Vocational Qualifications, August 2010

News from BIS

Vocational Qualifications Partners Project

The Vocational Qualifications Partners Project (VQPP) has been in place since April 2010 and brings together work on communications, capacity building and employer engagement. The meetings to monitor progress and discuss issues have now been streamlined.Monthly meetings will continue to the end of the year. In August, October and November these will be tele-kits with delivery partners to monitor progress. In September and December larger management meetings will take place with both delivery partners and representatives of other key organisations; these meetings will be an opportunity to discuss progress, direction and feedback from audiences.

Our New Deputy Director

Many of you will already know that Paul Cohen left to join the Training and Development Agency for Schools at the end of June. The new Deputy Director of the Further Education and Qualifications Strategy Division, which includes vocational qualification reform, is Hugh Tollyfield.Hugh says: “I am very pleased to take on this role and look forward to the new challenges ahead. I am impressed with VQR progress – over 5,000 qualifications now on the QCF - and would like to thank you all for the hard work you are putting in to deliver the changes.”

Consultations published by BIS

Two important consultations were published on 22 July:

Skills for Sustainable Growth

A consultation on the future direction of skills policy This invites views on how skills policy should be set out in the future and includes references to the Qualifications and Credit Framework.

A Simplified Further Education and Skills Funding System and Methodology

This seeks views on simplifying the post-19 Further Education and Skills funding system and methodology

John Hayes appointed as joint minister with the Department for Education

John Hayes has been appointed as Minister of State at the Department for Education in addition to his current role as Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning at BIS. As Minister of State at the Department for Education (DfE) he will be responsible for 16-18 apprenticeships and careers advice alongside his existing responsibilities for adults in these areas. In addition, Mr. Hayes will work with the DfE ministerial team to ensure coherence between the pre and post 19 education systems and on the establishment of university technical colleges.This move recognises the importance of close working and interdependencies between the work of DfE and BIS.

MIAP is now the Learning Records Service

Following consultation with partners, stakeholders and interested parties, BIS and the Department for Education have agreed that the acronym 'MIAP', should be dropped in favour of a name which reflects more accurately the nature of its current role and function. MIAP will now be known as the Learning Records Service.The Learning Records Service is updating its materials with the new name. Please update your own materials accordingly by 30th September 2010.

Report from VQ Day 2010

The third annual VQ day was held on 23 June. The national event for England took place at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London. An Employer Forum was held in the morning highlighting the benefits of vocational training. In the afternoon students demonstrated their expertise in a variety of skills including bricklaying, dance, floristry, forensic science and theatrical make-up. Click here to see a video about the event.Regional and national awards to students who have made real achievements as a result of their vocational learning were presented by Arlene Phillips and Lord Baker. Click here to find out more about the award winners.John Hayes, Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning spoke at the afternoon event about his commitment to vocational training. He also toured the students’ displays with a real enthusiasm as these photos show:A video supporting VQ day with input from David Willetts and Ministers from Wales and Northern Ireland was also shown.

Key skills/functional skills

Extension of Key Skills for Apprenticeships

John Hayes announced on 14 July at the Association of Learning Providers’ (ALP) conference that Key Skills will be extended until March 2011 for use in Apprenticeship Frameworks. This will allow providers the choice of offering either Functional Skills or Key Skills until 31 March 2011.He also stressed that this is a temporary measure to allow more flexibility for providers whilst they finalise their preparations for delivery of Functional Skills from April 2011, when the new Apprenticeship Frameworks are due to come into force. It also allows more time to ensure the implementation is right. This is not a postponement of Functional Skills but rather a period of dual running alongside Key Skills. The Minister strongly encouraged providers who are ready to deliver Functional Skills from September 2010 to go ahead, as this will give apprentices the opportunity to develop these highly-valued skills.There are now 87 accredited Functional Skills qualifications with several awarding organisations offering flexible assessment options. Click here for details.

