Simpler because it will reduce the amount of
duplication within qualifications
• Simpler because it will make it easier to compare
how challenging a qualification is and how much work
it involves
• Simpler because it enables more approachable,
incremental ways of learning and training
More relevant
• More relevant to employers because units and
qualifications have been designed to include more of the
skills that employers value
• More relevant to employers because employers have been
closely involved in unit and qualification design
• More relevant to providers (and employers) because it
enables more adaptable approaches to learning and
training
• More relevant to the needs of the nation because we need
a more highly skilled workforce
• More relevant to learners because it helps them achieve
skills and qualifications in the way employers want them
What it is - example
The QCF is the new framework for creating and
accrediting qualifications in England, Wales and
Northern Ireland. The framework is at the heart of a
major reform of the qualifications system designed to
make the whole system simpler to understand and
use and more inclusive of qualifications from a
wider range of providers. The overall intention is to
make both the system and the qualifications offered
far more relevant to the needs of employers and
more flexible and accessible for learners.
Why we’re doing it example
Over the next few years there are some changes taking
place to the qualifications system in England, Wales and
Northern Ireland. These changes are designed to help
improve the skills of the nation by creating qualifications
that are far more relevant to the needs of providers and
employers and more accessible to a wider range of
learners. In order to achieve this the system has been made
simpler to understand by introducing a standard way of
comparing how challenging a qualification is and how
much work it involves. The system has also been opened
up to a wider range of awarding organisations, including
employers, which means that more work-based training will
now be recognised and celebrated.
Explaining when and
how
Explaining when and how
Explaining when and how
When and how
messages
• The regulatory arrangements for the QCF were published
in August 2008. These set out the regulations that will
apply to organisations that operate within, and the
qualifications that are accredited into, the QCF.
• The QCF has been tested and trialled and feedback has
been acted upon.
• Qualifications have already been awarded as part of the
successful test and trials.
• From September we will start the process of bringing all
qualifications into the new regulatory framework.
• It is intended that all vocational qualifications will be part
of the QCF by 2010 when the QCF will replace the NQF
– This is a key part of the VQRP (see Section 6).
• Eventually the plan is that all general qualifications will be
part of the QCF.
When it’s happening example
The QCF has been tested and trialled over the last two years and
we already have learners who have achieved qualifications through
the new system. From September we start the process of
bringing all vocational qualifications into the new regulatory
framework with more and more learners taking units and
qualifications that have been created and accredited for the QCF.
By 2010 we anticipate that all qualifications will need to be
accredited in the QCF and by that point the QCF will have
completely replaced the National Qualifications Framework.
Initially the focus will be on vocational qualifications but it is
expected that by 2013 all general qualifications including GCSEs,
Diplomas and A levels will be part of the framework.
Reforms
Explaining how it connects with other
educational reforms
Introduction
The QCF is at the heart of a
number of other developments in
the three countries and beyond.
This section gives some
examples of how the QCF can be
put into context with these.
With the VQRP
The QCF is at the heart of the
Vocational Qualifications
Reform Programme –
providing the framework that
enables the new qualifications
to be created and accredited.
With the FLT
The QCF recognises learning achievement at 9
different levels from Entry to Level 8. The first two
levels – Entry and level 1 are know as the
foundation learning tier (FLT).
The FLT provided a range of learning programmes
aimed at improving achievement at Entry and level
1 and designed to help more people move through
to level 2.
The qualifications and units developed for the FLT
will form Entry and Level 1 of the QCF.
With 14-19 reform,
including Diploma and
Apprenticeships
The QCF has been designed as an
inclusive framework for all regulated
qualifications. Apprenticeship, Diploma
and Welsh Baccalaureate qualifications
and units have been designed with the
QCF in mind and are expected to
become part of the framework in the
future.
With the CQFW
• All QCF-accredited learning and training will sit within
the CQFW - the Credit and Qualifications Framework
for Wales.
• Developed by the Welsh Assembly Government since
2002, it is an all inclusive meta learning framework.
• The CQFW has three pillars of learning:
– Higher Education (FHEQ)
– Regulated learning, where NQF and QCF (going
forward) learning and training sits
– Quality Assured Lifelong Learning (QALL) which
covers all types of formal and informal learning and
training that a person might take throughout their life.
