Background
The Northern Ireland Social Care Council (SCC) commenced a review of the Level 2 and 3 Diplomas in Health and Social Care in September 2024. Stages I to III of this seven stage review process have been completed to date:
- Social Care Employers Survey of both level 2 and 3 – completed March/April 2024.
- Focus Groups for both level 2 and 3 – 10th and 11th June 2024.
- Level 2 Diploma review working groups September 2024 –November 2024 (see dates below).
- Level 3 Diploma review working groups to start January 2025 (end date TBC).
- Awarding Organisations (AOs) will be updated with review as it progresses – it is the intention that AO working groups will be established once draft specifications are available.
- Update event with all training providers – date to be confirmed in 2025/2026.
- Qualifications will be available for delivery from September 2026.1
Level 2 and Level 3 Diploma Review:
Reviewing and revising the Health and Social Care suite of qualifications requires commitment from all parts of the social care sector.
The SCC’s role is to bring together and work in partnership with qualification and subject matter experts to ensure that the reviewed and revised diplomas will meet the needs of the sector and the learning and development needs of social care practitioners.
As the review work on the Level 2 H&SC Diploma is nearing completion and we are moving to Phase 2 of this work, reviewing the Level 3 Diploma in H&SC, the SCC is inviting you to nominate a qualification adviser/expert from your organisation to take part in the working groups starting in January 2025. It may be that the person nominated for the first two working groups may be different to the individual/s nominated for the February and March 2025 groups where it might be more relevant for subject matter experts to attend.
The January groups will cover the following areas:
- Monday 13th and 27th January 2025 – the group’s focus will be on exploring, together, the possible structure and content of the Level 3 Diploma qualification as well as identifying subject matter specialists, for the purpose of progressing the qualification review.
- February and March 2025 – agendas will be set after the feedback received on 27th January 2025.
How to be part of the Review:
You will have received a MS Teams invite along with this flyer for the January 2025 dates (outlined below) which we hope you or nominated colleague will accept.
February and March 2025 review meetings will be taking in person, at a venue to be confirmed.
| Date | Time | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 13 January 2025 | 10am – 1pm | MS Teams |
| Monday 27 January 2025 | 10am – 1pm | MS Teams |
| Monday 10 February 2025 | 10am – 4.30pm | In- Person – venue TBC |
| Monday 24 February 2025 | 10am – 4.30pm | In- Person – venue TBC |
| Monday 3 March 2025 | 10am – 4.30pm | In- Person – venue TBC |
| Friday 7 March 2025 | 10am – 4.30pm | In- Person – venue TBC |
We would ask that only one person is nominated to attend from each organisation.
Footnotes
1This date may change depending on the progress of each review e.g. the level 2 diploma maybe available before September 2026.
For more information:
If you have a question or want to know more, please email the workforce development team at: workforcedevelopment@niscc.hscni.net.