Wider Key Skills

For post 19 learners, BIS has agreed with the Skills Funding Agency to extend funding for Wider Key Skills (Performance and Problem Solving, Working with Others and Improving Own Learning), from September 2010 to December 2010.

Adult Functional Skills Pilots

These pilots have been testing different approaches to assessment, drawing on the successful features of Skills for Life qualifications, to ensure that Functional Skills qualifications meet the needs of adult learners in a range of contexts. The pilots are due to be completed in August 2010 with a final evaluation report following later.Post 19 providers should contact LSIS for Functional Skills workforce support. They can provide resources, tools and activities to support the planning and delivery of functional skills, and also information about awarding organisations and their assessment approaches.The longer term position of literacy and numeracy qualifications are still being reviewed, including Skills for Life literacy and numeracy, in the light of BIS Ministers’ overall qualifications policies.

Employer Support

In the last newsletter we told you about the employer support helpline which had been operating since 1 April 2010 to advise employers about getting their in-house training accredited. Due to the low number of enquiries this helpline has been withdrawn. Advice for employers continues to be available on the Business Link website which includes an enquiry form for employers who wish to find out more (also see Skillsmart Retail update below).

Awarding Organisations

The awarding organisations continue to develop qualifications for the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) at a rapid rate, working with Sector Skills Councils. In July they passed the 5000 mark for accredited qualifications in the QCF. The pace continues with the target of getting the remaining qualifications onto the QCF by the end of the year. They have been working hard to get these qualifications and all the supporting material out to providers as soon as they can and many of them have run updating and training events for their customers. FAB and JCQ have worked with Ofqual on some of the outstanding technical issues and Ofqual are due to produce some FAQs for awarding bodies shortly.

Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS)

5 new video case studies

LSIS has launched 5 new video case studies giving insights into the successes and lessons learned by colleges engaged in LSIS funded action research projects, as they prepare to implement the QCF and Foundation Learning.

Last chance to book QCF action planning or bespoke training

LSIS continues to provide support for providers preparing for the QCF. Any providers wishing to make a request for support before 31st August 2010 should contact the QCF helpdesk at qcfprovidersupport@nordanglia.com or telephone 0845 6099001 without delay.

Interactive online training modules for QCF

LSIS is updating and improving the popular QCF My Development online training materials. This follows feedback from providers who said they would like to be able to download and print the materials, as well as select individual topics or sections to build customised training packages for colleagues. From the end of August the new materials will be available on the QCF Readiness Provider Support Programme website

Ofqual

Ofqual and its predecessors have been collecting data each quarter from awarding organisations on the number of certificates awarded for each ‘vocational’ qualification during that quarter. This database is available on Ofqual’s website.In order to better serve users’ needs and make the data more accessible Ofqual have prepared a suite of four statistical bulletins to summarise the data each quarter. The bulletins will be published on the Ofqual website:

• Vocational Qualifications Quarterly (covers NVQ, VRQ, QCF and Occupational Qualifications)
• Diploma and Components Quarterly (includes Principal Learning, Project and Functional Skills)
• Higher Qualifications Quarterly (all qualifications at level 4 and above) Supplemental Qualifications Quarterly (covers entry to level 3, basic skills, entry level, ESOL, free-standing mathematics qualifications, key skills, NQF Functional Skills and other general qualifications)

Ofqual are planning to publish the first suite of bulletins, covering the data collected for April to June 2010, in late August.If you have any suggestions or comments regarding these bulletins, please email statistics@ofqual.gov.uk.

Skillsmart Retail on behalf of the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils - employer communications

The employer communication work on behalf of the Alliance has continued apace. Hosted by Business Link, the Vocational Qualification Reform webpage includes links to 14 SSCs. The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) is the latest to include their link.In the past few months there have been almost 1200 visitors to the website, with 801 clicking through to specific SSC websites.In addition to the web activity, 54,000 VQR postcards were sent in April to all 23 SSCs for distribution via their networks and specifically at any events that might be relevant. The postcards are there to provide information about the change in vocational qualifications and facilitate employer contact with Sector Skills Councils.The following SSCs have already signed up to disseminate information about the changes to vocational qualifications:

• Skillsmart Retail
• Skills for Health
• Creative and Cultural skills
• Skills for Justice
• Lantra
• SEMTA
• Eskills
• Institute of Motor Industry
• Cogent

We look forward to the continued support and involvement of the SSCs.

