QCF Qualifications

What is a QCF Qualification?

National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ's) have now been redeveloped and placed onto the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) which is a new way of recognising skills and accomplishments through the award of a credit for the achievements of units and qualifications.

Why would I want a professional qualification?

For many reasons – to begin with you will:

have your skills, knowledge and abilities at work recognised against a national benchmark
have a qualification appreciated by your employer and recognised by colleagues
be in a position to gain further, higher qualifications
have your career development and work achievements nationally recognised
improve your CV and career prospects
receive the support and mentoring of your assessor who is a qualified sector professional
be supported by your employer and encouraged to increase your skills and knowledge
have the opportunity to map out your career options
have the sense of achievement and esteem that goes with a national qualification

Do I qualify?

QCF qualifications are a way of recognising the skills and knowledge of people working in specific sectors. Level 2 qualifications are open to anyone working 30 hours a week or more, who does not already have a Level 3 (Diploma level) qualification or above. Similarly for Level 3 you should not already have a Level 4, degree or similar level qualification.

How much time will I have to commit?

A Level 2 qualification usually takes 6 – 9 months to complete and a Level 3 qualification 12 months or more – you can decide (within reason) how long you are going to take.

Your employer commits to allow 2 hours of every working week towards you completing the units that make up the qualification. As a guideline you will also be expected to allow for up to 2 further hours a week of your own time to help you complete your units.

But don’t worry, much of the work really involves recording and gathering evidence of your competence at tasks you carry out regularly anyway – you will be surprised at how much you already know! Also the evidence that you submit is done using an online tool, making it quick and simple to use and available 24/7, to offer you flexibility.

How does it work?

You will be assigned a qualified assessor who will help you complete your units and achieve agreed milestones. When you first meet with your assessor you both draw up and agree to a learning plan and discuss the requirements of the qualification and any support or training that you may require.

QCF is all about collecting a variety of evidence to demonstrate your understanding and capabilities in your industry. For example in most Level 2 Certificates there is a unit that requires you to demonstrate your understanding of the necessary skills you need to develop for working in your industry. Evidence of your understanding could be in the form of:

a written statement from yourself
a written report from your line manager
an interview with your assessor (questions and answers)
a copy of your personal development plan
a piece of work that you have completed (e.g. a report, presentation, email or leaflet)

Any and all of these could be submitted as evidence – use everything that is available to you like your organisation’s policy statements, customer charter and publicity material. You will soon realise what a wealth of evidence is around you.

Evidence is submitted via an online tool called Skilsure, for which you will have a unique password and is completely confidential. Skilsure is easy to use and available 24/7 so that you can choose exactly when you want to spend time on your qualification and where.

For more information about our training services please call us on 0800 072 9844 or email us