Explaining the enduser benefits
•Explaining the end-user
benefits
Key benefits for end-users
• Transferability
• Flexibility
• Quality assured
• Simplicity
• Progression
Transferability:
credit
Messages
• All learning is valuable
• Builds up as you progress towards a qualification
• Helps you to avoid repeating any learning already completed
Example text
We recognise that everything you learn is valuable, which is
why all units of learning that you achieve are given a credit
value. It’s this credit value that lets you take your learning
achievements with you as you make progress on your
course or training. In some cases you can also put the credit
towards another qualification, helping you to avoid having to
repeat learning you’ve already completed.
Transferability:
credit
Good words and ideas
• Value; currency; progressing; keeping track; flexible; take the
learning with you; control; recognition; achievement
Who benefits?
• Learners
– Lets them keep track of how they’re progressing on their course,
training or qualification; giving them a sense of ownership and
control of their learning and training
– Credit they’ve earned during one course may be able to be used
towards a different qualification
• Providers
– Can understand where learners are starting from
– May be able to be more flexible about the learning programmes
they suggest to learners
- Can be more confident that learners can learn and achieve at the
right pace and volume
Flexibility: units
Messages
• All QCF qualifications are built up from units
• Units are pieces of learning, usually smaller than a whole
qualification
• This makes learning more flexible as people can complete units at
a pace and in a way that suits their circumstance
• Each unit is designed so you see what the learning or training
involves and what it is achieved in each unit
Message
To be part of the QCF all qualifications need to have been built from
smaller units of learning. This allows people to learn at a pace and
in a way that suits their circumstances and helps providers and
employers to create learning programmes that are better suited to
individual needs
Flexibility: units
Good words and ideas
Suit their circumstances, meet individual needs, at a pace that
suits them, choice, particular/specific needs
Who benefits?
• Learners
– provides flexibility to learn at a pace that suits their
circumstances
• Providers
– gives them the flexibility to create tailored learning programmes
(ie for specific groups, individuals and individual employers)
• Employers
– gives employers flexibility to target their training to the needs of
individuals in the organisation and recognise their achievements
Simplicity: titling
Messages
• It is going to become much easier to understand the
difference between qualifications
• The title will explain what the qualification is in, how
challenging it is and how much work it involves
• All qualifications will be described in the same way
Example text
All qualifications will use a consistent way of describing
what the qualification is in, how challenging it is and how
much work it involves. This will help learners and
employers to be able to compare between different
qualifications
Simplicity: titling
Good words and ideas
Consistent, standard, common, comparable, easily
understood
Who benefits?
• Employers – gives them a consistent way of comparing
different types of qualification
• Learners – makes comparisons and options clearer
• Providers - able to present courses and qualifications
more easily
Progression: qualification
design
Messages
• Qualifications have progression built in
• Units and credit value enable this progression to happen
• Progression may be about going further with a skill or trying out
something new that your suits your abilities
Example text
Qualifications have been designed to provide more opportunities for
learners to progress. The smaller units of learning and the credit
value given to these make it more possible than ever to take new
paths to success, either by progressing further with a skill or by
changing direction and putting your learning to a new use. The
learner record will show the options and pathways for individuals
based on the units and qualifications that they have achieved. This
will help learners and their providers to make choices about the
future and it will help employers identify the right training for
individual employees
End-user benefits summary
Benefits
Feature
Learners
Providers
Credit
Take learning with me
May count towards
another qualification
Know where learners
are starting from
Offer more flexible
learning programmes
Units
Learn at a pace and in
a way that suits my
circumstances
Design programmes
that are more suitable
Able to target
training to needs of
individual
employees
Identifier
mark
Doing a recognised
qualification
We offer recognised
qualifications
Candidate has
done a recognised
qualification
Titling
Understand the
differences between
qualifications
Able to market
courses and
qualifications more
easily
Easier to compare
across candidates
Qualification
design
Gives me choices
about what I could do
next
Can work with
learners to plan future
learning
Helps me identify
the right training for
employees
Transferability
Flexibility
Quality
Assured
Simplicity
Progression
Recruiting
Employers
Key QCF words and phrases
Key QCF words and phrases
QCF dictionary
• Credit value
A way of quantifying how much learning has been done. 1
credit = 10 hours of learning
• Unit
A piece of learning – usually smaller than a whole
qualification
• Award
The title of a qualification with a value of 1–12 credits (up to
120 hours of learning)
• Certificate
The title of a qualification with a value of 13–36 credits (up
to 360 hours of learning)
Bad words
• Pick and mix: implies a level of choice not actually
open to learners and sounds, to employers like
learners can opt out of things they find difficult
Initiative: the QCF isn’t an initiative
• Unitisation: jargon and unclear
• Tutors: use providers
• Credit rating: because this implies that credit is
assigned after the development of a unit, not as part
of the development process