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Employer and Provider Training Recognition

Last updated: 03 Jul 2008

Evaluation of the employer and provider recognition project executive summary now available to download from this page.

Introduction

To establish the UK as a world-class leader in skills by 2020 is one of the biggest challenges facing employers, education and training. As part of a larger programme of activity, we were asked by the government to investigate ways employers and providers could contribute more directly to the national qualifications system. The purpose of the survey was to invite employers and providers to give their views on the benefits of having their in-house training recognised within the national system, and the ways in which this might best be achieved.

Employers recognised as awarding organisations film clip



View the full transcript of this film.

Background

A new framework for national qualifications is being developed to support a more flexible and responsive approach to both the development and accreditation of qualifications. This framework, the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF), will break down qualifications into small pieces of learning, or 'units', which will allow people to accumulate 'credit' as they learn over time. The qualifications themselves will have simple titles, to avoid confusion and overlapping names. We are determined that, by working closely with employers, providers, employer groups and sector skills councils, qualifications will fully reflect the needs of those who want to use them. More information on the QCF is available at: www.qca.org.uk/framework

Benefits

The reforms are not just about reorganising the qualifications that are already accredited. We want to reach out and bring into the QCF the best learning and training, wherever it exists and whoever provides it. We believe that bringing employers' and providers' training into the QCF is a critical part of the work to develop a skills base built on high-quality training. Accredited training in a flexible system provides a number of benefits to employers and employees:

  • development of qualifications based around employers' training and skills needs
  • transferable achievements across and between employment sectors
  • quick and responsive ways to 'up-skill' or 're-skill' the workforce
  • support for continued professional development
  • assistance with recruitment.

In addition to the benefits to employers and employees, the following are the benefits for providers and learners:

  • transferable achievements across and between sectors
  • quick and responsive ways to 'up-skill' or re-skill' the workforce
  • support for continuous professional development
  • assistance with learner retention, motivation and achievement
  • wider learner participation
  • help for providers to support employer training and skills needs.

In the longer term, we believe that ensuring that training has value in the national qualifications system benefits everyone.

We want to investigate a range of options for the accreditation of employers' and providers' training, to include both whole qualifications and smaller 'parcels' of training, which are focused on specific areas of business. To achieve this we need to test out possible approaches to take with employers and providers, to get their own training recognised at a national level. This means looking at both the training itself and the processes by which it is quality assured and validated.

For more information on this project email: recognition@qca.org.uk

Transcript of Employers recognised as awarding organisations film clip

Dick Palmer, Principal, City College Norwich: 'The college was really interested in getting involved in the QCA pilot project right from the very start because we knew the college would help us work with employers. We're a large vocational college, and we've got lots of employers that are already engaged with us and we saw the opportunity of achieving awarding body status as another mechanism for being able to support local businesses around Norwich and Norfolk. So we're working here for example with Marsh and Norwich Union, Swiss Re, these companies to look at developing an induction program.'

John Carter, Head of Learning and Development, Marsh: 'We've worked very closely with the skills academy in terms of beginning to put together the modules that will form part of the induction, and I think that's an important point to make really that it's about the business and the education element of the National Skills Academy working hand-in-hand. I think if they work independently, it doesn't work so well.'

Dick Palmer, Principal, City College Norwich: 'City College is the Eastern England hub of the National Skills Academy and Financial Services. One of the benefits of becoming an awarding organisation has been the work we've done with the Financial Services sector Skills Council.'

Teresa Sayers, Chief Executive, FSSC: 'I think the concept of national recognition is a fantastic opportunity for employers in my sector to get external recognition for what they do in house. Financial Services has a wealth of good practice from many firms and I think the opportunity to have that external validation is both good for the employer but also for employees as well.'

Judith Armatage, Director of Professional Development, REC: 'REC members can benefit from nationally recognized qualifications in a number of ways. Firstly, I think it'll enable them to both attract, retain, and develop more staff, which will help prepare them for business now and in the future. Secondly, I think it enables them to see that there's a national standard; it's something that they can benchmark performance against, and also they will know that the qualifications are adaptable. They don't fit a generic template, and they can change and develop indeed as the recruitment industry changes ad develops over a period of time.'

Nicky Greet, Professional Development Manager, PLASA: 'I think as a trade body we're much closer to the industry and to the sort of companies we represent. Therefore, we're able to provide qualifications that are fit for purpose because we can listen to them, we understand their markets, we understand their needs.'

Robin Elias, Director, Unusual Rigging: 'PLASA have proved to be the right people to put this scheme together and administer it because of their previous knowledge of the industry. Health and safety's becoming more and more rigorous these days. I think every employer wants to be sure that they're only employing competent and accredited people.'

Mark Surtees, Managing Director, Outback Rigging: 'Throughout the rigging industry over the last many many years, there's been a complete lack of recognition of the skills we need to employ in our business.'

Simon Tiernan, Unusual Rigging: 'Having a nationally recognized certificate will mean that we can take what we do outside of our industry and be recognised in other industries nationally for what we do and what we can achieve.'

Mark Surtees, Managing Director, Outback Rigging: 'One of the benefits of PLASA becoming an awarding body are that as it represents many small and medium-sized enterprises, it affords the opportunity for companies like Outback Rigging to become directly involved in generating the outcomes that we need from qualifications from an industry as a whole.'

Judith Armatage, Director of Professional Development, REC: 'The REC has had a really positive experience with this pilot scheme. We've found QCA to be incredibly supportive. There's also been an eagerness to find workable solutions to some of the problems of us being both a learning provider and an awarding body, and QCA have also adopted a very business-led approach to the whole program.'

Dick Palmer, Principal, City College Norwich: 'I think it's important that both employers, employees and learning providers understand the nature of the accreditation process for achieving awarding organisation status is a robust one. People need to know that these are national qualifications that have some credibility.

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