Skills for justice - developing skills for safer communities

Vocational Qualifications - Right Skills, Right for your business

Employers need employees with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time. In order to achieve this, work-related qualifications have been reformed to better meet the needs of employers, employees and people entering work.

Qualifications are now based on what employers need and what learners can easily access whilst including the best parts of existing vocational qualifications. Fundamentally, they bring choice, clarity and confidence to vocational qualifications.

Choice

• Having more say on what qualifications are developed
  Vocational qualifications are developed in response to employers' demands. We support employers in this development process through Sector Qualifications Strategies, based on detailed labour market intelligence about skills needs in the sector - driving the approval of qualifications
  
• A more flexible qualifications system
  Under the new structure, learners can build up qualifications on a unit-by-unit basis, making training more accessible to a wider range of learners. The new qualifications on the Qualifications and Credit Frameqork (QCF) offer greater flexibility allowing them to include sector- and employer-specific units.

Clarity

• Understanding and comparing qualifications more easily
  All vocational qualifications under the new structure have straightforward titles that tell you about their size, level of difficulty and the skills areas they cover, so employers will have a better idea of the skills an employee has as a result of completing the qualification.

Confidence

• A better skilled workforce
  All vocational qualifications for our sectors must be robust and fit-for-purpose, to be approved by us. Employees with nationally recognised qualifications means employers can be confident that they have the right knowledge and skills to do the job.

What does this mean for employers?

There is now a new process for developing and recognising vocational qualifications that directly involves employers to ensure that the skills needed to improve productivity, generate employment and drive our economy are developed.

Employers can now
1. Influence sector strategies for skills by voicing views on, for example, training gaps and priority skills areas
2. Map their in-house training to nationally recognised qualifications
3. Work with training providers to develop relevant units that can be taken as part of a nationally recognised qualification
4. Join forces with other employers in their sector to create relevant skills and training.


For further information please take a look at these handy and informative guides, created by the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA)


You can also watch a short animated film about the QCF.

If you have any questions please contact us on 011 261 1499 or email info@skillsforjustice.com|.