Why were NVQs invented?

The Review of Vocational Qualifications in England and Wales (RVQ) Working Group report in April 1986 recommended the introduction of NVQs to address weaknesses in the then current systems of vocational qualifications. Amongst the weaknesses it identified were:

• no clear, readily understandable pattern of provision as well as considerable overlap, duplication and gaps in that provision
• many barriers to accessing vocational qualifications and inadequate arrangements for progression and transfer of credit
• assessment methods biased towards testing of knowledge rather than skill or competence
• insufficient recognition of learning gained outside formal education and training
• limited take-up of vocational qualifications.

The solution the working group proposed was that a clear, coherent and comprehensive system of vocational qualifications should be developed that were directly relevant to the needs of employment and the individual. These national vocational qualifications (NVQs) should be 'a statement of competence clearly relevant to work and intended to facilitate entry into, or progression in, employment, further education and training…incorporating the assessment of:

• skills to specified standards
• relevant knowledge and understanding
• the ability to use skills and to apply knowledge and understanding to relevant tasks'.

How were NVQs developed?

In 1986, following the publication of the White Paper Working together: education and training, the National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ) was set up. NCVQ developed a framework of NVQs that consisted of five levels and 11 occupational areas. In parallel, the government funded the Industry Training Organisations to develop the occupational standards on which NVQs are based, with awarding bodies developing the assessment and quality assurance arrangements to criteria set by NCVQ.

The May 1994 White Paper Competitiveness: helping business to win quoted the CBI as finding that a majority of employers were either using or expected to benefit from NVQs and that 40,000 managers were undertaking NVQs as evidence of lifetime learning. It also said that 'to ensure NVQs and SVQs remain up to date and continue to observe strict standards', the content and structure of all NVQs and SVQs would be reviewed by April 1996. Gordon Beaumont subsequently undertook this review.

The Beaumont Review

The review found widespread support for the concept of NVQs amongst employers with over 80% considering competence-based standards right for vocational qualifications. The Review report identified the following areas where there was room for further development:

• the language used in national occupational standards was difficult and further compounded by the form and structure in which they were written
• clarity and detail in the specifications of knowledge and understanding
• assessment, particularly where college-based and training providers offered government-funded training schemes that were inappropriate. In considering external assessment, the Beaumont Review found that the key feature of externality was the independence of the assessor from the candidate.

There were concerns about how external assessment might affect access to the qualifications definitions of the roles, service and performance levels of those involved in delivering NVQs. Tensions between the DfEE responsibility for funding standards development and NCVQ/SCOTVEC's responsibility for accrediting qualifications had led to some narrow and overlapping qualifications.

The Dearing review of qualifications for 16- to 19-year olds

The Dearing review in March 1996 recommended that NVQ designers consider what key skills requirements were appropriate for their NVQs.

Developments since 1996

After the Beaumont and Dearing reviews, there were a number of changes that are impacting on current NVQ development:

• NCVQ produced a revised version of the awarding bodies' Common Accord which required a customer service statement. This was taken forward in the regulatory authorities' common code of practice
• responsibility for the national occupational standards programme was devolved to the regulatory authorities in April 1998
• standards-setting bodies are encouraged to write standards in plain language and were given more freedom in terms of format and presentation. They were also encouraged to adopt a more flexible approach to the structure of an NVQ by having mandatory and core units
• standards-setting bodies are required to develop assessment strategies for NVQs, recommending the external quality control of assessment, defining which national occupational standards must be assessed in the workplace, the extent and characteristics of permitted simulation, and the occupational expertise requirements for assessors and verifiers
• standards-setting bodies are required to sign-post key skills to national occupational standards.

By 1994 there were 500 NVQs covering 150 occupations, representing 80% of all jobs. At the end of March 2001 just over 3.2 million NVQ certificates had been awarded with 60% of the total being at level 2 and 19% at level 3. It is estimated that around 12% of the national workforce have attained an NVQ. However, the level of penetration is not uniform across industrial sectors, approximately 75% of certificates were awarded to those in engineering, providing business services and providing goods and services. In the three months ending 31 March 2001 nearly 1.8 million candidates were working towards an NVQ. NVQs are an essential component of the new Modern Apprenticeship schemes which could have a positive impact on take up at levels 2 and 3. It is at levels 4 and 5 where the interest in NVQs is far less, the certification figure has stayed at around 3% of the total with the majority being awarded for NVQs in management.

There have been considerable efforts made by NTOs to rationalise the provision of NVQs particularly through the mechanism of mandatory and optional units in NVQ design. In September 1997 there were 976 titles which had reduced to 762 by March 2001. The development of NVQs during the last twelve years did not bring the envisaged coherence to the system of vocational qualifications, rather it added a further much needed framework of competence based qualifications. The National Qualifications Framework developed by QCA, particularly the introduction of regulated vocationally-related qualifications, should help to take forward the 1986 aim for a coherent and comprehensive system of vocational qualifications.