QCF Developments

At the end of June QCA, DCELLS and CCEA submitted a series of reports to Ministers and the UK Vocational Qualifications Reform Programme Board (UKVQRP) that both evaluated the evidence from the trialling and development work, and also explored options for the implementation of the new framework across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The documentation was well received by Ministers, and QCA has now been asked by DIUS to carry out further work to develop a full and specific business case, including a detailed delivery model for QCF, by the end of September 2008.

DIUS has also asked the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to contribute to this process, specifically in the areas of the systems and technological infrastructure that will be needed to support the QCF on a permanent basis, including systems for recording and displaying learner achievement data and supporting credit accumulation and transfer.

Regulations

The qualifications regulators, Ofqual, DCELLS and CCEA, will publish the regulatory arrangements for the QCF in late August. These will set out the regulations that will apply to organisations that operate within, and the qualifications that are accredited into, the QCF. They provide the basis for adding to the 600+ qualifications already in the framework. This includes units and qualifications developed by employers who are recognised as awarding organisations.

As the QCF regulatory arrangements require awarding organisations to operate differently in some areas from they way in which they have been recognised to do in the NQF, the regulators will need to carry out a supplementary recognition exercise. In other words, they will not ask awarding organisations to demonstrate systems and procedures again for which evidence has already been provided, but will ask them to demonstrate their procedures in new areas, such as determining credit values. This will be open to all awarding organisations and so provide the opportunity for new organisations to come into the QCF. Those recognised during the tests and trials can continue to submit units and qualifications, in line with an agreed timetable for return of the required new documentation.

IT infrastructure

QCA is currently reviewing and upgrading the IT infrastructure that was developed and used during the QCF tests and trials phase. This will underpin the accreditation of new units and qualifications, and support new and existing QCF learners to engage with those units and qualifications. These upgrades will begin to be in place during September and will enable QCF to continue to develop until such time as permanent systems go live.

Whilst this upgrade work is ongoing, mechanisms for accreditation will be unaffected, but the upgrade process necessitates temporarily disabling learner achievement recording and access until completion in the Autumn. During this period, learning providers can continue to register learners via awarding body routes. QCA will keep everyone updated as the work progresses via traditional communication routes including the QCA website and the monthly electronic newsletter.

Background to reform

In November 2005, ministers agreed the establishment of a Programme Board to oversee vocational qualifications reform by bringing together key strands of work across the UK.
Framework development forms a key strand within the Vocational Qualification Reform Programme. The overall aim of this strand is to develop a jointly regulated credit and qualifications framework for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The three regulators (QCA, DCELLS, CCEA) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland agreed to test and trial the mechanisms and processes needed to revise the current National Qualifications Framework and provide advice and recommendations to ministers with a view to establishing and enabling a regulated credit and qualifications framework.

The tests and trials

A carefully controlled two-year test and trial period of the QCF began in September 2006 with a second phase starting in March 2007. The regulatory authorities invited organisations to submit proposals for projects to be part of the tests and trials. A working specification and prospectus was published to help organisations submitting proposals understand the process (a different prospectus was used for phase 2). Fifty projects were involved across both phases, a summary of each of the projects by phase can be downloaded from this page. The summaries provide a general overview of each project including the name of the lead organisation, country coverage and levels of provision.

Some of the organisations involved in the tests and trials have summarised their experiences in presentations given at various QCF events. These presentations are available to download from this page. The presentations include key messages covering experiences with unit and qualification development, collaborative working, lesson learned and benefits for end-users, including employers.

The objectives of the framework tests and trials are:

• to develop and test an operational model of the framework with stakeholders
• to evaluate whether a unit-based system underpinned by credit can support a range of qualifications and learning programmes across sectors, learning and training contexts and awarding bodies
• to evaluate whether a fully functioning credit system can support and improve learner progression and achievement
• to evaluate whether potential benefits (including flexibility, inclusiveness, simplicity and reduced bureaucracy) can be delivered through the framework
• to evaluate through the trials in England whether the development of the framework can contribute to the LSC's strategic priorities and targets for publicly funded qualifications eg contributing to adult Public Service Agreement targets such as offender learning provision and level 2 provision.