The Association of Learning Providers (ALP)

The Business Benefits of the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF).

LSIS recently commissioned the Association of Learning Providers (ALP) to research the business benefits of the new framework. The findings are published in a newsletter, QCF Business Benefits, available on the QCF Topics page of ALP's website.The case studies included in the newsletter reveal a number of commercial benefits to training providers. ALP has also added a new case study to the QCF Topics Page, which showcases how Performance Through People (PTP), a Midland based training provider, operating throughout the UK, is using the QCF flexibilities to meet the needs of one of its clients, Midcounties Co-operative.

The Skills Funding Agency - Qualifications Credit Framework (QCF) Transition

The Skills Funding Agency has completed the first stage of managing the transition from funding qualifications on the National Qualification Framework (NQF) to funding qualifications on the Qualifications Credit Framework (QCF). It has now confirmed those qualifications on the NQF where funding for new starts will cease from 31 July 2010 as an appropriate QCF offer exists. To get the latest information, providers should look at the following lists, and note that some areas remain publicly funded until reviewed in December.List of NQF Qualifications Confirmed for Withdrawal of Public FundingList of QCF qualifications confirmed for public fundingList of Corrections to NQF qualificationsDuring this transition period, the Skills Funding Agency continues to work with the Association of Colleges (AoC) and Association of Learning Providers (ALP), and it remains important for providers to liaise with awarding organisations.

On-line resource for providers

The Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) iguide is an online resource providing easy access to information on the introduction and implementation of the QCF. The iguide:

• is intended to support staff at all levels in provider organisations and careers advisers in developing their understanding and working knowledge of QCF.
• is structured in topic areas and in many cases provides information in sections under titles of what, why, how and when followed by an optional exercise that could be used as part of a continuous professional development portfolio.
• will be regularly updated.

Qualify with a Business

Qualify with a Business aims to enable adults in Further Education (FE) colleges to develop key business skills alongside their vocational training so that they are both qualified in a vocational area and ready to run a business.In partnership with BIS, Regional Development Agencies and a number of FE colleges, the Skills Funding Agency has agreed to test a number of different approaches to implementing Qualify with a Business (QwaB) as a clear national programme.The Agency is taking forward QwaB pathfinders focused on post-19 learners in colleges in England during 2010/11. For further information please refer to the Qualify with a Business guidance paper, which is aimed at pathfinder colleges that wish to participate in the QwaB initiative, or contact Ian Knowles (QCF Implementation Manager) on 024 7682 3323.NOTE: Qualify with a Business is a working title and any further updates will be communicated when approved by BIS.

Report from Northern Ireland

Second NI VQ Reform Programme Conference

Following the success of the first NIVQRP conference held in 2009, the Department hosted a second conference on 3 June 2010. Over 150 delegates heard from a range of speakers, participated in workshops relevant to the implementation of the programme and shared experiences of working with the new qualifications to date. A report of the conference will be published on nivqrp.org.uk.

QCF Update

Northern Ireland leaflets for learners and employers have now been produced, to assist advisers, providers, sector skills councils and others to communicate about QCF qualifications to end users. Leaflet packs are available from aidan.kearney@delni.gov.uk, 028 9025 7412.The second round of QCF readiness surveys has been analysed and the finings will be considered by the NI VQRPB at its August meeting. The analysis will be published on nivqrp.org.uk.

Recognition of Training in Employment Programme

Recommendations from the report of the pilot programme, run from May 2009, will be considered by the NI VQRPB at its August meeting. NI employers interested in having their training recognised through the award of a qualification should read more at RTEP.