Workforce Development - Introduction
NISCC is a partner in the UK Alliance ‘Skills for Care and Development’ (SfCD) – the Sector Skills Council for the social care, children and young people’s workforce. Together with a network of employers, education interests, government agencies, service users, carers and stakeholders from across the sector we are identifying and addressing skills needs to help build a trained and confident workforce.
The way that qualifications are organised and structured is changing. This includes all vocational qualifications in all sectors - not just social care. The current National Qualifications Framework (NQF) will be replaced by the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF). This is a government initiative across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The QCF is a new flexible way of recognising and rewarding skills and qualifications. The QCF will present units and qualifications in a simpler way and it will lead to qualifications that are flexible and meet the skills and knowledge needs of the workforce.
Credit and level
Every unit and qualification in the framework will have a credit value (one credit represents 10 hours, showing how much time it takes to complete) and a level between entry level and level 8 (showing how difficult it is).
There are three sizes of qualifications in the QCF:
- Awards (1 to 12 credits)
- Certificates (13 to 36 credits)
- Diplomas (37 credits or more)
Each qualification title will contain information about the level of the qualification (from entry level at the bottom to level 8 at the top); the size of qualification (award/certificate/diploma); and details indicating the content of the qualification. All current vocational qualifications will be reviewed and mapped against the QCF for the introduction of the Framework in December 2010. In 2013 the QCF will be established as the single qualification system and infrastructure to support qualifications for all learners aged 14 and over. As the Sector Skills Council for the Social Care, Children’s and Young People’s Workforce, NISCC is working with UK partners to review qualifications for the sector to match the QCF requirements. Information and workshops will be held around the UK as work progresses. There will also be updates in this section of the website.