• Approaches: achieving accreditation for in-house training

Last updated: 16 Oct 2008

In autumn 2007 QCA conducted a survey of employers and providers and received more than 330 responses.  The purpose of the survey was to find out:

• how employers/providers could use the QCF to gain national accreditation
• the types of training that employers/providers might wish to have nationally accredited
• the preferred approaches of employers and providers to accreditation within the national system
• the appropriate level of quality assurance required to achieve accreditation within the national system
• the perceived benefits and barriers to getting training accredited within the national qualifications system.

The findings of this survey have been used to inform pilot work on employer training accreditation and the different approaches to achieving this within the national system. The pilot has now been completed and evaluated and has formed the basis of the next phase of employer training accreditation.

Working with the national system

The pilot established three approaches that can be used by employers to achieve accreditation for their in-house training. The pilot tested them to ensure that they met the needs of employers and the quality assurance measures used met national requirements.

Approach 1

 An employer becomes a recognised awarding organisation and provides the requisite standard of quality assurance to develop and award its own nationally accredited qualifications.

Approach 2

An employer works with an existing awarding organisation that designs and awards bespoke qualifications for the employer and provides the quality assurance and accreditation.

Approach 3

An employer works with a third party (for example a provider, sector regulator, trade association or professional body) that provides the quality assurance to meet the
requirements of the national qualification system.

The three approaches are interlinked and employers can be involved in more than one approach. QCA is continuing to work with organisations to identify further approaches that could be used by employers to achieve accreditation for their in-house training.

These approaches ae explained in more detail in documents available to download from the right hand side of this page.

 

QCA is working with different organisations to recognise and accredit their bespoke training as national qualifications on the QCF.

If you would like more information about this initiative please email recognition@qca.org.uk.